Category: Running

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Will Vibram Fivefingers make your feet stronger?

VFF Vibram Fivefingers class action suitBig news today in the barefoot world: Vibram settled a class action lawsuit that claimed the company deceived customers when it claimed that VFFs would decrease foot injuries and strengthen foot muscles.

As reported in the Washington Post:

The company agreed to put aside $3.75 million to pay refunds of as much as $94 to anyone who had bought a pair since March 21, 2009, according to Runner’s World.

(Okay that was according to Runner’s World as reported by the Washington Post. The Post article was the one that showed up in my newsfeed.)

Further: Continue reading Will Vibram Fivefingers make your feet stronger?

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Are Barefoot Shoes Good for Plantar Fasciitis? – Xero Shoes

It is estimated that around 10% of the population suffers from heel pain caused by plantar fasciitis.

Interestingly, though the condition is quite common, we don’t know as much as you might expect about what causes it and how to treat it.

I often hear from runners who have switched to barefoot-style running that they have experienced freedom from the plantar fasciitis that used to bother them. In this article, I’d like to share a bit about some research that points to a reason why this may be happening. If you suffer from plantar fasciitis, you may find this opens up some new directions to explore as you seek optimal foot health.

I’ll start off with some important background about what plantar fasciitis is and what seems to cause it. Then we’ll look at some research that points to an interesting new approach to helping people find relief.

What is plantar fasciitis?

On the bottoms of each of our feet, we have a thick band of tissue, called the plantar fascia, that connects the front of the foot with the heel bone. The plantar fascia helps to support the arch of the foot and absorbs shock when our feet hit the ground.

The plantar fascia can become inflamed and cause stabbing pain in the heel. Typically, symptoms are at their worst upon waking in the morning and improve once you get up and move around.

What causes plantar fasciitis?

In most cases, it is thought that plantar fasciitis is caused by repetitive stress. Stresses to the plantar fascia can cause small tears and these, in turn, can lead to inflammation and heel pain.

What causes this kind of stress? In the literature, certain risk factors are associated with a greater likelihood that a person will experience plantar fasciitis, like doing lots of running, having a higher weight, or being in an occupation that keeps you on your feet all day.

This seems to make sense. If plantar fasciitis results from repetitive stresses to your plantar fascia, those factors sound like ways of ramping up the demands placed upon your feet.

But what if it’s not repetitive activities, or weight, that’s the real cause of the problem?

For example, what if running form is the issue? Some ways of running place a lot more stress on your feet than others.

So, the standard description of the cause of plantar fasciitis encourages us to think in terms of a simplistic picture: that repetitive stress is the input and plantar fasciitis is the output.

And yet you’re about to discover that there is an important mediating factor that has a lot to do with the stresses we’ll actually experience, whatever our activity level, and how those will impact our feet.

What is the best treatment for plantar fasciitis?

This is where things get interesting. There is a common protocol for treating plantar fasciitis. It involves rest (to give your feet a break from whatever is thought to cause the repetitive stress damage in the first place), stretching, and the use of ice and NSAIDs (think ibuprofen) for pain. The essence here is to treat the foot pain associated with plantar fasciitis by giving the feet a rest.

Recently, some researchers are proposing a different tack. Patrick McKeon and colleagues, for example, suggest that perhaps what the foot needs most isn’t rest but exercise. This isn’t to say an acute inflammation of the plantar fascia might not need time for recovery, but they argue that the core strength of the foot is the key factor that determines how likely we are to experience injuries like plantar fasciitis in the first place.

In other words, greater foot strength is the key to greater foot health, both when it comes to plantar fasciitis as well as with other repetitive stress injuries typically associated with running.

A clinical trial backs this hypothesis up. It found that strength training exercises for the foot resulted in better outcomes than stretching alone for those suffering from plantar fasciitis.

Barefoot shoes and plantar fasciitis

So what does this research have to do with barefoot shoes? Barefoot shoes (sometimes also called minimalist shoes) are designed to let your feet move as naturally as possible, as they would when walking barefoot. In comparison, typical running shoes come with things like arch supports, thick padding, and elevated heels that keep your feet from moving the way they ordinarily would.

