Summary
This is one of your most-requested topics and as a keen runner myself I couldn’t wait to get into it. Barefoot shoes claim to encourage you to run in a more ‘natural’ way, landing on your mid or forefoot rather than on your heel. Some brands say they’ll increase your speed and reduce the likelihood of injury. But will they?
Listener Sam runs marathons and wants to know if the science backs up the marketing hype. He also wonders whether the wider toebox in barefoot shoes really does allow for our toes to be separated out in a more natural way.
It’s not just runners who got in touch either; Jon is a dog walker and is interested in wearing barefoot shoes on a more casual basis. Is there any benefit to that?
And what about children? Listener Zoe already wears barefoot shoes herself but wants to know if they might be good for her son, too. In this episode I speak to experts to weigh up the evidence. Are barefoot shoes the best thing since sliced bread? Or just marketing BS?
PRESENTER: Greg Foot PRODUCER: Simon Hoban
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, podcast fan. |
| 0:03.0 | Consider this your invite to the UK's biggest podcasting party. |
| 0:06.7 | We're heading to Sheffield from the 4th to the 6th of July |
| 0:09.0 | for the BBC Sounds Fringe at the Crossed Wires Festival. |
| 0:12.8 | We'll be joined by some of the biggest names in podcasting, |
| 0:15.3 | including Sarah Cox, Charlie Hedges, Russell Kane, |
| 0:18.4 | and some bloke called Greg James doing his Radio 4 show called Rewinder. |
| 0:23.2 | You can watch live shows of your favourite podcasts, and the best part is free. |
| 0:28.0 | To book your free tickets, go to crossedwires.org slash fringe. |
| 0:34.4 | BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. |
| 0:37.7 | Hello, I'm Greg Foote and welcome to the show that hunts for the facts behind the fads. |
| 0:44.8 | I investigate your suggested wonder products to find out if they are the best things since sliced bread or marketing BS. |
| 0:52.4 | It's another of your most requested topics this week. And to introduce it, |
| 0:56.4 | here is Sam Steers in Surrey. |
| 1:01.0 | Hi Greg. I'm really interested in barefoot shoes. I've been wearing a well-known brand now |
| 1:05.8 | for two years, mainly for going to the gym and running. I've also run two marathons in them. |
| 1:12.3 | I became a customer for two reasons. Firstly, the manufacturers claim that the sole shoes convince us to run or walk hill first, |
| 1:18.7 | which can have adverse effects on the knee, whereas barefoot shoes promote a more four-foot-first |
| 1:24.2 | strike. I've had some knee issues in the past and wanted to prevent further injury. |
| 1:29.8 | Secondly, the modern shoes are constricting and naturally our feet should be wider and our toes more |
| 1:35.2 | separated. Overall, I'd like to know if the claims are true about the four-foot strike being better for |
| 1:40.7 | our knees and if our feet should be wider. Cheers Sam. If you have seen a wonder product that you'd like me to investigate, |
... |
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