谈到跑步，一定会谈到“非洲的跑者(African runners)”，这本书也不例外，原文是这样说的：

I’ve had the privilege of working with some African runners. These athletes were born without shoes, and ran, played, hunted, and harvested crops without shoes on. Back in the anatomy chapter, we discussed that soft tissues and bones remodel based on the way they are loaded.

(这些非洲的运动员从出生开始，进行跑步、玩乐、打猎等活动都不穿鞋。回到这本书第三章说的，软组织与骨骼会因为他们所承受的负重而重塑。)

山姆伯伯带大家来回顾一下，来看看骨骼的部份：

Bone is a highly adaptive material that can alter its properties and configuration in response to mechanical demands. Wolf’s Law of bone remodeling states:

{ Where there is optimal stress (loading) within bone, deposits of bone occur at a greater rate than bone resorption. Thus the bone becomes stronger.

When there is nonoptimal stress (whether from excessive training stress or severe lack of activity, as during bed rest), deposits of bone occur at a lower rate than bone resorption. The bone becomes weaker.}

Bones respond well to compressive forces. Controlled, progressive increase in the load applied to the bone through training result in positive adaptations. Bone is the only connective tissue in the body that is capable of repair to 100 percent of its original preinjured state.

(骨骼是一个高度适应性的材质。在Wolf定律有说到，骨骼的生长会随着所承受的负荷而产生变化。适当的负荷，可以让骨骼变得更加强壮；但负荷若过高或是缺乏活动时(睡眠休息时)，会使得骨骼弱化。骨骼对于压力是有良好的反应，在受控制、循序的状况下，增加骨骼的负荷对于发育上有正向的影响。)

而软组织的部份，以肌肉发展来说，大家应该十分熟悉，山姆伯伯就略过。

因此，基于上述的原因，书籍作者的建议在20岁前的快速发育阶段，以赤脚的方式让更多身体结构上的负荷加注在脚上，来发展更为强壮与稳定的足部，他让家里的4岁及初学走路的小朋友都是以这种方式来发展强而稳定的足部。

Going barefoot throughout their rapid growth periods in the first two decades placed more mechanical load on their foot than the typical American kid wearing blinking light-up marshmallows.

但作者也说明，并没有任何的资料来支撑着他的说法，但他不以为意：

Do I have stacks of independent peer-reviewed data to back up my claims that unshod societies have better feet than shoed societies? Nope, can I could care less. After being simple blown away by the straight big toe alignment, incredible foot strength, and stability of runners who grew up sans traditional footwear.

作者并不是要告诉其它的父母如何养育他们的小孩，而是提供一些资讯让大家来思考这个问题，此外，近几年市面上也有了儿童的极简鞋的出现。虽然目前赤足的研究都在成人身上，但作者也期望父母亲们不要忽略这样的资讯。