And guess what? When your feet are allowed to move, they get stronger.

Research by Dr. Sarah Ridge and others has shown that walking in minimalist shoes indeed strengthens the foot. (And, by the way, she says Xero Shoes will give you the same benefits as the shoes used in her study.)

So we can put these two ideas together: one group of researchers says strengthening the core muscles of the foot will help avoid injuries like plantar fasciitis. Another says walking barefoot (or in minimalist shoes) is effective in strengthening the muscles of the foot.

What’s the conclusion? It looks like the evidence suggests barefoot shoes (or walking in bare feet) could be helpful for avoiding plantar fasciitis pain.

Here I want to point you to just one more piece of research. It reports on a case where barefoot running was successfully used to treat plantar fasciitis in a female athlete.

I know; it’s just one case. There is more research needed to confirm barefoot running (or walking) as a way to prevent or treat plantar fasciitis. But the evidence so far is encouraging. If you have ever developed plantar fasciitis, it is certainly worth looking into.

If you’d like to try out wearing shoes that are designed to let your feet and toes move naturally, find your pair of Xero Shoes right here.

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified medical professional with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.

You may be wondering…

I’ve been talking with people about going barefoot for a long time. I know there are a couple of common questions that come up. Just in case, I’m giving some brief answers here (and a pointer to where you can find more information).

Are barefoot shoes really the same as going barefoot?

Obviously, they aren’t exactly the same. When you wear shoes, you have a layer between you and the ground. You do lose something here; we all know that irreplaceable feeling when we kick off our shoes and feel our bare feet on the green grass.

But there are downsides to bare feet. They don’t offer you much protection on rough or sharp surfaces and they don’t do much for you in the cold. Barefoot shoes are designed to get you as close to the barefoot experience while still providing protection to the foot.

If you want barefoot running shoes (or any kind of barefoot shoes), just keep in mind what you should be looking for. Dr. Irene Davis defines barefoot, or minimalist shoes with these characteristics:

  • They’ll have a wide toe box to give your toes plenty of room to move and breathe.
  • They’ll have a wide toe box to give your toes plenty of room to move and breathe.
  • They won’t have an elevated heel which can negatively impact posture.
  • Barefoot shoes do not have unneeded cushioning. (Research from Dr. Christine Pollard shows, much to her surprise, that cushioning does not actually reduce impact forces.)
  • Barefoot shoes won’t have unnecessary arch support. (Research from Katrina Protopapas shows that adding arch support to the shoes of healthy athletes reduced foot strength and muscle mass by as much as 17% in just 12 weeks.)
  • They will have a thin sole that allows both flexibility and ground feel.

The end result is that your feet will be moving as you walk and run, using and therefore strengthening the muscles of your feet.

If I’m interested in starting to walk barefoot or in barefoot-style shoes, how should I get started?

The short answer is that you begin slowly and listen to your body. If you’re willing to listen, the feedback you’ll get from your feet will teach you how to walk in a natural, pain-free way.

If you want to maximize your chances of beginning well, you’ll want to have a look at this post.

Is it really plantar fasciitis?

Plantar fasciitis can be misdiagnosed. Sometimes the symptoms can be caused by overly-tight calf muscles. Here’s how to check: try using a foam roller and/or massage on your calf muscles and see if the symptoms improve. If they do, you know that you should pay attention to releasing that calf tension.

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Barefoot Running is Bad For You!

Ever since Chris McDoguall’s book, Born to Run, became popular (interestingly, long after it came out), the debate about barefoot running has become heated.

There was no big argument when Zola Budd ran barefoot, or when Abebe Bikila won the marathon without shoes, or when Ron Hill competed in the Mexico City Olympics in “the lightest shoes I could find.”

But once “regular folk” started kicking off their kicks, it’s become a rhetorical battlefield out there — the converts touting the great benefits of barefoot running, and the critics assuring everyone that taking off your running shoes is akin to playing Russian Roulette.

