Jan. 21, 2010

BY WHITNEY HARDING, MEDILL NEWS SERVICE JAN 19, 2010

EVANSTON, Ill. - "Shoeless" Joe Jackson is famous for playing an entire baseball game in his stockings after his shoes had given him blisters the day before. A century later, scientists and doctors are researching whether runners benefit from running shoes or if Joe was right and barefoot running is the way to go.

The snow has almost melted away, for now, and the University of Illinois at Chicago men's track team is preparing for their spring season. Inside, on the second floor of the physical education building the men begin their strength and agility training - by kicking off their shoes.

"It's actually something we do in training every day after they get done running," said head track coach Jim Knoedel. "We have them do various drills barefoot."

He said barefoot running and drills are the biggest trends in running right now. His graduate assistant volunteer coach, Travis Ricks, said running barefoot and doing barefoot drills benefit the runners by making them work different muscles than running with shoes do. Ricks said the cushion in shoes causes the runners to use the same tendons over and over again.

"When you're running barefoot you're having to adjust to your environment more," he said. "If you watch them, they're having to move and shift their weight a different direction and they're having to learn to balance their body to keep themselves upright."

Scientists and doctors have started to look into this new trend. A study in the December 2009 issue PM&R: The journal of injury, function and rehabilitation shows the possible effects of running shoes on lower body joints.

The study examined 68 healthy young adult runners who typically use running shoes. All the subjects ran barefoot and in the same running shoes at a controlled speed as scientists used 3-D motion capture data to see how the subjects' bodies moved. The results showed increased joint force at the hip, knee and ankle with running shoes compared with running barefoot.

Dr. Terry Nicola, UIC's director of sports medicine rehabilitation, showed some interest in barefoot running and the possible benefits.

"Basically, the whole idea is that barefoot populations are not having anything close to the problems we are having," he said. "That was always the kind of wild thing about this. The joke used to be `my aching feet,' but now people come in with injuries and it comes back to their shoes. In the sports world, it's running shoes."

The American Podiatric Medical Association expressed concerns about the new trend. Its Web site has a statement about barefoot running calling for more research.

"While anecdotal evidence and testimonials proliferate on the Internet and in the media about the possible health benefits of barefoot running, research has not yet adequately shed light on the immediate and long term effects of this practice."

The APMA also mentions the risks of puncture wounds due to lack of protection and encourages the public to consult a podiatrist with a strong background in sports medicine before making a decision on changing their running programs.

Nicola made it clear that everyone kicking off his shoes and running barefoot right now would not be the best approach.

"We don't have the foot strength I don't believe to just take off our shoes and run barefoot, nor do we have the calluses," he said.

Dr. Megan Leahy, of the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute, agreed that if the runner is not used to going barefoot, the consequences could be detrimental.

"I've seen injuries where people decide to start barefoot running more so than I have seen someone in an appropriate running shoe," she said. "The whole barefoot running concept is based more on a softer environment that most of us don't have access to."

Leahy emphasized the need to make sure the runner's shoe fits properly. She said shoes do help people with certain foot types, such as runners with flat feet or high arches.

"For someone who has a higher arch foot structure, their foot is incapable of absorbing shock more than a normal foot," she said. "Someone with a flatter foot structure, the foot could roll inward, which could lead to knee torque and ankle problems."

Knoedel said the shoes controlling the foot movement could be the problem. "It controls the motion of the foot and in some ways that makes me nervous, because each person has a specific type of foot strike," he said. "You eliminate the natural motion of the body."

Ricks, agreed that running shoes could negatively affect how the foot strikes the ground.

"When the heel strikes the ground, what it's doing is sending eight to 10 times your body weight up through your leg," he said. "So the better strike is to land [on the ball of your foot] and it's happening naturally."

Nicola suggested his ideal type of shoe would be one that is light, has enough room at the front so the foot has room to work, fits the heel softly and has materials that last a long time. He does think there is some promise in runners experimenting barefoot running in small doses.

"I would say we need to play with this idea of not using shoes," he said.