Barefoot Running Technique Simplified | Why it is so Efficient
Written by Christopher Ioannou, BSc (Hons) Sports & Exercise Science
Reading Time: 10 minutes
Table of contents
Video version of this post:
Why Good Running Technique is Important
The sports footwear industry, which has produced a plethora of fancy designs and iterations over the past 50 years, has gone from nearly non-existent to having a humungous market size. It that is estimated that it will be worth 142.4 billion USD by 2026 [1].
However, despite all the novel innovations, running-related injuries have steadily increased over the years. They are currently estimated to plague up to 79% of recreational runners within one year of training [2][3][4].
Yes, you heard right. 79%!
Figure 1 - Comparison of injury rates on Running, Weightlifting and Powerlifting
Looked at in a different way, it's reported that there are 7.7-17.8 injuries per 1,000 hours of running [5]. If we compare these stats to weightlifting, which sits at 2.4–3.3 injuries/1,000 hours of training, or powerlifting at 1.0–4.4 injuries/1,000 hours of training, we can see that running is about four times more likely to lead to injury than these other high intensity sports [6].
While this video is not directly about injury rates in running, it's important to touch on it because it is usually mechanical strain that causes trauma to the body. And this mechanical strain is most often caused by movement inefficiencies [7].
If the body is not moving optimally, then it is more susceptible to getting hurt. So, the focus of this post is on how modern footwear has altered our running mechanics for the worse, and how we can utilise barefoot running techniques to regain the lost efficiency, as well as improve performance as a side effect.
So, let's dive right in:
Why Barefoot Running is So Efficient
Figure 2 - Barefoot Runners are more energy efficient than Shod Runners
Research shows that individuals who run barefoot or in minimalistic shoes can be up to 6.8% more energy efficient than those who run in conventional shoes [8].
This statistic, extrapolated over a marathon, would allow a barefoot runner to travel 2.9km further than their shoe-wearing counterparts, whilst expending the same amount of energy.
There are a few reasons for the barefoot runner’s reduction in energy costs.
1. Barefoot Runners Forefoot Strike
Figure 3 - Barefoot Runners tend to Forefoot Strike
Barefoot runners tend to strike the ground with the forefoot directly underneath their centre of mass. This angle of impact allows for the vertical forces to be converted into rotational forces, helping propel the runner forward.
Figure 4 - Shod Runners predominantly Heel-Strike
Contrastingly, shod runners predominantly heel-strike, which is a result of the foot colliding with the ground ahead of the body’s centre of mass. This angle of impact sends braking forces back into the body, which the runner must then work hard to overcome to continue his or her forward momentum.
Figure 5 - Heel Striking Imitates the Motion of Breaking
To better understand this concept, imagine that someone gives you a hard push from behind in an attempt to make you fall forward. The only way to resist this motion is to place one of your legs in front of your hips in an effort to stop the body from falling over.
Contrastingly, if you stand stationary and then decide, of your own free will, to move forward, what happens to your weight distribution?
Well, it shifts from the heels to the forefoot. This is because the only way to move forward is to shift your centre of mass over the forefoot and beyond, until gravity essentially takes over and you fall forward.
The trick to running, then, is to not try to stop your body from falling forward, like you would if someone pushed you.
Instead, it’s to try and conserve that forward momentum by striking the ground with the forefoot underneath the body’s centre of mass.
Figure 6 - Thick, padded shoes promote a Heel Striking Pattern
Now, in case anyone was wondering, not all runners who wear modern running shoes actually heel strike. However, research has shown that people wearing thick, padded sport shoes are significantly more likely to heel strike. One of the possible explanations for this is that most sports shoes have an elevated heel, which would more than likely come into contact with the ground before the rest of the shoe.
Furthermore, soft soles also blunt the feeling of the impact, which would otherwise tell your brain that you should bashing your heels, because it’s super painful, and rather adopt a different style of running that will lessen the force of the impact.
Moreover, that wedge of foam that makes up the soles and inners of all modern sport shoes puts shod runners at even more of a mechanical disadvantage – it makes them less energy efficient than their barefoot running counterparts.
Let's investigate.
2. Barefoot Runners Have Strong Arches
Figure 7 - Barefoot Running Mechanism
When running barefoot, the arches of the foot compress and flatten upon impact, causing the four layers of muscles under each foot, to recoil like a spring and propel the leg back off the ground and into the next stride. This action occurs as the result of a group of sensors underneath the feet, which, when exposed, detect the ground and stimulate the muscles of the foot to support an arch.