Then the Harvard study came out, showing that when you run barefoot, you adjust your stride to put less stress on your body. And, right on the heels of it (pun intended), came editorials about how running barefoot is the worst thing you could do… though, most of those editorials came from people who own or work for shoe companies or shoe sellers. Continue reading Barefoot Running is Bad For You!

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How to Walk Barefoot – Xero Shoes

Walking barefoot outside on a boardwalk

How to Walk Barefoot

I expect (and kind of hope) that many people reading the title of this section will think, “Uh, I don’t need instruction about how to walk. I’ve been doing it all my life.”

I also expect (and definitely hope) that others will read the title and think, “Finally, the answer to my most burning question! I’ve been worried that I’m walking wrong.”

For those of you in the first group, let me ask you this: Do tribal women in Africa with water jugs balanced on their heads walk in the same way that Olympic race walkers do? And, do either of those people walk the way you do?

I’d bet that the answer you found for both of those questions is “No.”

That’s because walking isn’t just walking. There are ways of walking that are more or less effective, more or less efficient, more or less healthy and strong.

And if you accept that premise, that could put you in the second group.

Now, for those of you in the second group, I have what could seem like bad news. There is no one answer to “How do I walk.”

This article will not reveal the hidden secret of locomotion that only wisened Tibetan lamas from the Drepung monastery have taught to their senior disciples, or the geometrical relationships between your lower extremity joints that is optimal for effortless, pain-free walking, or the best footwear you can use for carrying a 200 pound pack on a 1,000 mile hike over broken glass.

It’ll actually do something better.

It’ll show you how to become your own best teacher and discover your own secrets for walking efficiently, enjoyably, and easily.

But first, the benefits of running barefoot

Before we can discuss walking, let’s review of the premises behind, and arguments supporting barefoot running, which will be important when we get back to talking about walking:

Landing on your heel, especially with a foot position in front of the knee and the knee almost straight, sends a shock through the joints — the ankle, the knee, the hip, and up the spine.

When you wear typical running shoes with padded, elevated heels, the elevation makes it more likely that you’ll land heel-first, and the padding makes it harder to get the feedback that you need to not put this extra force into your body.

And, research shows that the padding doesn’t actually reduce the impact forces.

This isn’t good.

Running barefoot reduces the likelihood that you’ll land on your heel… because, frankly, it hurts. Instead, what people naturally do is start landing on their forefoot or midfoot, with a bent knee and the ankle not in front of the knee. This reduces the force going through your joints, allowing you to use the muscles, ligaments, and tendons the way they’re meant to be used, as natural springs, shock absorbers, and joint protectors.

So, what does all this have to do with walking?

Well, the whole conversation about foot-strike rarely came up prior to the barefoot running boom. Now it’s practically dinner party conversation, where the barefoot gang looks down their noses in disgust at shoe-wearing heel-strikers.

And the increase in the volume of this conversation has led to another question, which probably nobody asked prior to the publication of the book Born To Run, the book that kicked off the barefoot boom. This is a question I’m emailed almost daily, namely,

“How should my foot land when I am walking?”

It sounds like a reasonable question.

If there is some optimal way for your foot to land when you run, there must be a “right” way for it to land when walking, right?

Well, among the barefoot running research community there’s debate about whether a forefoot strike is better/worse than a midfoot strike, or whether foot strike is idiosyncratic and different for different runners. There’s even an argument about whether heel striking is as evil as most barefoot runners take it to be.

How can this be? And how does this apply to walking?

Simple. Because heel strike is the effect of other aspects of your biomechanics, not the cause.

Think about it. The only way you can change how your foot lands on the ground is what you do with your ankle, your hip, and your knee.

To not land on your heel when you run, you probably need to bend your knee more than you usually do. But that alone could cause you to trip over your toes, so you also need to bend your hip a bit more. And then you may relax your ankle a little rather than pulling your toes towards your knee.

So “land on your forefoot” is really just a cue for “bend the hip and knee and relax the ankle.” For most people It’s a change in your whole posture of running. But if you told someone to change their hip, knee and ankle joint angles, they’d be too confused to even take a step.

Well, it’s similar with walking. Where your foot lands isn’t the issue. How you move your foot through space is.

