By: John Baker and Lily Hoog-Fry
What's the Difference Between Sprinting and Running?
When asking, “are my minimalist shoes (hopefully they're Bearfoot!) good for sprinting?'' It is important to define what sprinting really is, and what separates it from running before looking at some research between traditional running shoes, bare feet, and minimalist/zero drop shoes.
Although we know sprinting as one of the quintessential movements associated with training hard, what does it mean when someone says something is good for sprinting versus running?
Sprinting and running are similar, yet distinct, separated by factors like positioning, goal, time, and distance. Sprinting involves maximal effort, typically over shorter distances compared to running. While some exceptional athletes effectively "sprint" marathons, for the average person, sprinting means brief, intense bursts. These usually consist of repeated maximal effort bouts interspersed with longer periods of rest. Running, on the other hand, typically covers longer distances in a steady-state format, or with minimal rest between medium and longer distance bouts. Overall, despite their similarities, key differences emerge in lower leg and lower limb positioning, foot strike patterns (forefoot versus heel strike), connective tissue loads, **ground contact time**, and body positioning relative to the ground.
When we examine the positioning in sprinting versus running, we observe both similarities and crucial differences. The primary distinction lies in the horizontal versus vertical displacement or force vector produced during strides. In simpler terms, when you sprint, you maintain a lower, more acute angle to the ground, generating greater horizontal force and power. Each step in sprinting is a shorter stride than in running, and the lower extremity moves in a powerful pumping action. This pumping motion, as opposed to a cyclic motion, facilitates the greater impact forces necessary for rapid acceleration. By striking forcefully back at the ground, you harness the ground's propulsive return force, meaning a more forceful strike translates to greater forward propulsion. This is why sprinters focus on driving hard into the ground and generating as much horizontal force as possible for acceleration, often exhibiting a physique more akin to bodybuilders than long-distance runners—more strength equals more force into the ground, which equals more speed. This perspective highlights why a cushioned modern running shoe might not be as ideal as a flexible shoe with a thin rubber sole that promotes foot strength and natural biomechanics. This is where **Bearfoot shoes** excel.
While running, you still strike the ground with force, but your body posture is far more upright. This necessitates a more cyclic or rotary action with your legs, rather than the powerful pumping motion seen in sprinting. The aim of this cyclic stride isn't to lean forward for acceleration, but rather to maintain an upright posture and "bounce" off the ground, minimizing **ground contact time** and reducing friction forces exerted by the ground. This optimizes running economy. Remember, you only need to stay low and horizontal when accelerating; once you've reached your maximum acceleration distance, the focus shifts to maximizing running economy.
During the flight phase of running, you move through space with minimal friction, but each time your foot touches the ground, it's akin to tapping the brakes. Each **ground contact** significantly increases friction forces acting on your body, substantially reducing your speed. An efficient runner understands that small decreases in **ground contact time** lead to significant reductions in overall running times—this is where minimalist footwear, like **Bearfoot shoes**, can have a huge impact. Some shoe companies mistakenly believe that narrowing the toe box and front of the shoe is the best way to decrease friction, labeling it as "shoe technology." However, this approach disrupts the intrinsic muscles of the foot, the small muscles extending from the lower leg into the foot, and the crucial longitudinal arch of the foot.
The optimal approach appears to be using flexible shoes with less cushioning, combined with a proper transition to running and sprinting barefoot or in minimalist footwear (ideally starting at a younger age, always with a proper transitioning and acclimation period – Here’s a blog on How to Transition to Barefoot Shoes: A Research-Based Guide). This strategy aims to improve the shock absorption and elastic capabilities of the Achilles tendon, plantar fascia, and longitudinal arch, while also strengthening any muscle weaknesses that might disrupt natural gait and lead to poor form.
Are Bearfoot Shoes Going to Make Me Slower?
A 2014 study (Theophilos et al) investigated the effects and potential benefits of three different footwear styles on 30m sprint performance: conventional running shoes, traditional track spikes, and barefoot running. This study included 33 participants, with an average age of 12, who had never trained barefoot (they were conventional shoe wearers!) and consistently trained at least 4 days a week.
Participants performed multiple sprints in each type of footwear and barefoot on various testing days. This design is crucial for leveling the playing field and increasing the credibility of the results. Additionally, all participants received the same warm-up, and testing days maintained consistent environmental and track conditions. While this might seem minor, imagine running in freezing rain without a proper warm-up, then comparing it to subsequent hot, dry days with a full warm-up. In such a hypothetical scenario, it would be difficult to attribute results solely to the footwear.
