Barefoot Running
English
Red Lightning
Minimalist Running Have you ever wondered what it would be like to run barefoot? 50,000 years ago, without the bow and arrow or any other crude weapons; humans were the weaklings of the animal kingdom. They had an extremely difficult time finding food and were on the track to extinction. Then, they came up with a solution: to run down their prey. The type of hunting they developed was called persistence hunting. After that, humans ran hundreds of miles a week to hunt down their prey. Amazingly, they did this all barefoot. As years progressed, humans started to lose this ancient way of running. Then in the 1980’s, large companies like Asics and Nike started to implant the idea of cushioned shoes, which ruined the original way of man. There lies the downfall of human technology. As a species, we wandered away from what made us the best athletes in the world. Fortunately, this lost art has been rediscovered through inspirational athletes, new discoveries in evolution/ health benefits of running, and the science behind the mechanics of running. It all boils down to one thing, humans were meant to run barefoot or with minimal feet protection. To fully understand what it means to run minimalist, you first have to look at the mechanics of running. The first aspect of running is foot strike. Foot strike is how your foot lands while you run. When running with large, over cushioned shoes, your foot strike is directly on your heel. But while running minimalist, your foot strike is more on the balls on your feet. This helps more muscle groups work together making your stronger and reducing injury. Shock absorption is also an important aspect of minimalist running. While running in cushioned shoes, when you land on your heel, you are landing ahead of your center of gravity. This means that your shock absorption is going straight up through your shins, knees, hips, and lower back (Dubois, Living Barefoot). The opposite of this happens while
Red Lightning
Minimalist Running Have you ever wondered what it would be like to run barefoot? 50,000 years ago, without the bow and arrow or any other crude weapons; humans were the weaklings of the animal kingdom. They had an extremely difficult time finding food and were on the track to extinction. Then, they came up with a solution: to run down their prey. The type of hunting they developed was called persistence hunting. After that, humans ran hundreds of miles a week to hunt down their prey. Amazingly, they did this all barefoot. As years progressed, humans started to lose this ancient way of running. Then in the 1980’s, large companies like Asics and Nike started to implant the idea of cushioned shoes, which ruined the original way of man. There lies the downfall of human technology. As a species, we wandered away from what made us the best athletes in the world. Fortunately, this lost art has been rediscovered through inspirational athletes, new discoveries in evolution/ health benefits of running, and the science behind the mechanics of running. It all boils down to one thing, humans were meant to run barefoot or with minimal feet protection. To fully understand what it means to run minimalist, you first have to look at the mechanics of running. The first aspect of running is foot strike. Foot strike is how your foot lands while you run. When running with large, over cushioned shoes, your foot strike is directly on your heel. But while running minimalist, your foot strike is more on the balls on your feet. This helps more muscle groups work together making your stronger and reducing injury. Shock absorption is also an important aspect of minimalist running. While running in cushioned shoes, when you land on your heel, you are landing ahead of your center of gravity. This means that your shock absorption is going straight up through your shins, knees, hips, and lower back (Dubois, Living Barefoot). The opposite of this happens while