Barefoot Performance

Throughout many years, athletic shoe designs have evolved to fit society's personal needs. Therefore , many top brands only focus on the comfort , performance , fit , and cushion of athletic shoes. The two primary components that need focus are the sole, which is the bottom of the shoe and the cushion. Shoe designers also focus on trying to decrease shoe injuries.

This is the main example of “society’s needs’ because it shows you the overuse of cushion  and thicker soles.

     In our opinion, a lot of work is put into creating a comfortable and fashionable shoe . Majority of the focus is pointed towards injury prevention which covers areas of the shoe like the arch, cushion, sole and performance. From the article, there are personal opinions about how a show should perform an how many injuries are prevented during barefoot running. Adding more cushion to a shoe would probably cause more injuries than less cushioned shoe. the closet your barefoot is to the ground, the better you would and probably perform. Top brands are providing shopped and sizes of peoples feet. This will give people a wider option to choose a comfortable shoe that will allow for better performance.

There are six different areas that are very important to the performance of your feet. If any of these issues listed in the picture are reduced , this will most likely help you run better and prevent less injuries.

     

“No footwear comes closer to recreating this natural sensation than Vibram FiveFingers®. It allows you to land on your forefoot, directly below your center of gravity, resulting in optimum balance, increased stability, less impact and greater propulsion. Running in FiveFingers delivers sensory feedback that improves agility and equilibrium and allows immediate form correction. In addition it stimulates and strengthens muscles in the feet and lower legs”

- http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/barefoot-sports/barefoot_running.htm

      We learned that the way our shoes are created or formed are not really beneficial to the human skeleton. As an athletic trainer/student , it is our job to know what is best for the athlete. The sole provides stability and cushioning at the interface, which is between the foot's plantar surface and the ground. Many researchers believe the humans musculoskeleton is at its best performance when barefoot walking and running.