Who is most likely to jump on the barefoot running bandwagon? According to a new survey, men, younger runners, and runners who think of themselves as elite athletes are most willing to kick off the sneakers and give it a go.
For a survey published in the latest edition of The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, more than 6,000 runners responded to questions about their barefoot or minimalist habits, or lack thereof.
Of those who responded, 75.7 percent said they were at least somewhat interested in minimalist or barefoot running, 21.9 percent had tried barefoot running, and 30.4 percent had tried running in minimalist shoes.
For those who had tried minimalist or barefoot running, 34.3 percent chalked up their motivation to preventing injuries, while advice from friends accounted for another 24.5 percent. Interestingly, of those who hadn't tried it, 54 percent said they hadn't out of fear of injuries. "Sounds about right," adds Runners World of the new survey.
Learn more about barefoot running: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XiwtiDTlYU
