title: Barefoot Running: The Effects of an 8-Week Barefoot Training Program.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It has been proposed that running barefoot can lead to improved strength and proprioception. However, the duration that a runner must train barefoot to observe these changes is unknown.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Runners participating in a barefoot running program will have improved proprioception, increased lower extremity strength, and an increase in the volume or size of the intrinsic musculature of the feet.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 2.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this 8-week study, 29 runners with a mean age of 36.34 years were randomized into either a control group (n = 10) who completed training in their regular running shoes or to an experimental barefoot group (n = 14). Pretraining tests consisted of a volumetric measurement of the foot followed by a strength and dynamic balance assessment. Five subjects completed the pretests but did not complete the study for reasons not related to study outcomes. Participants then completed 8 weeks of training runs. They repeated the strength and dynamic balance assessment after 8 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant changes from baseline to 8 weeks were observed within the barefoot group for single-leg hop (right, P = .0121; left, P = .0430) and reach and balance (right, P = .0029) and within the control group for single-left leg hop (P = .0286) and reach and balance (right, P = .0096; left, P = .0014). However, when comparing the differences in changes from baseline to 8 weeks between the barefoot and control groups, the improvements were not significant at the .05 level for all measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although statistically significant changes were not observed between the pre- and posttest evaluations in strength and proprioception with the 8-week low-intensity barefoot running regimen, this does not necessarily mean that these changes do not occur. It is possible that it may take months or years to observe these changes, and a short course such as this trial is insufficient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mullen
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA.
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cotton
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bechtold
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA.
authors.forename: E Bruce
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Toby
keywords: barefoot; barefoot running; running; training