Switch to minimalist running shoes tied to injuries, pain

Three months after switching from traditional running shoes to the minimalist variety, study participants had two to three times as many injuries compared to runners who stuck with traditional shoes. Minimalist footwear is designed to provide as little interference to the runner as possible, study author Dr. Michael Ryan of Griffith University in Australia said. They had never tried barefoot running or minimalist running before. Of the 23 injuries that happened during the training period, four were among the runners wearing traditional shoes, 12 among those wearing partial-minimalist shoes and seven in the full-minimalist shoe group.