Health Farm

-- Running barefoot lessens pressure and wear on knee joints, but it may not be for everyone

Barefoot running’s popularity comes and goes, but diehards swear by the injury limiting effects of the lighter load barefoot running places on their leg joints.

However, before you throw out your running shoes, ensure your feet are cut out for the job. New research suggests foot shape has a bearing on suitability for running barefoot.

Barefoot runners place more pressure on the balls of their feet, leading to a forefront strike pattern.

Researchers say people with a decent space between their big toe and other toes have muscles and bones better adapted for changing the distribution of pressure on their feet and are therefore more suited to barefoot running.

The study also suggests that people who spent their formative years going barefoot were likely to have feet better conditioned for barefoot running, simply because their toes had spent less time mashed together inside shoes, allowing the gap to flourish between their toes.

Toe gap is the new thigh gap.