When you walk, your foot can land in one of three ways: touching the front of the foot first, followed by the heel dropping to the ground; landing basically flat-footed, probably touching the midfoot first, or; touching/rolling over the heel… which is sort of still a flat-footed landing but with the heel contacting first.

Which one of these happens is a function of how fast/slow you’re walking, whether you’re walking up/down hill, whether you’re accelerating or slowing down, and what kind of surface you’re on.

Really, there’s no need to worry about foot-strike. It’ll take care of itself… if you pay attention to this next thing.

Here’s How to Walk Naturally

First, you’ll want to be barefoot, or as close to barefoot as possible. (In other words, if you don’t want to walk in bare feet, avoid a cushioned shoe and pick a pair of barefoot-inspired, or minimalist, shoes instead.)

Why? Because there’s value in being able to fully articulate your foot and in letting the nerves in your feet actually feel the ground.

If I then asked you to start walking, most people would basically swing their free leg out in front of them and, at the right moment, push off the toes of the back leg to pivot over the front foot, which has landed on the heel way out in front of you.

Try this instead: Lift your left foot about an inch off the ground and imagine the motion you might see in roller skating or ice skating. When you’re skating, you push yourself forward with the back leg, driving the heel backwards, which engages the glutes and the hamstrings.

In fact, If you can feel your glutes and hamstrings, tightening them will drive your heel back and move you forward. (“Drive the heel back” and “tighten your glutes” are two cues referring to the same thing.)

When you do this – driving the heel back and using your glutes and hamstrings – don’t worry about doing anything with your left leg (which is slightly off the ground). Don’t move it forward. Let it just hang there and use it to catch you from falling on your face.

As your weight shifts onto your left leg, don’t actively swing your right leg out in from of you. Just lift it an inch or so off the ground and repeat the motion I just described, driving your left heel backwards and using your right leg to catch you so you don’t face-plant.

If you simply place your foot down where it’ll stop you from falling (rather than swinging it out in front of you like you usually do), it’ll land closer to your center of mass, more flat-footed, with a slightly bent hip and knee, and with the now front leg in a biomechanically stronger position. You will have planted your foot.

If you repeat this — using your glutes and hips to move you forward, and placing your feet instead of swinging your legs forward — you’ll be supporting your lower back… and your knees, and your hips, and even your ankles.

Your foot-strike will take care of itself.

You’ll feel like you’re walking “on top of your feet” rather than behind them.

This motion may feel a bit robotic at first, but as you practice and relax, it’ll get smooth, comfortable, and efficient.

The Health Benefits of Walking Barefoot

Many podiatrists grasp the benefits of walking barefoot and recommend it as a cure for plantar fasciitis. Many chiropractors and orthopedic physicians recommend walking barefoot to cure lower back pain.

Being barefoot can help with plantar fasciitis because, when you walk barefoot, especially on uneven surfaces, you’ll use your feet in a way that “pre-loads” the plantar fascia, putting them in a strong position when you need them.

Being barefoot can help with lower back pain because it helps you walk naturally, the way human beings are built to walk. When you do that, as we saw above, you use your glutes and hamstrings as the prime movers. Using them makes them stronger, and stronger glutes and hamstrings support your lower back.

And using these big muscles is what can support you, whether you’re going for a stroll or carrying a 50 pound pack on a trail (which, by the way, will be easier because your engaged glutes and hamstrings support your lower back).

Foot Pain
Back Pain

When you think about staying on top of your feet, and using your glutes and hamstrings, you’ll naturally discover the easy and efficient ways to walk in any situation. You’ll understand it from the inside out, from your own experience, not from some guidebook about how many inches behind your knee you should have your ankle when you’re walking up a 10 degree incline in 50 degree weather on a Thursday.

Combine this with feeling the world because you’re barefoot or in some truly minimalist footwear (be warned, most major shoe companies claim their product is “barefoot” when it’s about as close to barefoot as a pair of stilts), and I guarantee that your next walk or hike will be a revelation… and a lot of fun.

I’m still working on a video to demonstrate what I mean, but in the meantime, check out this video from Dr. Justin Lin, which makes the points I made above:

A Few Common Questions about Walking Barefoot

Can I walk barefoot on hard surfaces?

