Running shoes have us hitting with our heels, whereas we may be meant to strike with our forefoot first. Or so says an article in the journal Nature referenced by LiveScience.com.

Daniel Lieberman and his colleagues looked at the gate of five different groups: athletes from the United States who always wear running shoes; athletes from the Rift Valley Province in Kenya who grew up running barefoot, but now don modern running shoes; U.S. runners who used to wear shoes, but now go barefoot; and runners from Kenya who either always wear shoes or have never worn shoes.

Runners who run barefoot, especially those who grew up running barefoot, land with their forefoot first. Those wearing running shoes land heal first. Those who switched from barefoot to shoes changed their gate to land heal first; the opposite was true for those went from shoes to running barefoot.

So, which is better? The researchers concluded that "the collision-free way that barefoot runners typically land is not only comfortable but may also help avoid some impact-related repetitive stress injuries". But, if you are not used to running barefoot, the transition could be tough and lead to injuries. More importantly, there is no definitive proof that running barefoot reduces injuries.

But, and this is a big "but", study researcher Daniel E. Lieberman, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University, was mentioned by LiveScience as saying that a recently published study showed no studies that demonstrate modern running shoes prevent injuries.

More studies need to be done. If you are considering switching to barefoot running, do so gradually and seek medical attention for any aches, pains or injuries. And quickly clean and care for any scrapes or cuts.

For more information, see:
The Biomechanics of Barefoot Running in Nature (abstract free; fee for full study)
The Biomechanics of Barefoot Running in LiveScience
Study: Running Shoes Could Cause Joint Strain in LiveScience
Barefoot Running (we posted this in Jan 2007)


We previously blogged about barefoot running three years ago.

You can now find water aerobics swimwear on NetSweat.com. We teamed up with SwimOutlet.com and SwimsuitsforAll.com to offer swimsuits for women of all sizes. (And yes, that means we also offer maternity swimwear.)

We are particularly proud to say the product line includes plus size swimsuits up to size 24. This expands our selection of plus size fitness clothing, which had already included fitness clothing and ski wear. We realize that if you have curves, finding fitness apparel that looks good and fits well is difficult and that is why we have always provided such great selection.

It is also a good idea to protect your feet while doing water aerobics, and we have you covered there as well. Just check out our aqua fitness equipment page for water aerobics shoes.

This weekend, we threw out all four of our SIGG bottles. In monetary terms, this is about $80 worth of merchandise that is now sitting in our recycling bin.

We're not ones who can easily afford to throw away $80, but SIGG bottles deserved to be trashed. Why?

First, as we blogged about last September, SIGG allowed consumers to be misled that their bottles were BPA free. They weren't. So we swapped out the old SIGG bottles for ones that had a new BPA-free liner.

After about four months of normal use - only water going into the bottles - the liner started peeling off. We don't know what is in the liner, but we do know that we don't want any of it in our water. Besides, what's the point of paying a premium price for something that is obviously of lousy quality? SIGG is clearly making an inferior product.

So, the decision was made to switch to stainless steel bottles. But which ones? As many of you know, there are multiple choices of stainless steel bottles, many of which claim to be BPA free.

Since just about all stainless steel bottles are made in China, we didn't want to take chances. After all, what is the point of saving a few dollars now and paying higher medical bills later because the bottle was made with inferior products? Think we're paranoid? Do a news search on "cadmium". Better yet, how do you know the bottles don't contain lead?

As a result, we wanted to limit our risks, which led to us to Klean Kanteen. This company has been around for years and has continuously received high marks from environmental groups. In other words, we have a legitimate reason to believe these bottles are safe. And unlike SIGG, there is no liner to worry about.

Are Klean Kanteen bottles more expensive than what you will find at Wal-Mart or Target? Yes, but how much is your health worth to you? For paying an extra amount equal to the cost of two cups of coffee at Starbucks, you can get a bottle made by a company with a great reputation versus a bottle made by the lowest-cost producer.

To us the choice is clear, which is why we now own several Klean Kanteen bottles. And why our SIGG bottles are in the recycling bin.

In the not to distant future, you may start hearing about a new sportswear company – a Chinese sportswear company.

Li Ning is entering the U.S. market with a store in Portland, Oregon. As Marketplace reported last night, the company is looking to compete directly against Nike, Adidas and other big guns.

Can they compete? We have not seen Li Ning’s products and therefore cannot comment on the quality. What we can tell you is that it wasn’t that long ago that few people had heard of Under Armour.

A quick note about product links and our business model.

Throughout our site, there are links to various products on external web sites. Our business model is based on a combination of ads provided by Google and affiliations with various third-party web sites. We may receive monetary compensation if you click on a specific link or buy from an affiliated web site.

Though the primary goal of NetSweat.com is to promote healthy lifestyles, we need certain level of revenues to pay for the cost (including our time) of running this site. Furthermore, we believe there is value to highlighting products that help you get and stay in shape.

Though we are not responsible for any site or product listed on NetSweat.com, we do monitor what goes on NetSweat.com. Furthermore, if we see a product that we find questionable, we say so on this blog.

We do not collect email addresses or other personal user data. Nor do we have plans to do so.

Thanks for visiting NetSweat.com.

Son of a diddly! The British Government is going to promote The Simpsons as role models of good health. Yes, we're talking about Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie.