- interview with Daniel Lieberman, who studies barefoot running. “People are looking to evolution to find out how our bodies adapted and what might be healthier for us.” I walk and run barefoot on my treadmill. During the first few months, my feet got several cuts but now they’re fine.
- “ One [Ancestral Health Symposium] presentation was quick and easy to follow” (mine).
- Science reviewers find bad modelling acceptable.
Thanks to Anne Weiss.
another reason to be bare footed on ground is “grounding”; it’s suppose to drain the build up of electro-magnetic frequency build up in one’s body. whatever the precise mechanism, i found that i have considerably more stamina since standing in my bare feet at least 20 minutes a day. i do a form of qi gong; one of the stances/postures is embracing horse, which you’re suppose to do/hold for 20 minutes; before i started grounding i was limited to 10-12 minutes until i was exhausted; i now can do the complete 20 minutes with no problem.
The Lieberman interview is great. I especially agree with his statement that “We think that one reason runners crash into the ground is because the shoe makes it possible to hit the ground hard.” Thinking that cushioned shoes PREVENT injuries is a consequence of the mindset that fails to look at how complex adaptive systems (like human beings) actually respond to stress. In case after case, measures intended to buffer us from hardship and stress end up hurting us. Edward Tenner’s excellent book “Why Things Bite Back” is a grand tour of how the law of unintended consequences applies when such “preventive” measures are unwittingly attempted.
Barefoot running is often justified on evolutionary or “paleo” principles, but I think a far more powerful explanatory principle is that of hormesis, the application of controlled stress to elicit an adaptive response that builds long term strength or capacity. I wrote about how this applies specifically in the case of barefoot running mechanics in this post:
https://gettingstronger.org/2010/03/the-paradox-of-barefoot-running/
Todd
The Vimeo page says:
Sorry, “”What foods make my brain work best?” by Seth Roberts, PhD & “From cave to cage: Mixed martial arts in ancestral health” by TM” was deleted at 9:48:56 Tue Aug 30, 2011.