People often assume walking barefoot is really only possible on soft surfaces like grass or sand. This isn’t true.

If you learn to move the way we described above, which running or walking barefoot teaches you to do, you can handle hard surfaces just fine.

Note, though, that there is a time for shoes. Sometimes surfaces are too hot, sometimes there are sharp objects around that can pose a risk of injuries, sometimes you want to go into a restaurant. More on that in the next question…

Minimalist shoes compared to barefoot.

Can minimalist shoes give me the same health benefits as walking barefoot?

I realize walking barefoot isn’t for everyone (and isn’t the best thing on all occasions, as I noted above). That’s why we created Xero Shoes, to give you an experience as close as possible to running or walking barefoot while still having shoes on your feet.

Xero Shoes are designed with a thin, flexible sole and a roomy toe box that let your feet move naturally. You can get the same kinds of health benefits (for instance, strengthening the muscles of your feet, as one study found) and other benefits, like greater feedback from your environment.

We make minimalist shoes, sandals, and even boots, that you can wear anywhere from the office to the trail.

Intrigued? Find your perfect pair here.

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.

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Dan Lieberman on Running Form

Harvard’s Daniel Lieberman is one of the stars in Chris McDougall’s book, Born To Run. In the book, Chris describes Dr. Lieberman’s anthropological theory that humans ability to run long distances (while maintaining their body temperature) allowed us to chase down animals that, for short distances, are much faster than we are. He also details Lieberman’s research into running mechanics and running form, including the famous study that demonstrated how barefoot running puts less force through your joints and can be better/safer for you.

Well, thanks to Pete Larson at www.runblogger.com (who turned me onto the following video), and thanks to Tuck at http://yelling-stop.blogspot.com/ (from whom Pete found it), I’m happy to share this video of Dan sharing his top 5 tips for better running.

All I would add (and I’m about to release something that describes this) is that “Don’t overdo it” isn’t a useful message, because the only way you know if you’ve over-done it, is when you’ve done too much and it’s over! 😉

In other words, better to come up with a plan for what you ARE going to do, rather than make an admonition about what you shouldn’t do, since us humans are as bad at following “don’t do this” rules as we may be as good at chasing down an antelope.

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Barefoot Running Sandals vs. Running Shoes

A barefoot running vs. running shoes “infographic”

I’m get all geeky over well-presented information, and the graphic about barefoot running and regular running shoes from XRayTechnicianSchoools.net is a pleasure.

Whenever someone says to me “Barefoot running can cause injuries” I remind them of the fact in 1/3 of the infographic: 90% (I heard 80%) of marathoners get injured each year.

When people ask me about wearing barefoot running shoes in the winter, I remind them of that big squiggly time line showing that for hundreds of thousands of years, we would walk and run barefoot, without shoes, in some pretty cold places (in other words, your body, given time, will acclimate).

And, I agree that being barefoot is not appropriate all the time… like when you want to get into a restaurant. Hence the value of our high-tech upgrade on the Tarahumara huarache-inspired shoes and sandals, where you still get a great barefoot feel, but can get into restaurants.

I also got a great flashback from the 1974 timeline: I vividly remember getting my first pair of Nike Waffle Trainers. What’s funny is that most people remember that it allowed you to land on your heel. I remember that it had such a large amount of “toe spring” (a curve up from the ball of your foot to your toes) that it kept me on my toes! (I was, and still am, a sprinter, so I don’t spend much time running on my heels).

AMAZING to see that barefoot running shoes are a $1.7 billion industry, in part because the market has grown MUCH faster than anyone imagined it would. But also because most of the barefoot running shoes are SO expensive. Minimalist shoes clearly doesn’t mean minimalist prices, it seems 😉

And, of course, I agree about the best way to start barefoot running (there’s no rush to make the transition out of running shoes and over to barefoot)

Free Your Feet
Created by: X Ray Technician Schools

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.

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How Barefoot is Barefoot, Really?

