Do you think minimalist footwear is just a fad that will pass?

Check out the shoes runners wore in the 60s, 70s, and 80s and compare those to the tanks we wear today.

Kids, your foot is meant to move!

Alan

Cool vid, but all the places shown there are nice places to put one's feet.

I respect what this man has gone through but barefooting in a foot of powder is ludicrous.

why don't you follow your own advice runningart2004. or should i say, weightliftingart2004!

Runningart2004 wrote: Check out the shoes runners wore in the 60s, 70s, and 80s and compare those to the tanks we wear today.

Runners run way faster today.

No because you see an immediate benefit of faster times when running in minimalist shoes. Training runs feel easier in them.

ya wanna bet on it wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwhl--ohW10&feature=player_embedded#

!

Cool video, but my feet hurt just watching it. How does he not get frostbite running through snow and ice barefoot?

Runningtart has it right. It's not a fad, it's just that the recreational runners are catching on.

If you want to know how we went from minimalist shoes to our current situation, this is a good read:

http://www.scienceofrunning.com/2010/09/running-form-and-shoe-industry-where-do.html

God it's refreshing to read a thread where the definite majority is in favor of minimalism. Times they are a changing, and the people who think minimalism is a fad are going to have a big plate of crow to eat in 10 years.

Haaahhaaaa. No, the Africans joined the battle and guess what? They grew up running to and fro, barefoot. A lifetime of developing strong feet and flexible ankles. Even Haile prefers being barefoot, but $$$ fromm shoe companies talks. His Achilles problem is likely because of the shoes.

Agreed.

I'm all for wearing less clunky shoes, or even barefooting when it works, but barefooting on snow, ice, or downhill on a 10% grade rocky ridge is ridiculous. The video implies you can barefoot anywhere, which is false.

I'm afraid to say that the tides are indeed turning. There have been a few very significant studies in the last few years (the Nike study with women in stability, neutral, and motion control shoes, the Air Force foot type/shoe matching study, and Lieberman's "barefoot runner" study) that are steadily chipping away at the ingrained way of thought in the modern shoe industry. Not that there haven't been seeds of doubt for a long time. Studies as early as 1980 have questioned the benefits that modern bulky trainers offer.

At the same time, SO many people are used to their stability trainers/motion control shoes, that they won't be going anywhere anytime soon. What we WILL see is every major shoe company offering an expanded line of "minimalist" shoes.

Just a few years ago, you pretty much had to buy racing flats to be a minimalist. Now there are shoes MADE for training (and durability) from reputable manufacturers that are jumping on the bandwagon.

-Nike's lunar series, as well as the Free

-Saucony's Kinvara and the new Grid A4

-New Balance's soon-to-be-released Minimus series

-Adidas's AdiZero line

Right now, companies like Brooks are getting left in the dust. The Launch is supposed to be their flagship "performance neutral" shoe, but with a heel drop of 22mm to 11mm, who are they kidding? The T6 is even worse--20mm to 8mm. The green silence is a step in the right direction, but I can't shake the feeling it's an eco-hippie gimmick. ASICS is in a good spot--they have plenty of minimal shoes already; they just need to rebrand them as minimal trainers (Hyperspeed, Piranha, Tarther).

People will gravitate back towards middle ground (minimal, but still cushioned shoes like the Hyperspeed, or even something bigger like the Kinvara or Luna trainer) once they realize that

a) VFFs are going nowhere fast in the winter

b) The oft-lauded shock-absorbing properties of the foot can't adequately protect you at the end of a long run on pavement.

c) You just can't go as fast (on pavement) barefoot/ultra-minimal as you can in lightly cushioned flats...unless you practice a LOT, a la Abebe Bikila. Don't forget he wore shoes sometimes, too.

I love running barefoot--on grass. I can run on grass all day, and as fast as I want. But it just 'ain't happening on pavement. You need at least a little rubber and foam, unless you want to dedicate years to learning to run fast on asphalt without shoes. And even then, good luck kicking!

Didnt Lydiard say that the ideal shoe would just be 2 plain slabs of rubber?

Arthur Lydiard

"when training on firm surfaces, it pays to have good

rubber soles and heels on running shoes to alleviate the effects of jarring."

"Be careful of your running shoes and do not let them wear unevenly as this can lead to

leg injuries."

he also said:

‘We used to run in canvas shoes,’ he said.

‘We didn’t get plantar fasciitis (pain under the heel); we didn’t pronate or supinate (land on the edge of the foot); we might have lost a bit of skin from the rough canvas when we were running marathons, but generally we didn’t have foot problems.

‘Paying several hundred dollars for the latest in hi-tech running shoes is no guarantee you’ll avoid any of these injuries and can even guarantee that you will suffer from them in one form or another. Shoes that let your foot function like you’re barefoot – they’re the shoes for me.’

source -

www.grassdirtcorn.com/2009/05/are-running-shoes-useless/+&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

another good quote, assuming he actually said this:

"I have a saying 'train, don't strain.' The Americans have the saying 'no pain, no gain' and that's why they have no distance running champions. They get down to the track with a stopwatch and flog their guts out thinking that it'll make them a champion, but they'll never make a champion that way." - Arthur Lydiard

777 wrote:

Right now, companies like Brooks are getting left in the dust. The Launch is supposed to be their flagship "performance neutral" shoe, but with a heel drop of 22mm to 11mm, who are they kidding? The T6 is even worse--20mm to 8mm. The green silence is a step in the right direction, but I can't shake the feeling it's an eco-hippie gimmick.

Do you think Brooks Hansons ODP members will demand more minimalist shoes? I see from their training logs that some of their members are training in the Launch, Ravenna or even Glycerin 8 and racing in like the T6 of course.

The heel to toe drop may not be to any minimalist's liking on these shoes, but at least the Launch and Ravenna and even the Ghost are not that heavy. I think The Glycerin 8 is pretty bulky though.

Whoopdee dooo

training thru wrote:

why don't you follow your own advice runningart2004. or should i say, weightliftingart2004!

I did. Had a calf/achilles injury that remedied itself in part due to me switching to a lower profile shoe/racing flat.

Ran for almost 10 years in nothing but racing flats. Even put in significant mileage in an old school Nike Waffle RACER all on the roads, rarely ran on the grass in those days. Guess what? My calves NEVER got tight again AFTER switching to a lower profile shoe.....

Alan

It will be the age of minimalism/functionality. Less beefy shoes are just one sign. At their core, people want to live simpler.

?? wrote:

Runningart2004 wrote: Check out the shoes runners wore in the 60s, 70s, and 80s and compare those to the tanks we wear today.

Runners run way faster today.

Way faster? I don't think so. The top elites are definitely faster, but the average American who is going out and buying running shoes is slower.