Minimalist Runners In The Army Get Hurt Less

"Relationships Among Self-reported Shoe Type, Footstrike Pattern, and Injury Incidence":

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the association of self-reported shoe selection with reported foot strike patterns, compare overall injury incidence associated with different shoe conditions, and identify differences in injury location between different shoe conditions....

RESULTS:

Shoe selection was significantly associated with reported footstrike (χ² (4df) =143.4, P<.001). Barefoot and minimalist runners reported a more anterior footstrike than traditionally shod runners. Traditionally shod runners were 3.41 times more likely to report injuries than experienced minimalist shoe wearers (46.7% shod vs 13.7% minimalist, χ² (1df) =77.4, P<.001, n=888). Minimalist shoe wearers also reported fewer injuries at the hip, knee, lower leg, ankle, and foot than traditionally shod runners.

Duh, no kidding. This must be part of that unfair advantage that led the Army to ban minimalist running. Idiots.

From Runblogger on Facebook.