Digging into Daniel Lieberman’s Barefoot Running Research

Updated with poll results below!

As I try to keep up with all the buzz on the release of Daniel Lieberman's much-anticipated barefoot running research, I'm spending more time on Lieberman's Harvard old-school-styled website titled Running Barefoot or in Minimal Footwear, which for sake of reference, I'll refer to as "Running BoMFManolo pumps."

One of the things I noticed on Running BoMF that I'd like to dig into is Lieberman's speculation as to why approximately 75% of shod runners heel strike. Per Running BoMF's section Foot Strikes & Running Shoes:

       1. It's comfortable. The shock-absorbing features cushion the force of impact. The graph below compares the forces that occur at the ground for a runner landing on the heel when barefoot (a) and in a running shoe (b). Note the initial impact transientManolo shoe, a nearly instantaneous and large increase in force that occurs as the heel comes to a sudden stop upon impacting the ground. The shoe reduces the force by about 10% and slows the rate of loading considerably. This, in addition to distributing the impact force over a larger area of the rearfoot, makes it comfortable to heel strike.
       2.

          Thicker rearfoot cushioning than forefoot cushioning. This high heel makes it easier to heel strike because the sole below the heel is typically about twice as thick as the sole below the forefoot. So if your foot would tend to land flat when barefoot, it will land on the heel when in a shoeManolo Blahnik pumps.

          Barefoot Heel Strike Ground Reaction Force    

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