10. Review & Conclusions
- Over millions of years and between several species, bipedal foot characteristics have adapted to generally look and function in a specific way.
- With the historical increase of footwear usage, there is an evident pattern of body modification
- With the historical increase of artificial (modern) substrates, there is a clear environmental modification
- Although human lifespans now are longer than they were in the Paleolithic era, these modifications are having an effect on humans. Obviously, it has not yet been determined to have a detriment on survival, reproductive fitness or “success” as a species altogether, but could have a specific negative affect overall health of individuals
- Important note: switching to barefoot running or mid- or forefoot striking pattern does not guarantee a decreased risk in injury to any portion of the lower extremity it is important to describe how the foot evolved and performed before shod footwear.
- However, shod footwear could have increased survival/reproductive fitness, whereas unshod behavior might not have at the cost of atrophying useful muscles in the leg and foot
- We should also take into consideration lifestyle choices and anatomical difference between distant species and modern humans, i.e. height, weight, nutrition, etc.
- A great summary of which is better: shod vs barefoot running, see kevin kirby’s youtube page
10. Review & Conclusions
- Over millions of years and between several species, bipedal foot characteristics have adapted to generally look and function in a specific way.
- With the historical increase of footwear usage, there is an evident pattern of body modification
- With the historical increase of artificial (modern) substrates, there is a clear environmental modification
- Although human lifespans now are longer than they were in the Paleolithic era, these modifications are having an effect on humans. Obviously, it has not yet been determined to have a detriment on survival, reproductive fitness or “success” as a species altogether, but could have a specific negative affect overall health of individuals
- Important note: switching to barefoot running or mid- or forefoot striking pattern does not guarantee a decreased risk in injury to any portion of the lower extremity it is important to describe how the foot evolved and performed before shod footwear.
- However, shod footwear could have increased survival/reproductive fitness, whereas unshod behavior might not have at the cost of atrophying useful muscles in the leg and foot
- We should also take into consideration lifestyle choices and anatomical difference between distant species and modern humans, i.e. height, weight, nutrition, etc.
- A great summary of which is better: shod vs barefoot running, see kevin kirby’s youtube page