Are Barefoot Shoes Good for Walkers and Runners?

If you have been in a sporting goods store lately, you might have noticed that an ultralight, minimalist revolution of thinner and lighter clothing and gear is underway. Companies have been using new technology and high-priced materials to produce lighter and lighter products.

The revolution worked its way from jackets to tops to shorts all the way down to our shoes.

Minimalist footwear began to appear in the running world during the mid-1990s. Although humans have been trekking and running with little or no footwear for centuries, “Barefoot” Ken Bob Saxton is credited with bringing the idea of hitting the ground running in your bare feet to the American masses. In 1997, Bob set up BarefootRunning.com to encourage others to follow in his footsteps.

Companies such as Nike and Vibram (which introduced its Five Finger Shoes in 2006) picked up on the trend and began manufacturing minimalist running shoes in the early 2000s.

A minimalist shoe is, by definition, one that has little padding and a zero drop heel, meaning there’s little to no difference between the thickness of the sole at the front and back of the shoe. Additionally, minimalist shoes tend to have a wider toe box than other shoes, allowing the toes to spread out and gain a fuller, flatter “feel” of the ground’s surface.

The proposed benefit of zero-drop, minimalist walking or running shoes is that they encourage a front-of-the-foot strike while moving, as opposed to striking the heel first as one tends to do while running in a traditional, padded running shoe. The proponents of the front-foot-first strike walking and running style maintain that it mitigates the shock sent up the leg and into the knees and hips during a workout, thus reducing injury and overall wear and tear on the body.

But is this true? A 2016 study by the Luxembourg Institute of Health showed no difference in injury rates among runners who didn’t use zero-drop running shoes compared to those who did. So, if minimalist shoes don’t reduce injuries for runners and walkers, is there any benefit to wearing them?

Proponents of minimalist shoes say “yes,” declaring that walking or running in minimalist footwear builds stronger feet and better balance, thus reducing common injuries such as sprained ankles and twisted knees.

The argument goes something like this: Walking exclusively in cushioned shoes and boots, those with a high heel drop and built-in supportive arches, discourages the use of a full range of foot and ankle muscles, thus causing a weakening of the muscles, ligaments, and tendons in the foot and lower leg. Weak leg muscles and ligaments perform poorer during exercise, and are more susceptible to injury when you slip, trip, or step on an uneven surface.

But are these claims supported by the data? Maybe. In a 2019 study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, a small sample of 57 walkers was divided into three groups: one that walked in minimalist footwear; a second that did a series of foot-strengthening exercises but walked in traditional, padded walking shoes; and a third that wore traditional walking shoes but didn’t perform any special exercises.

The results showed that the group that wore the minimalist shoes and the group that performed the foot-strengthening exercise had roughly the same gains in foot strength and balance. In contrast, the control group, the one who wore traditional walking shoes and did no exercise, did not.

To put this research into perspective, the findings suggest that anyone could see the same benefits of wearing a minimalist shoe by doing foot-strengthening exercises which, unlike minimalist shoes, are free and don’t require you to change out your footwear.

Pros and Cons 

While exercising in minimalist footwear can help strengthen feet and legs, going minimal does have its drawbacks.

First and foremost is the transition from traditional shoes to something with almost no padding in the sole and none of the usual stiff ankle support of a traditional shoe. Those who switch to minimalist footwear for exercise often report a painful transition period in which the less-used muscles of the feet and legs are activated. These people start to rethink what they will and won’t step on (think sharp rocks) while wearing a thin, flexible sole.

Many people changing from traditional running shoes to minimalist footwear report a transition time of approximately two weeks to more than a month of continuous wear before taking the shoes out for strenuous, long exercise.

Adjustment period aside, those who walk or run in minimalist footwear insist that the feeling of the ground through their shoes brings a greater connection to the earth beneath them, transforming an exercise in foot strengthening into a full-body experience.

So, are minimalist shoes right for you? That depends, and before you spend lots on new footwear, you should also consider the possibility that some of the factors driving this revolution aren’t all tied to the “less is better” approach to exercise.

Be aware, for example, that companies often push new (and we hope, improved) products to grow revenues and expand their customer base. Like the never-ending updates to our smart devices and computers, new isn’t always better; it’s just different and more expensive.

The second and perhaps most important factor driving a change in the exercise industry is the changing nature of the average American. We are, as a nation, getting older and heavier. As such, there are several benefits to lightening the load during exercise, a process in which we should focus more on our bodies than on our gear.

For example, it’s estimated that for every 1 pound of weight we lose, we reduce the force on our knees by 3 pounds of pressure for every step taken. So dropping just 10 pounds (which can easily be done in a month or two) reduces the impact on our knees by 30 pounds of pressure per step. Add that up over a day, say with 5,000 steps, and that’s a reduction of 150,000 pounds of pressure on the knees daily. That’s a lot.

Bearing all of this in mind, the benefits of reducing equipment weight while exercising and the need to strengthen our feet and legs, the best option to reduce fatigue and injury while out walking or running has less to do with our equipment than it does with ourselves.

Can minimalist shoes improve the exercise experience? Possibly. But, the greater benefit to ourselves and our experience is losing weight and getting into better shape. Nothing we can carry or wear will help us more than what we can do to help ourselves.