Stressing on the benefit of running barefoot, a new study published in the journal Nature suggests that running barefoot changes the way in which a person’s foot hit the ground - bringing about a reduction in the stress-level on the feet as well as preventing injuries that mostly irk the customarily shod runners.

The study, led by Harvard University biologist Daniel Lieberman, noted that barefoot runners generally land on the forefoot, causing a smaller part of the foot to come to an abrupt stop, with any further shock being absorbed by the natural spring-like motion of the foot and leg.

In contrast, runners wearing shoes mostly land on their heels which have to bear the shock of the landing impact – as such sports shoe-makers design footwear with foams, gels, or air pockets in the heels to reduce the potentially damaging impact that equals nearly 2-3 times a person’s body weight.

For the study, the researchers used high-speed video and force plate, which is a bathroom scale-like device, to undertake a digital dissection of the moment-by-moment stress-levels on the feet of 63 runners when they ran barefoot.

Commenting on the findings, the researchers said: “Our feet were made in part for running. For most of human evolutionary history, runners were either barefoot or wore minimal footwear such as sandals or moccasins with smaller heels and little cushioning.”