01/24/2012    

INTERNATIONAL PODIATRISTS IN THE NEWS

Barefoot Running Benefits Can be Achieved Without Ditching Shoes: NZ Podiatrist

Podiatrist Bruce Baxter first noticed the surge in barefoot running about 18 months ago. "My practice is right on the riverbank in Christchurch. I was seeing all these middle-aged men. It was bloody funny because you could still see their sock marks. You see them picking their way across the road; then they get on to the grass. They kind of run funny, like it hurts. Over the weeks, you start to see them get a little bit more comfortable with it."

Bruce Baxter

Baxter concedes that many podiatrists reject the barefoot movement because it threatens their orthotics business. But he takes a different view. Barefoot running promotes landing underneath your center of gravity, and that's good running technique. But Baxter argues that you can also change your running posture without ditching the shoes, by a combination of video analysis and simple drills.

Source: Nikki MacDonald, The Dominion Post [1/22/12]