The biomechanics of barefoot running : Nature
A paper in Nature on the mechanics of human running. In the study, runners tended to land on the ball of the foot or flat when barefoot but on the heel—with a greater impact— when shod in modern running shoes.
A comparison by Daniel Lieberman and colleagues of the biomechanics of habitually shod versus habitually barefoot runners now suggests that the collision-free way that barefoot runners typically land is not only comfortable but may also help avoid some impact-related repetitive stress injuries. Kinematic and kinetic analyses show that modern shoes allow runners to land on the heel, as they do when they walk. Runners who don’t wear shoes land more often on the ball of the foot or with a flat foot.