Okay, Pop Quiz time:

Which of the following fictitious barefoot running shoes gives you more of a barefoot feel:

a.) ASICs  Nuttin’-2C with a 10mm thick sole
b.) Brooks Zilch-City with a 1mm thick sole

If you answered B, you’re mistaken.

But if you answered A, you’re also wrong.

Yes, my apologies, but this was a trick question.

In the barefoot/minimalist footwear world, there are several  concepts buzzing around, ideas upon which runners make buying decisions, that are potentially red herrings. In other words, these concepts can be used to inform or mislead, depending on how they’re used and how much other information comes along for the ride.

And “sole thickness” is a biggie.

If you look at ads for various minimalist and barefoot footwear products, sole thickness is highlighted.  Sometimes bragged about. Thinner soles, some believe, are inherently better than thicker. Unless you’re a trail runner, then slightly thicker is better. Confused yet?

You should be. Because, it’s not that simple.

Let’s go back to my trick question.. The reason neither answer is correct is that I didn’t tell you what the soles are made of.

If the 10mm sole was made of cotton candy, you may as well be running on the ground.

But if the 1mm sole was made stainless steel, or carbon nanotubes, you wouldn’t be able to tell if you were on the ground at all.

I’m exaggerating for effect — both comic and practical. But looking out in the market, you’ll see sole thickness used as a seeming shorthand for “barefootedness.” In other words,  “thinner” means closer to barefoot.

I recently had an Xero Shoes customer call me and tell me about his particular brand of minimalist shoe and how it advertised a 3mm sole. He wanted to know whether I thought his shoe was “more barefoot” than our 4mm Connect barefoot sandal.

“Great,” I said, knowing the shoe in question. “It’s only 3mm thick. But is it flexible? Can you roll it into a tube?”

“Well, no,” he said, clearly trying. “It’s pretty rigid.”

“And if you put on that shoe and you stepped on a nail, how similar would  that feel to stepping on it barefoot? Wait!” I added, hoping I wasn’t too late to avoid a lawsuit, “Don’t actually step on a nail to check!”

I continued, “If you look inside that shoe, can you see the extra 2-3mm of insole padding they added to the 3mm outer sole?”

“Uh-huh.”

I could hear in his voice the first stages of someone starting to see through the fog of marketing hype.

Many shoe marketers suggest, and many minimalist shoe buyers believe, that sole thickness is equivalent to “barefoot feel.” It’s not. It’s more complicated than that.

When it comes to minimalist shoes, I feel compelled to paraphrase a line than no man wants to hear from a woman, “Honey, thickness isn’t everything.”

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How a Barefoot Running Blister Taught Me about Blister Prevention and Changed My Life

Getting a blister from barefoot running was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.

Let me back up and tell you the whole story so you can understand why.

On my second barefoot run ever, I was so fascinated by the sensations, and so transfixed by experimenting to see the effects of different stride patterns, that I didn’t even notice I had run 5k. Now that may not sound like much to you ultra-marathon guys, but I’m a sprinter. I’d never run more than a mile before!

About 20 minutes after the run, though, I noticed that I had a big blister on the ball of my left foot, under my 2nd toe.

It wasn’t lost on me that I only had a blister on one foot. And it was particularly interesting that it was my left foot, because most of the injuries I’d been getting (the ones that inspired me to try barefoot running, with the hope it would cure me), were in my left leg.

Clearly, I was doing something with my left leg that caused the blister, something I wasn’t doing with my right leg, which felt fine.

A week later, I went out for another barefoot run, well before the blister had fully healed. I thought that I’d experiment some more and see if I could run in a way that didn’t hurt, figuring that if I wasn’t in pain I wouldn’t be doing what caused the blister in the first place.

And, I figured, if I couldn’t find a way to run pain-free in about ten minutes, I’d just stop and try again when the blister was gone.

As a ran, I kept thinking, “How can I stop doing with my left leg what I’m already not doing with my right?” But no luck. For the first nine minutes of that run I was in pain. I couldn’t find a way to move my leg, or meet the ground, that didn’t hurt.

I put my attention on my good leg, my right leg, and wondered, “How can I just do THIS, whatever that is, with my left leg?”

About a minute later, something changed.