Post-testing, the study revealed that the footwear did not affect the sprinters' speed! There were no statistically or clinically/practically significant differences between sprint times and footwear types (Avg: Conventional Footwear = 5.30sec, Spikes = 5.28sec, Barefoot = 5.29sec). This demonstrates that, even without prior barefoot running experience, switching to barefoot sprinting did not result in noteworthy performance deterioration. This study supports the idea that acquiring **Bearfoot shoes** for sprinting is, at the very least, unlikely to make you slower. Can you envision a future filled with more barefoot activity?
Stronger & Faster:
So, we've learned that switching to barefoot running won't immediately hinder your sprinting performance, and you're cleared to start sprinting in your **Bearfoot shoes**. But what happens when we examine the effects of transitioning to barefoot running on sprinting performance over a few months? Thankfully, Hollander and his colleagues (2019) explored this, and here’s what they discovered.
Hollander and his team specifically investigated how transitioning from conventional footwear to barefoot running would impact biomechanics. In their study, 60 participants (all with no prior barefoot running exposure) were randomly assigned to either a conventional footwear or a barefoot group. The study spanned 8 weeks, comprising weekly 15-minute running sessions at 70% VO2max on a treadmill (meaning it was moderately challenging). For context, a treadmill offers a hybrid experience, representing both hard and soft running surfaces, making it a good general indicator for various running environments.
The results indicated that the barefoot group exhibited greater peak force, lower **ground contact times**, improved power, enhanced flight times, improved running mechanics, and an improved amortization phase (meaning they could make **contact with the ground** and spring back off faster). The combined effect of these improvements leads to faster running and literally more efficient energy expenditure. This increased efficiency stems from biomechanical differences created by enhanced elastic recoil of the lower leg and foot muscles and tendons, which also helps mitigate some risk factors and common overuse injuries seen in running (e.g., stress fractures).
This study confirms that not only will our **Bearfoot shoes** not make us slower, but they may actually save energy and make us faster while simultaneously lowering injury risk. These findings were further corroborated in 2022 by Jaén-Carillo and colleagues, who also found that transitioning to barefoot running from traditional running shoes resulted in improved running power, efficiency, and economy.
Bearfoot Gainz for Kids:
In 2021, an intriguing study was published by Mizushima and his colleagues. They recruited 194 children, aged 10-12, from two different schools in the same Japanese city. All participants at each primary school engaged in a daily 10-minute self-paced running activity on a hard dirt track. The key difference between the children from the two schools was that one primary school (101 children) ran barefoot, while the other (93 children) wore shoes.
The researchers had these children perform sprints, countermovement jumps (a jump where the individual squats immediately before jumping to generate more elastic energy and jump higher), and 5-Rebound Jump tests (5 jumps where they jumped as high as possible while minimizing **ground contact time** between each jump). For all jumps, participants kept their hands on their hips.
They observed that the barefoot children exhibited a more efficient forefoot strike pattern (compared to a heel strike pattern), longer stride length (meaning faster movement with the same number of strides), decreased **ground contact time** (reducing friction forces), greater flight times, and faster overall sprint times than the habitually shod children.
The researchers also had the barefoot children perform the same tests with shoes on and noted a significant increase in **ground contact time** and a decrease in sprint time (reduced performance). This clearly demonstrates the disadvantages of traditional footwear on natural movement.
The findings of this study suggest that habitual barefoot training likely led to positive adaptations and improvements in the children’s lower body performance and the stretch-shortening cycles of their tendons. This means they achieved greater energy efficiency and an enhanced ability to receive and transmit force to the ground. Essentially, these kids had more "pop" or "bounce" in their stride.
Regarding jumping, they observed significantly better scores in the rebound jump test for the barefoot group compared to the shod group—the barefoot kids won again. However, they did not find a significant difference in jump height during the countermovement jump. This is logical, as the improvements in the barefoot children’s stretch-shortening cycles would be more evident in the rebound jump test than in the countermovement jump test.
All in all, these studies strongly indicate that we move better without our shoes, and that encouraging your children to play barefoot, complemented by wearing **Bearfoot shoes** for other activities, can lead to remarkable and positive changes in their running and jumping ability, as well as their overall capacity to move and interact with our world.
Conclusion:
With a proper transitioning period, you’re all set to start sprinting and running in your **Bearfoot shoes**. You’re also all set to buy some for your kiddos and start running and sprinting with them as well!
