Running showdown: Barefoot vs traditional sports shoes

Running showdown: Barefoot vs traditional sports shoes Running showdown: Barefoot vs traditional sports shoes

Walking, Movement and Health

Want to achieve the most natural movement possible when you run? Choose the right barefoot running shoes with zero drop. We’ll explain the key differences.

If you’ve ever bought sports shoes, you’ve probably come across the terms “drop” and “zero drop”. But do you actually know what drop is? Let’s take a look at the differences between sports shoes and barefoot shoes, run through the pros and cons, and see who comes out on top in this sporting showdown.

What is drop, and why it’s worth paying attention to

Drop is the difference in sole height between the heel and the toe, which puts your whole foot at a certain angle. It’s easy to picture with classic women’s court shoes, where the heel is clearly much higher than the front of the foot. Most conventional shoes have some drop; for a long time, it was simply the standard.

Over time, though, it became clear that drop can contribute to a shortened Achilles tendon – not only a pronounced drop, but even the smaller drop found in sports shoes. That’s because cushioning absorbs impact, but that’s a job your body is designed to handle via the Achilles tendon. When something else helps out and takes the impact for it, it can become less active, leading to the shortening mentioned above.

But that’s not the only issue conventional shoes with drop can bring. Problems with proprioception (your sense of body position) are also common. This impressive-sounding word describes your sense of movement and posture. It’s like a sixth sense. The human body is naturally wired to feel the surface it moves on.

That’s why we have hundreds of thousands of nerve endings in the soles of our feet. But when a thick sole cushions impact, your body can’t properly feel what’s underfoot and sends a signal to the brain. In an effort to “find” the surface, the body may encourage heavier footfalls, which can lead to issues with the knees, hips and the musculoskeletal system overall.

Zero drop vs barefoot

Zero drop means there’s no height difference between the heel and the toe. You could say the sole is flat. But that doesn’t automatically mean the shoe is barefoot – important point. Even with a flat sole, sports shoes are often fairly thick and cushioned, which affects your foot strike and overall gait. So they’re still the opponent of barefoot footwear, which aims for the most natural foot movement possible, with as little interference from the shoe as possible – meaning the thinnest sole it can manage.

That’s why zero drop is only one feature of a shoe and doesn’t address other parameters such as shape, toe space, heel fit and so on. Barefoot footwear, on the other hand, looks at the shoe and your gait as a whole.

Minimalist shoes vs barefoot

There’s also a third player in our footwear showdown: so-called minimalist shoes, which are often confused with barefoot shoes. Not heard the term before? We’ll explain. While barefoot shoes typically have a sole thickness of 3–6 mm, minimalist shoes are around 4–7 mm thicker. Even though they have less foam cushioning than many other sports shoes, natural movement and impact are still cushioned.

Minimalist shoes are closer to conventional footwear and don’t focus on toe shape with enough room for natural toe movement. They commonly have a drop of 4–8 mm. That means the heel is raised compared to the toe, putting the foot on an incline. And we already know that this incline encourages an unnatural stance and heel impacts are more cushioned, which can gradually lead to a shortened Achilles tendon.

Running in barefoot shoes? Absolutely

Choosing the right sports shoes is a real science. The shoe needs to fit like a glove, it should support you on uneven ground and ideally not restrict your foot at all. A shoe that rubs or pinches – whether on your big toe, heel or across the instep – is definitely the wrong choice.

It also depends on the surface you train on or plan to run on. There’s a big difference between running on soft woodland paths and meadows versus an asphalt cycle path. We champion the most natural movement in the most natural environment possible – so ideally barefoot shoes and the woods. That said, in nature your feet also have to deal with fairly uneven terrain, which is often more demanding than tarmac. And let’s be realistic – not everyone has a protected landscape area right on their doorstep.

Hard surfaces don’t have to be a problem at all – for so-called “asphalt runners”, they can actually feel more comfortable. Here we recommend starting with a shorter distance, even half of what you’re used to in cushioned sports shoes. Your calves and all the other 33 foot muscles need a bit of time to adapt and train for a different type of movement. But you’ll get there.

When you run in barefoot shoes, your body naturally adjusts your technique and posture (that’s proprioception again – the sixth sense). We instinctively know what would hurt. So the body lets go of a common running mistake – heavy stomping – and is naturally guided towards lighter, more careful steps.

So, running in barefoot shoes? Absolutely yes! And if you’d like to learn more about running, take a look at our article How to run in barefoot shoes.

Naboso’s tried-and-tested running shoe picks:

You’ll find more models in the article How to run in barefoot shoes?

You have to start somewhere

The human foot has 200,000 nerve endings. Yes, really – that many zeros. Let’s give it natural movement and as much contact as possible with the ground we walk on. Your feet and your body will thank you, and you’ll soon feel your walking and running becoming lighter. For an even more intense movement experience and better circulation and foot function, use NABOSO Sensorimotor Insoles. After training, treat your feet to a few minutes of relaxation with the NABOSO Neuro Ball. You can also keep your feet in shape with exercises – we’ve written more about that in the article Keep your feet in shape. 

So who wins today’s sporting showdown? What will you run in next time? Decide for yourself.

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