Running Program for Transitioning to Barefoot Shoes (Minimalist/Zero Drop)

We strongly believe that for the majority of people making a transition to spending some, or most of your time in a minimalist or barefoot shoe can have a profound effect on injury risk, performance and general postural health.
There are, however, a few cases where it's inappropriate and downright dangerous to make the change:

Update October 2023: Due to popular demand, we have created a more structured and progressive running rebuild program. This 12-week progressive training plan aimed at helping runners build skill, endurance and strength to unlock extra fitness and speed on their runs. You can get the program at this link →

Don't start this program if you are:

Currently Injured.
When you are carrying a niggle or injury It's probably not a great time to be introducing a new stimulus to the body.
Instead, focus on getting healthy, get that injury managed and settled down and only then look into making some longer term changes to potentially reduce injury risk in the future.

If you have recently been prescribed orthotics.
Orthotics are a great tool to correct for an imbalance or to deload certain structures in the lower limb if you are injured or have ongoing postural/control problems.
They are however a short-term fix. 8 to 12 weeks or orthotic use should be more than enough to solve the given problem before weaning yourself back off them with the help of a graded return to sport and a strengthening program.
Most people shouldn't have to live in orthotics -- for more on orthotics and pronation check out this Podcast.

If you are too far gone.
For some people, making the change to barefoot just isn't inappropriate or feasible. If your foot looks something like this:

No magical shoe, orthotic or running program is going to miraculously fix that. It might be that the deformation of the bones in your foot have reached a point where they cannot be corrected short of surgical intervention (this is a pretty extreme case).

Elite/high-level athletes.
If you are an elite athlete performing at a high level and training huge volumes, adding the brand new stimulus of barefoot running or making drastic changes to your running technique probably isn’t a great idea. It's this type of situation where  “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke” applies perfectly.

For the rest of us, who are looking to shake persistent injuries, improve running performance, or improve general wellbeing and posture, making the gradual shift to barefoot is well worth the investment and time. If you do it right.

Let's look at how to make the transition as smooth as possible

what is the heel drop of your current shoe?

We first need to establish what your current shoes are in terms of the heel to toe drop. This is a measure of how much padding the heel of your current shoes have. The higher your current heel lift, the longer you should take to go through your barefoot transition.

Don't throw out the shoes with each progression though you want to keep them for the next step.

It’s also a cool idea to get a photo of your feet at this stage for a nice before and after shot of the shape and resting posture. Try taking three angles from directly in front (both feet), directly behind (both feet), and then a medial view of the arch (one photo for each foot).
Store these for future reference.

A gradual introduction of zero drop footwear.

We have written about this before but if your current shoes have a large heel to toe drop (anything above say 10-12mm) You should aim to work down in gradients over a 6-12 month period working from 12mm (typical structured running shoes) to 8-4mm (Nike free for example are around 4-6mm) before eventually then ultimately a 0mm shoe like the Vivo Barefoot.

Jumping straight into a zero drop shoe and wearing them to school or work 5 days a week, or even worse trying to run a 5km on day one. The slow and steady introduction of zero drop is essential to allow supercompensation and avoid a volume loading error.

A nice little progression for someone currently in a 10-12mm heel lift might look something like this:

• Week one to six, Zero drop for two hours a day around the house.

• Week six to 16, 2 hours around the house PLUS gym training in zero drop.

• Week 16 to 24, Gym training PLUS incorporate them into your normal daily routine (school, work, out of the house etc).
  * Start with a half day every second day for weeks 16 & 17. Then build gradually to five to six full days over the next two to four weeks.
  ** The rest of your time when you are not following the above program (or something similar), you are still in your normal shoe/sneaker.
  *** During this time you should still have been running as normal in your cushioned, heeled sneaker/trainer.

Step three: Introduction of Ground Reaction Forces

For a lot of people the changes you might already be seeing at this stage can be significant. Reduced lower back and knee pain, improved balance, and stability, even an increase in running speed and agility due to the stronger foot and shin muscles.

The six-month mark is also a great time to take some after photos to see how far you have come. Pay big attention to the angle your big toe points, the width of your midfoot and the height of your arch.

This has all been without running a single step in your barefoot shoe. And for many people this might be the perfect time to stop, living in a barefoot shoes while continuing to run or play sport with a supportive cushioned shoe might actually be the perfect middle ground. For me, as I move into my 30's I have actually returned to doing most of my running in a structured shoe, wearing my Vivo's only to coach or for daily life.

It’s finally time to start some impact training in your barefoot shoe. The previous six months have been an acclimatisation period readying your body, strengthening the bones, muscles, and tendons of your feet and lower leg preparing you for this day.

But as with everything in the world of athletic development and rehabilitation, a competency-based progression is much more valuable than a calendar based one, so you still need to have achieved and maintain these four key criteria in order to progress to running in your barefoot shoes.

1. No lower leg or stressed based injuries or persistent pain like shin splints
2. Consistent running volume. If you haven't been running at all in the last three to six months, starting barefoot is just asking for an overuse injury. You want to have built up a base of general running tolerance before you step out into a barefoot shoe.
3. Double leg calf raises in the 30 to 40 range (that’s flat from the floor), And single leg in the 25+ range. When I say reps, I am not talking little pulses or bounces, I want a full range of motion, slow, controlled movements focusing on pushing through the big toe. Make those calves work. If you have access to it some seated calf isometrics would be a big bonus.
4. Ankle range of motion in the knee to wall dorsiflexion test of 10 centimetres or above. Ideally, you should be symmetrical (within 2cm) between left and right.

This is all good and well, but what does the running program actually look like?

For the first month or so, simply start with technique based running drills. Pocket run, double leg springs, stride outs, skips, piston run, these drills will help introduce some elasticity and reactivity into the Achilles tendon and allow your feet to adapt to having to support and work themselves as opposed to having formerly relied on your shoes.

Running technique is a two for one: They are a great 'entry level' into ground reaction forces, and they help enhance running technique and efficiency

Then, given no hiccups or problems during that phase, next stage would be to introduce actual running in the barefoot shoe as part of your regular running program.
I think the smartest program is from Canadian physiotherapist Blaise Dubois who recommends you start with just one minute per run per week in this Podcast.

Do your normal length run, but in the first week, you do one minute of that run in a barefoot shoe. And then swap back to your normal shoe for the remainder of the run. One minute barefoot, 29 minutes old style of sneaker. In the next week, you do two minutes barefoot and 28 minutes other style and so on, until you have fully transitioned into the minimal shoe.

If you are interested in improving your running technique, our Ultimate athlete guide has some great tips and tricks to improve your running efficiency. You can sign up at the bottom of the page,

Check out the full 3x a week running program here. You can get the program at this link →

If you want to learn more about running, shoes and feet, checkout our YouTube Playlist Shoesday. Terrible puns aside this playlist contains a heap of great videos for runners and humans alike, to make you a faster, more efficient and less inhjury prone runner.