Barefoot and Minimalist Running: The Debate Continues - American Physical Therapy Association

Strange, I've seen videos of children lifting boxes and big toys properly. It was during a security course when I was working at the airport.


I don't doubt you. Just saying mine don't do it. Ever. They have to sit on the floor to do anything because they can't squat. Lots of tipping over. No other current coordination issues.
 
I wonder at what age do kids change their instinctual style of movement to all of the "improper" ways?


My son wears whatever shoes he gets. I try to keep them mostly minimal, but I get lazy because his perfect form never seems to change, and boys shoes tend toward very stiff soles.
My daughter only had good form a couple of years ago when I was forcing her to run bf with me. I buy her the most minimal shoes she will tolerate.
Both do spend some time outside bf on a regular basis, but not always.
I seem to be able to get away with thin sandals and maybe minimalish shoes on trails. My NB "minimal" shoes (w/ 12 mm cushioning) leave me totally awkward. I know other adults whose form does not seem to suffer at all no matter what is on their feet.
 
This may sound like a big slam, and maybe it is, but it is hard to give this article much credit because, in my experience, PTs are very short sided and don't look at the big picture of mechanics. They hone in on one little aspect of the dysfunction which causes them to make poor judgements, which ends up overshadowing the big picture. I'm not sure if they either ignore the big picture, don't want to put forth the effort (because true corrective efforts take effort) or weren't trained to see the process that way. I don't think ANY of the PTs I work with get barefoot running at all. They all give me this slight look of disbelief and skepticism when I talk with them about it. Also, I've seen PTs in the past for an ache and they gave me exercises for the muscles in the painful area. WRONG!! The real issue 99.9% of the time lies elsewhere in the body, or is a result of how a movement is being done incorrectly. I've had soooooo much more success with Chiropractors who put their focus into sports and movement. They are the ones who got me started on relearning how I move. Maybe not all PTs think the way the ones I've encountered do, but man, IMHO, PTs need to step up their game.
 
They hone in on one little aspect of the dysfunction which causes them to make poor judgements, which ends up overshadowing the big picture. I'm not sure if they either ignore the big picture, don't want to put forth the effort (because true corrective efforts take effort) or weren't trained to see the process that way. I don't think ANY of the PTs I work with get barefoot running at all. They all give me this slight look of disbelief and skepticism when I talk with them about it. The real issue 99.9% of the time lies elsewhere in the body, or is a result of how a movement is being done incorrectly.

All of this also applies to podiatrists. And yes, finding a good one is most likely going to be difficult. There may be some good ones, but they are few and far between.