Barefoot in the park

Do you wheeze when you run down the street? Do you run out of breath when you're climbing stairs? Do you have a bad knee that prevents you from breaking into a trot? Or a back problem that stops you scampering down the beach with your children? Do you hate smug joggers and fantasise about running them over in your 4x4? Believe it or not, running might help. That too, barefoot.

There's finally a global realisation that humans have run barefoot for thousands of years and press reports about ruining your joints unless you run with high cushioning soles is codswallop. Though it is near non-existent in industrialised and the wealthier countries, barefoot running is quite common in the poorer nations. The best example of it can be seen in the Kalahari desert, the plains of Kenya and the canyons of north Mexico.

After all, the Kalahari's San tribe still engages in persistent hunts in the desert, the Kenyans are now world-beaters at distance running and the reclusive Tarahumara tribemembers happily run races of 150 miles or more, well into their twilight years. And all are immune to the injuries that plague the rest of the world despite its access to sports medicine, training innovations and high-tech footwear.

Now, barefoot running doesn't necessarily mean running barefoot-it refers to man's natural running style where we land on the middle of our feet and our bodies act as shock-absorbers. No one's saying you should run barefoot over broken bottles or through the snow. Ideally, you want a punctureresistant, waterproof sole in which the nerve endings in your feet feel and react. You must not run on your heel.

I took a trip to Kenya to learn more about this running style. Under the watchful eye of Australian strength and conditioning coach Luke Duffy, I learned that it's all about posture. You must keep your head up, shoulders back and eyes straight at the horizon. You need to lean your hips forward until you almost fall and then strike the ground with the balls of your feet and only kiss the ground with your heels. You should try to have minimum contact with the ground before you kick back your foot with your hamstring.

And you should keep your arms as straight as possible to prevent your head going forward. It's like the upright style of the legendary Michael Johnson; feet, hips and head all aligned. You must not over-stride to speed up. You just need to lift your feet off the ground faster, like you are running on hot lava, but without spending more time in the air. They filmed me after I had run on a beach after five km to check on my gait. That's because when you are tired, you run in a default position. Sure enough, my hip posture was a little broken and my head was not high enough but thankfully, my barefoot running gait was essentially all there.

Today, my lower calves, my right buttock and right Achilles have taken a pounding, but my back and neck are pain free, even after 10-km runs. I have switched to Vivo Barefoot Evo from Terra Plana shoes, which is like having smooth skin on your feet. I now have the most extraordinary energy running, because my running style is much more efficient.

However, if you have serious orthotics or body misalignment, you don't want to rush into barefoot running. You may need to realign yourself first. Heidi Grant, a NUCCA (National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association) chiropractor in London, says: "If you're not properly aligned at your shoulders and hips, the wear and tear on your knees, ankles and hips can be a lot more damaging." The NUCCA is a chiropractic technique that involves aligning the top bone in the neck, the atlas, to allow the rest of the spine and nervous system to function effectively. The NUCCA literally "puts the head back on straight" which you need for barefoot running.

I checked in with the association in London before leaving for Kenya. With a few adjustments to my neck and spine, I was ready to run. Not that it's easy. You want to start slowly or invest in a great transition shoe that forces you off your heels such as Newton running shoes which make your feet sense the ground faster and you won't feel the need to land on your heel. If you already run with a mid-foot or forefoot strike, you will notice that you are on and off the ground quicker with less harsh impact and greater forward propulsion. Barefoot running is all about controlling the body's shock absorption.

It's with an aligned head and hips and a light forefoot strike directly below the hips that you find the most efficient running position. The first high cushioning running shoes were invented in the 1970s. Before this, all great runners ran with a straight back, knees bent and with a foot strike directly below the hips-there was no other way to absorb the shock. The next range of running shoes changed all this.

The theory was that by running with a high heel, it would propel you forward but it means that your feet strike the ground in front of you. A padded heel strike brings your foot forward and causes ten times the strain on your ankles, knees and back. It's a huge scandal. The damage you can do in 'shock absorbing' running shoes is an almost unbelievable revelation. The American College of Sports Medicine has found that, since the 1970s, 80 per cent runners stop running owing to injury resulting from wear and tear. Despite all the technology- companies like Asics and Adidas have spent millions of dollars developing cushioning systems- Achilles tendon blowouts have risen by 10 per cent. Nike, that has had a barefoot model since 2002, has launched a new barefoot range, called the Nike Free Run.

The company believes the future is barefoot. In fact, Chloe Shattock, a technical expert at Nike Running, says, "All our latest studies point to barefoot running. It is the future. After a lot of biomechanical research, we have found that bare feet hit the ground at a lower angle. And people who pronate in shoes often don't pronate in bare feet or with barefoot running shoes." But it's not as simple as ditching your old running shoes. It's best to get clear instructions when you start as it's a complete re-education of your calves and hamstrings and can take a challenging three to four weeks. Skipping is a great way to help you gain elasticity.

Lee Saxby, UK's foremost expert in barefoot running and a rehabilitation specialist, has been teaching people the benefits of barefoot running for the last four years and has seen incredible results. He believes he can help everyone, from beginners to marathon runners, improve their skill and avoid discomfort and injury. "We have looked at the scientific research and the way our ancestors lived, and we really believe that barefoot running is the best way to run in the long term. It's not about throwing away your trainers and pounding the streets in naked feet; it's about looking at the way you would run if you went barefoot. We look closely at our clients' posture and introduce them to easy-to-learn techniques so that this style of running will feel completely natural in time," he says.

Incidentally, an exhaustive study by the American Academy of Medicine and Rehabilitation in 2009 has conceded that current cushioning technologies in running shoes serve to elevate the heel compared with the forefoot. Astonishingly, it adds that "the design of current running shoes, with various heel cushioning strategies and technologies to increase medial support to control foot pronation, has become widely accepted as the industry standard. However, there is no clinical evidence to support that this design is optimal to promote the long-term health of runners."

This extraordinary research, and much more like it, debunk much theory of the running shoe industry over the last 30 years. It's not going to be a bloodless revolution. You cannot expect people who live a sedentary lifestyle to start running barefoot when their feet have been mollycoddled for so many years. It takes time to adjust. But go ahead, try it. For as Coach Duffy says, barefoot running is all about fun, about bringing out that child in you. So go on, unleash those shackles on your feet, align your posture and free your body and mind.

THE BEST FOOTWEAR

• The perfect running shoe should be something like a heavy-duty ballet slipper; simply an extra layer of protective material wrapped around the foot, like a glove. If you run correctly, you will be able to wear such a shoe and never be injured.
• Vivo Barefoot Evo from UK's Terra Plana was the first footwear designed, from concept to design, for barefoot runners. A revolutionary, back-to-basics design, it has an ultra thin (3-mm) puncture-resistant sole.
• The Vibram FiveFingers range of shoes that is made in Australia weighs just 160 gm and has individual toe pockets that help improve balance and agility.
• Weighing less than 100 gm, the Feelmax Osma shoe is made from a high-quality, very thin (approximately 1-mm-thick) special fabric. This protects the sole of the foot without restricting its movement.
• Nike, the only major sports brand to offer a barefoot model since 2002, has launched a new range.Nike Free Run.