by Giles on Tue Jan 10, 2023 4:15 am
I guess you could call me a 'convert'. I gradually switched over to 'barefoot' shoes in in the last 5 or 6 years and have never regretted it. It's good for my whole body, for the chains of muscles, fascia and movement all the way up to my neck and crown. For me the three main (interlocking) benefits are:
- the feet and toes get much more room and can spread out naturally
- the soles are much thinner, so the muscles and fascia in my feet can respond at many different points to contact with the ground. This effect becomes much clearer as soon as the ground is uneven in any way
- the shoes are much lighter, which also optimizes movement in the feet, legs and hips. You're not lugging heavy weights around at the end of your legs all day.
My feet have definitely changed their shape over the last few years. About 6 years ago I was diagnosed with 'fallen arches' (= 'flat feet') and was starting to feel foot pain after walking longer distances. When I was younger my arches were very high. You can see the height of your arches from the wet footprints you leave on paving, for instance after coming out of a swimming pool. Back then, after this diagnosis I noticed that indeed my wet footprints were much broader in the middle section of the foot. Didn't feel so good. Nowadays my arches are much higher again, also reflected in my wet footprints, and the foot pain is completely gone.
In my city, the pavements/sidewalks usually have a strip of more or less level paving and a (narrower) parallel strip of small cobblestones. Nowadays when walking through the city I will always travel along the more uneven cobblestone strip, which is a constant - fun! - stimulus for the feet. In normal shoes I would hardly feel the difference; with barefoot shoes it's two different worlds. And of course once you move onto grass, into the woods or any other kind of natural surface, you feel a huge difference too.
The switch-over needs to be taken slowly: start an hour or two per day and build it up. People who are not used to these shoes, especially if they are not really 'movers' anyway, may experience knee pain or back pain if they take things too quickly.
Nowadays I hardly wear 'normal' shoes at all, just a few occasions where I need to put on more formal dress with the matching shoes, or my old Reebok Exofit-Hi's because they are good for heavy rain when cycling. And an old pair of Nike Free's when I'm jogging/running on an embankement path nearby that has lots of stones on it - some of the sharper ones can sometimes hurt through the barefoot soles when you're actually running, so I use a more 'padded' sole here.
Otherwise I have indoor training shoes, outdoor training shoes, normal-looking black leather shoes, soft leather winter boots and hiking boots, all in the barefoot format. Personally I usually buy Vivobarefoot but nowadays there are quite a few good brands out there. If buying a brand, check the internet reviews to make sure that the brand is well-made, meaning the shoes don't start to fall apart after 6 months of regular use.
I never got into these Vibram Finger Five shoes. Personally I think they look silly and I heard that in summer you get really sweaty, smelly feet from them. But whatever.
Do not make the mistake of giving up the near in order to seek the far.