At the time, I didn’t know what it was, all I knew is that I was able to run without my left foot hurting. I wasn’t doing whatever it was that caused the blister in the first place.

And, simultaneously, I started running easier, faster, lighter and with less effort than I ever had. I finished the run (only about 3k this time, but still…) and felt fine.

That was the last time I’ve been injured from running.

What changed? Before I answer that question, let me first explain why blisters form in the first place. Understanding that will help the rest of what I say make more sense. It will also help you start to see how you can avoid blisters in your own running.

What Causes Blisters from Running, Anyway?

Running blisters are caused by excessive friction. They occur when your skin is being rubbed in a way that damages it. Your body’s response is to gather clear fluid underneath the skin that is being damaged to protect the underlying tissues. As you know, they are painful — especially if the blister pops, exposing the raw skin underneath.

When you are running in shoes, blisters can form any time your foot is sliding against your shoe. Obviously, a blister doesn’t form immediately. But when friction occurs from repeated rubbing of any part of your feet or toes inside your shoes, eventually you’re going to wind up with a painful blister.

Note that this can happen when running barefoot, too, as I experienced. The way your foot makes contact with the ground can also generate the kind of friction that leads to blisters.

Barefoot running blisters certainly aren’t necessary; nor are blisters when wearing running shoes. The key is to prevent the friction that causes them to form in the first place.

So how do we do that?

The Running Mistakes That Lead to Blisters

When runners get blisters, it is often because they are doing one or more of these three things:

  1. Overstriding (reaching out with their foot rather than placing it under — or closer to — their center of mass)
  2. Pulling their feet towards them (which, by the way, also puts strain on the hamstring)
  3. Pushing off with their feet using their toes (instead of placing their feet then lifting them off the ground)

When it came to my own blister, I discovered I was doing the first of these. More about that in a moment.

If you think about the mechanics of how blisters form, you can see the problem here with all three.

Let’s dive into each with a bit more detail to help you avoid blisters in the future.

Reaching out with your feet:

When you land with your foot too far in front of your body you’ll be applying braking force on your feet every time they hit the ground. In other words, as your foot hits, the momentum of your body wants to continue forward but your foot is pushing back against it.

Exactly what happens next depends upon what you’re wearing. If you have nothing on your feet, your skin is likely to grip the ground, preventing it from sliding. This means stress on your tissues as lower layers essentially tug against the upper layer of your skin.

If, on the other hand, you overstride while wearing a running shoe, your foot is probably going to slide within the shoe as the shoe’s sole grips the ground securely.

Whichever happens, this repetitive rubbing can generate blisters. The location will vary, however, depending upon your foot strike pattern. If you land heel first, you’re likely going to get blisters on your heels. (By the way, landing on your heels is a bad idea for other reasons, too. It creates significant impact forces that are hard on your joints and tissues.)

If you land mid-foot or toward the front of your foot, you’re going to see blisters on the balls of your feet. This is what I was doing since, as a sprinter, I wanted to land on the ball of my foot.

The solution to this blister-causing stride pattern is landing your steps closer to under your body.

Pulling your feet

Many runners can fall into this habit because it feels like a way to gain more speed – to essentially pull your body forward with your foot against the ground. The result is just like what happens when you land with your feet too far out in front of you, only this time the direction of the rubbing is the opposite. You still end up with increased friction on the bottom of your foot and the resulting blisters.

If you stop overstriding, and land with your foot under your body, you’re less likely to pull your foot when it’s on the ground, reducing the chances of developing this type of blister.

Pushing off

This is similar to pulling with the foot, though here it isn’t pulling with a foot out in front of me but trying to give an extra push forward with a foot beneath or behind me, by flexing your toes, or what some call “toe-ing off.”

You can probably see how this puts horizontal pressure on the toes, creating more friction.

The correct motion simply involves lifting (not pushing) your foot off the ground by flexing your hip.

In other words, imagine that you step on a bee… you wouldn’t push off the ground since that would drive the stinger further into your foot. Instead, you would reflexively flex your hip, which lifts your foot off the ground.

To prevent a pushing-off blister, you want to think about lifting the foot rather than pushing off.

