Higher Injury Risk Running in Running Shoes

You might be at a higher injury risk running in running shoes with thick soles and cushionee-heels:

Barefoot runner

In Nature January 2010, Lieberman et al. found that shod runners generate higher collisions forces with the ground during each foot contact than barefoot runners.  Because of the large heel found in running shoes, a shod running will likely heel-strike during foot contact rather than fore-foot strike or mid

HEEL STRIKE

-foot strike.  The opposite is true for barefoot runners.  

Via kinematic and kinetic analyses, Lieberman et al. found that even on hard surfaces, barefoot runners would generate smaller ground contact forces.  To explain this difference in collision force, Lieberman et al. describe that the foot is more plantarflexed (because of the fore-foot or mid-foot ground contact) at landing and that the ankle has more compliance; thus, “decreasing the effective mass of the body that collides with the ground.”  Therefore, heel strikers may be at risk for impact related injuries when running.

Sources:

Lieberman DE, Venkadesan M, Werbel WA, Daoud AI, D'Andrea S, Davis IS, Mang'eni RO, Pitsiladis Y. Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners. Nature. 2010 Jan 28;463(7280):433-4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20111000

Barefoot runner picture - http://tinyurl.com/cbtbqj
Heel Strike picture - http://tinyurl.com/yzqutx5

Makes you think twice about why you buy $100-$200 fancy running shoes doesn't it?  

-JK