Now let’s put on a pair of shoes and note the differences:
Figure 8 - Shod Running Mechanism
Conventional shoes contain arch support. This piece of material fills the dome-shaped gap of the arches. So, instead of functioning as a spring, the foot now rolls from the heel to the toe and the arches remain relatively dormant. Furthermore, the thick soles of the shoes blunt the foot’s senses. Thus, the muscles are no longer stimulated to maintain an arch and they become lazy and weak. The end result is a non-compliant, collapsed arch, commonly recognised as “flat feet”.
So now you know why we have an arch... it’s not there just to look pretty; it plays an important role in our gait cycle. And sticking on thick-soled shoes with arch support prevents these natural structures from doing their jobs.
3. Barefoot Runners Have High Cadence and Low Vertical Oscillation
Figure 9 - Comparison of Cadence and Vertical Oscillation in Barefoot & Shod Runners
I also want to expand on the point about preserving our sense of feeling the ground. The more feeling we have of the surface we are running on, the faster we can react to it. It is for this reason that barefoot runners have a higher step rate, also known as cadence.
Table 1 - Means and standard deviations for ground time across footwear. Statistical differences were found between barefoot and 12 mm conditions (*p = .019)
If we look at data in the table above from a study published in the International Journal of Exercise Science, we can see a pretty linear increase in ground contact time and step rate from barefoot through to increasing shoe sole thicknesses [9].
In other words, the thicker the sole of the shoe, the less feeling we have of the ground and, consequently, the slower we are able to react to it.
But why’s it so important to decrease our ground contact time and overall steps per minute?
Well, according to the research, increasing steps per minute, or “cadence”, can significantly decrease the amount of vertical motion or vertical displacement that the body displays during every stride [10][9].
This is great for preserving energy and improving efficiency, since a great deal of upward motion has no benefit in terms of moving the body forwards, which is obviously the goal.
It's no wonder that faster runners show less vertical oscillation while they run than slower runners [12].
By the way, just as a side note, the optimal cadence for long-distance runners is about 180 steps per minute or more [10][8].
Novice runners, especially if they use padded shoes and heel strikes, tend to rate around the mid 150's.
4. Barefoot Runners Use Their Achilles Tendons
Figure 11 - Stretch reflex from the Achilles tendons and other connective tissues behave similarly to a slingshot
Now, there are also other benefits to this faster step rate. One is a better stretch reflex from the Achilles tendons and other connective tissues.
In order to utilise the elastic energy from these fibres, they need to be loaded and released quickly. The slower these actions occur, the more the muscles get involved to assist in the movement.
While muscles are important, they are energy expensive. So, the more we can shift the load using our connective tissues, which don't use energy to generate force, the more efficiently we can move.
5. Barefoot Runners Experience Less Ground Reactive Forces
Figure 12 - Ground reaction forces of Barefoot Runners
Another benefit of having a speedier step rate is that there is less time for ground reaction forces to act on the body.
Look at the two graphs below showing ground reaction forces during ground contact when wearing shoes or barefoot (Figure 10). For simplicity’s sake, let's say that they both reached equal peak ground reaction forces. However, the shoe runner takes longer to get to that peak after the heel strike and also takes longer to get the foot back off the ground. On the other hand, the barefoot runner, with his speedier senses and forefoot strike, completes the sequence faster.
To know how much accumulative force was imparted to the two runners during each step, we must look at the area under the curve.
Figure 10 - Comparison of Ground Reaction Forces between Barefoot and Shod Runners
Now let's compare the two.
As you can see, the barefoot runner experiences less total ground reactive forces than the shoe runner.
For those who lift weights, we can think of it as time under tension. We know that if we really want to make our muscles sore, we can focus on prolonging the negative portion of each repetition, which increases the accumulative load on the muscle throughout the workout.
While this technique can be useful in acute settings in the gym to stimulate muscle growth, we wouldn't want to run this way over many kilometres, because it is highly inefficient and it increases the risk of injury over the long term.
Summary
Okay, let’s do a quick recap:
Barefoot running promotes a forefoot strike, which helps to conserve forward momentum and reduces the harmful breaking forces often seen in heel strikers.
Barefoot running increases sensory feedback from the ground, which helps stimulate the arches of the feet to act as springs, helping to propel the runner forwards.
The heightened feeling of the ground also increase step rate, which activates energy-efficient ligaments and other connective tissues to assist the muscles during every stride.
Increased cadence, through barefoot running, also reduces the ground-reactive forces acting on the body, which is not only more economical, but also reduces the risk of injury.
Additional Notes:
For those who are new to barefoot running, we have created the optimal Barefoot Running Transition Program.
We cover everything from hip and ankle mobility, glute activation and strengthening techniques, to a 24 week barefoot running plan and much more.
The goal of the program is to become an efficient barefoot runner, while remaining injury free.
Check the program here:
If you would like to learn more about barefoot running check out our other posts on the subject:
We have also done reviews on barefoot running shoes:
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Cheers.