I could summarize all three of these things by saying you should try to run in such a way that minimizes horizontal forces applied to the bottoms of your feet. Your feet should come and go down without braking, pushing, pulling, or sliding. If you want to prevent blisters, you need to learn to run in a way that minimizes friction.

Can Barefoot Running Help Prevent Blisters?

I began by telling my own story about getting a blister when I started experimenting with barefoot running. While I’m not suggesting you run barefoot, it was certainly life changing for me.

One of the best things about barefoot running is that when you are doing something wrong in your form, it hurts. In contrast, correct form feels great. So you learn right away to listen to the feedback your body is giving you and to make adjustments.

All of the padding and support in traditional running shoes actually prevent you from really feeling what’s going on.

With barefoot running, you become attuned to the effects of your form and can use that input to coach yourself to become a better runner. It’s an ongoing process of continual improvement. I believe a better form is going to be better for your body in every way, including reducing the chances of getting blisters.

But What about Barefoot Shoes?

Given what I’ve said about running barefoot, you might be wondering what I’d say about barefoot shoes (after all, I did start Xero Shoes). Do they give any advantages when it comes to blister prevention?

One of the reasons for blisters is the foot rubbing that comes from the way you’re running, as we discussed above. Another reason many runners get blisters, however, is because of the shoes they are wearing. If your shoes don’t fit properly or move properly with your foot, you are going to have issues.

Think about it. Your feet have many bones, joints, and muscles that are designed to move as you walk or run. They are not solid, immovable objects. That means your shoes need to be able to move with your feet to reduce or eliminate friction.

Traditional running shoes fall short in this area. They are too stiff to flex naturally and usually too cramped in the toe box to allow your toes to move freely. Instead, they end up rubbing against the sides of the shoe, or against each other, both of which can be blister-causing. A still heel can also lead to blisters on the Achilles.

Barefoot running shoes are designed with a thin, flexible sole and a roomy, foot-shaped toe box. This kind of shoe is going to do three things for you. First, it is going to allow you to maintain that ground feel I was talking about earlier. You’ll be able to listen to the feedback your body gives you to hone in on your ideal form. Second, barefoot shoes will move with your feet, helping to prevent blisters. And third, the wider toe box can keep your toes from rubbing against each other.

People sometimes think it is inevitable that new running shoes will hurt your feet. This just isn’t true. New shoes that actually move with your feet and have enough room for your toes can feel great from day one.

Other Tips to Prevent Blisters

Your shoes and your form are probably the most important things to pay attention to if you want to prevent blisters. There are two other things that can be helpful to keep in mind, however:

  • Moisture: Moisture is your enemy when it comes to blisters. As surprising as it might sound, moisture increases friction and can also make your skin more susceptible to damage. If you need to, you can use talcum powder (like baby powder) to help absorb moisture.
  • Running Socks: Socks are a useful way to control moisture when you run wearing shoes. We could get into a big discussion about which are the right socks (Cotton socks? Wool? Double-layer socks?), but I’ll save that for another time. Running socks are usually specially designed to wick away moisture. If you do choose to wear socks to help keep your feet dry and reduce friction, look for the thinnest socks you can find to preserve as much as possible the natural feedback we’ve talked about above.
  • Moderation: Even in the best of circumstances, your skin can only take so much, especially when you are getting started or beginning to push to longer distances. Runners sometimes resort to extra tricks like applying duct tape or an anti-chafing balm when they know they’ll be dealing with tiredness and their form breaking down at the end of a longer-than-usual run. I get it; sometimes you feel like you need to be out there, even despite your blisters. In general, though I think it’s best to take it slowly and, again, listen to your body.

To summarize, run in a way that minimizes friction on your feet, stay away from ill-fitting shoes that don’t let your feet move naturally, keep your feet dry, and be prepared to listen when your body is telling you to stop or slow down. If you do get them, treat blisters and take some time off so your body can heal.

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It’s no fun to get foot blisters. But my first barefoot running blister was the best thing that ever happened to me as a runner. It taught me to listen to my body and I’ve become a much better runner for it.

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.