The next time you go out for a run, try leaving your shoes at
home. Proponents say it'll give you a better stride, stronger
calf muscles, and... well, a bunch of callouses. But the
benefits will likely outweigh the callouses. Photo by shoothead.
The idea of running barefoot may seem crazy to some, but Harvard
professor Daniel E. Lieberman tells Science Daily it's part of
our evolutionary history. After all, our ancestors didn't chase
down a wildebeest while wearing a pair of Nikes. Your feet may
not need as much cushioning while running as you think, and may
actually help your foot strike the ground in a less jarring way.
'People who don't wear shoes when they run have an astonishingly
different strike,' says Daniel E. Lieberman, professor of human
evolutionary biology at Harvard University and co-author of a
paper appearing this week in the journal Nature. 'By landing on
the middle or front of the foot, barefoot runners have almost no
impact collision, much less than most shod runners generate when
they heel