Minimalist trail running shoes are all the rage these days. The research and experiences of many are firmly supporting the fact that shoes with less cushioning and more feedback from the road or trail are providing runners, both competitive and recreational, with the ability to improve their running posture, footstrike, and even encounter less injuries than they may have whilst using traditional heavily cushioned running shoes.
I am certainly in little doubt that adding a ‘crutch like’ arch support and pronation correction does little to improve the runners ability to improve and ultimately correct their structural defects. Some research says that as many as 40-60% of people have a structural problem with their feet, probably brought about by many years of wearing shoes, but the actual instances of structural defects that CAN NOT be corrected without some sort of intervention like insoles etc, is remarkably small. Most people could massively improve their feet by running barefoot, walking barefoot. But in this world laden with dog crap and sharp objects discarded by the ignorant, barefoot running may not always be practical. Trail running is a better option anyway, you generally only have to content with ‘natural’ obstacles and objects, but minimalist trail running shoes are a great way to experience many of the benefits close to barefoot running, but without the risk of injury, however small that may be.
What Denotes A Minimalist Running Shoe?
The idea of what characteristics a shoe must have to be considered ‘minimalist’ are open to individual interpretation, and there are a range of attributes that help to provide guidance. For me, a minimalist running shoe MUST be a shoe that is designed to allow the foot to function as close to a bare foot as possible, after all, these minimalist shoes SHOULD be providing protection against the natural and foreign objects that can cause damage to the foot, but be doing little else.
Characteristics Of A Minimalist Running Shoe – My Personal Opinion
Heavily Cushioned Soles are OUT - Hardly surprising really, but those of us (and it is a significant and growing community) that believe the modern heavily cushioned shoe is bad for your feet, discourages the feet to become strong and healthy, and contributes to injuries, are looking for a shoe that allows the foot to naturally pronate, and not a shoe that adds support which causes weakening of the feet. Shoes without any sort of additional padding on the heel compared to the front of the shoe area are known as zero drop shoes. Heel toes drop is a measurement of the height differential between the height if the sole in the heel area and that in the forefoot area of the shoe. 12mm is a pretty standard measurement in modern running shoes, but the minimalist shoe will have a lot less than this and may even be flat, although most will have a drop of between 4-8mm, which is a vast improvement and allows for a much more natural mid-foot or forefoot running style to be developed.
Minimalist Trail Running Shoes Need To Be Lightweight – There is no point in trying to mimic a bare foot if the shoe weighs a ton and inhibits your ability to move comfortably and effectively. Although most modern running shoes are generally ‘light’, the minimalist shoe should weigh less than 10 ounces or so, for a trail one, you might expect it to be marginally heavier, taking the additional grip into account. That said, the Vibram KSO Trek is very light. weighing only 6.7 oz each for the men’s shoe size 43-46. I wear a pair of these a lot of the time and they are light, satisfy the low profile sole, and offer ziltch when it comes to support.
Minimal Support – If you have read a bit about barefoot running, foot injury and other running related injuries, you may have come to the conclusion that additional support encourages the weakening of an area, not the strengthening of it, as many of the ‘traditional’ shoe manufacturers would like you to believe. Minimalist shoes should offer minimal, or even no support in the areas that other running shoes do. You do not want arch support of pronation control, it is just asking your feet to become weaker, but not to worry, the shoe support will take care of it. I for one, do not want my feet to rely on a ‘crutch’ to help me to walk or run. The foot is a design miracle, lets make it live up to it’s function, not detract from it.
Wider Toebox Area – When the foot runs unshod, the toes do something they don’t (or are not allowed to) do in conventional shoes. The toes splay, they feel the ground, they add to your balance, they mold to the terrain and grip as you tackle rocks and other technical obstacles. The minimalist running shoe is designed to allow the foot to portray many of the natural characteristics that it would if it was bare. Many running shoes cram the toes into a narrow toebox where they cannot spread as you run.
One point that I think is really important, is that getting out with NO shoes on, running around a grassy recreation field or park 3 times a week will do no end of good for your running. You will learn to mid or forefoot strike, you stride will shorten, you won’t impact the ground as hard. The list of benefits is endless, and I recommend you add this to your weekly plan. But back
to the shoes, what type of minimalist trail running shoe is out there, which are good value, and which ones will give you as close to a barefoot experience as you can get? I have a number of minimalist and ‘bare feet running shoes, some kindly provided by the manufacturers for evaluation and review. Subscribe to the Wild Runner RSS Feed for updates on the latest minimalist shoe reviews. We will be looking at some of the most popular shoes including the Vibram Fivefingers range, and the new zero or low drop shoes from Merrell and New Balance.
But for those of you want a good all round trail shoe to begin the transition, here is one that I have been using for a while, and am getting on really well with.
New Balance MT101 Trail Shoe
Now this shoe has been working great for me, although it really sits on the edge of what you might call a minimalist shoe. I found it to be a really good transition shoe, when you are working your way towards a true minimalist trail shoe. The heel to toe differential is around 10mm, but I really do love the lightweight nature of this one, and there is plenty of toe space. So for those who want a low cost trail shoe that offers good quality at a good price, this might be one to check out.
The New Balance MT101 Trail Racing Shoe is a low profile and ultra-lightweight trail racing shoe that offers a puncture resistant sole and has Rock Stop® technology embedded into the forefoot area to prevent injury from the sharp rocks and debris that is all too common out on the trail. I have been wearing these shoes for the last couple of months on some fairly technical and gnarly trails with lots of tree roots and loose rocks, and to date they have been an excellent shoe. One thing I did notice right at the start was that the super light and flexible uppers caused a little bit of blistering on the side of my big toe, but this abated after a day or so and I have had no issues since. The toebox is nice and wide, and I put the blisters down to attempting some pretty severe downhills on the first day, perhaps an error of judgement on my part!
The shoes are lovely and flexible, and the heel to toe drop of around 10mm really does not hamper my forefoot strike technique. BTW, I wear these shoes with socks, although having worn them around the house a fair bit with no socks, I found them to be pretty damn comfy, and the inner stitching and seams caused no problems. I would advise a gentle run when you first use them and see how it goes.
For the money, these are a pretty good shoe, a lot cheaper than many of the other competitors, and if you want a shoe that offers very limited support, good space in the toe area, plenty of grip, great on trails but also ok for a bit of road running, these are a good choice.
I will be writing more about minimalist shoes over the next week and into the future. It is not a subject that shows any sign of abating, and the debates will go on indefinitely. The tide has definitely started to turn and barefoot shoes are becoming one of the most talked about and eagerly expected release from many of the top manufacturers.
