“Just Do It”-Nike

“Impossible is Nothing”- Adidas

“Sound mind sound body” –Asics

These are the campaign slogans for 3 of the most recognizable athletic shoe companies. Nike, Adidas, and Asics create shoes that are affordable, appealing, and athletic. But do their shoes really help runners? Recent studies report that running shoes do not actually help the runner who is using them.

In an article written by Dylan Tweney from Wired.com, found here, cushioned athletic shoes do not do anything to protect the runner from injury as previously thought. In the 1970’s thick-soled athletic shoes became preferable over barefoot running. From this point on, it has been believed that the thick sole shoe should be used. This kind of shoe can cause injuries such as: ankle sprains and planter fasciitis, which is a form of heel pain. These problems occur because of the way the runner’s foot is landing on the ground. In a shoe, a runner’s step will land on their heel, so the heel absorbs the shock. The pressure of landing continually on the heel is the reason planter fasciitis can be more apparent in runners.

The solution? The author of Born to Run believes that the toe-shoes are the best option. With toe shoes a runner does not land on their heel, rather they land on the outer edge of the ball of a person’s foot. Running this way allows the whole foot to absorb the shock instead of just the heel of a foot. According to Daniel Lieberman of Harvard University, running barefoot is the smarter way to run because we evolved from barefoot runners. In his research, he finds that humans’ bodies have evolved to running long distance without shoes. That means that our bodies are capable of running barefoot, we just have to teach our bodies to adapt this behavior again.

If you’re going on a run anytime soon or looking to avoid injury while running maybe look to the past and take a pointer from our ancestors: just go barefoot.