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Why not 10mm, or 8mm, or 6mm, or 4mm, or 2mm? Do shoes really “improve biomechanics” as Bartold suggests? How do you define “improved biomechanics” anyway – what is the measure of improvement? Bartold even goes on to say in the interview that “…the thing about kids these days is that hopefully they’re pretty active, which means they will need some sort of meaningful midsole and elevated heel.” Does one really follow from the other? Have Nike Air Max 90 Femmestudies been published in peer reviewed journals that active kids are better Adidas ZX 700 Donne off in shoes with thick midsoles and elevated heels? Seems that many of the kids that grow up running barefoot in Africa like the one in the video above turn out just fine when they compete at the international level as adults…Another point to consider here from the above interview is that although I don’t think we have evolved to be shod, most of us who have been wearing shoes our entire lives have certainly adapted to them in ways that might make running unshod difficult, at least initially. Shoes can not only change our biomechanics the moment we put them on, long term shoe use can actually alter the anatomy of our feet and legs (e.g., hallux valgus due to wearing of shoes with highly tapered toeboxes, weakened bones in the feet, weakened calf muscles Nike Air Max Classic BW Womens due to continued use of heel lifts). The consequences of this might be manifesting themselves in the form of injuries like metatarsal stress fractures in people who jump into barefoot or barefoot-style running too quickly. This is a whole different topic for discussion…So, when I think about all of this in relation to the question “What is good form?”, I find myself thinking that good form in the shod condition might not be the same thing as good form in the unshod condition. Good form in a shoe with a 12mm heel lift might be different than good form in a zero drop shoe. Good form might be different on a track vs. a trail vs. a road. Good form might be different for a 4:00 miler vs. a 12:00 miler. Maybe trying to forefoot strike in a 12mm lifted shoe is a bad thing – maybe your body is heel striking because that’s what’s best in Adidas Superstar Uomo that condition. When you attempt to forefoot strike in a 12mm lifted shoe your foot is likely plantarflexed way more than it would be when barefoot so that you can land on the forefoot before the heel touches down, and perhaps that has deleterious consequences as well. Maybe a 12mm heel lift is good for your Achilles, but bad for your knees. We have tons of open questions, and hopefully answers will come with time. For now we are each left to experiment and find what works best for us on an individual level – maybe this is the best we’ll ever be able to do.These are the reasons why I have trouble answering the question of what is good form. The logical answer to me as an evolutionary biologist is to run how we evolved to run. Is barefoot running form “good form?”Nike Air Max 90 Womens Blue I’d say yes, if you are barefoot, and perhaps in some kinds of shoes (for Nike Air Huarache Damen me up to about a 4mm heel lift I think). Is barefoot running form “good form” when wearing a pair of Brooks Beasts or Asics Kayanos? Maybe, but my gut tells me that you may be forcing your body to do something it doesn’t want to do in those shoes, and maybe that’s just as bad as heel striking when running barefoot on asphalt.