"Advocates of minimalist shoes believe that because these shoes help shorten a runner's stride, they place less stress on the joints," Miguel Cunha, DPM, a podiatrist and founder of Gotham Footcare in New York City, told POPSUGAR. "I strongly disagree with this notion and believe that runners are actually at an increased risk of injuring themselves due to the lack of protection offered by minimalist shoes." Research backs him up. A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that runners who trained for a 10K race wearing minimalist footwear had up to three times the number of injuries compared to runners in more traditional, supportive gear.