Shod or Unshod: The Definitively Undefined Answer

It doesn’t take a foot doctor to notice that a trend has been trying to catch on for the past few years: barefoot running.

Popular in health-conscious places like Utah, barefoot running — also known as running unshod — has been touted as the natural way to run. While this may be true in the sense that all humans once ran without shoes, it certainly hasn’t been the truth of the last 50 or so years.

Most runners are not used to going unshod or using the minimalist approach to their workout. Because of this, the muscles in the feet and legs often feel overworked. Tendonitis and other strains are also quite common when the heel is no longer present. Because the foot is normally encapsulated in a shoe, going barefoot can bring about blisters and plantar pain in the initial few runs, especially if the person is running along rocky patches, or Utah-mountain trails. A foot doctor would recommend starting slow and then building it up as a person gets more comfortable running unshod.

Although a foot doctor would probably not recommend changing a person’s running style if they are currently injury free, barefoot running can be beneficial to runners everywhere. Unshod running helps to improve balance and works out some of the lesser-used muscles that are normally ignored with shoes. Barefoot running also helps a person to maximize their workout, since running in shoes promotes landing on the heel instead of the forefoot.

For the health nut trying to connect with nature to the person just wanting to try something new, the jury is still out on whether or not unshod running is better for a person. But the choice is theirs.

Taylor Larsen is a health writer. Information provided by the Wasatch Foot & Ankle Institute, a foot and ankle care center with locations in Ogden, Utah; Evanston, Wyoming and Rock Springs, Wyoming. He writes for Fusion 360, an advertising agency in Utah. Find him on Google+.