“Discovering the Benefits of Barefoot Shoes: How Going Back to Our Ancestral Roots Can Improve Foot Health”
The shoes that we wear every single day are actually messing up our feet, the cushion, the heels, and the narrow-toe boxes. They’re not allowing our feet to move the way they were designed to, but luckily, there’s a simple way of fixing it that will get rid of that pain and make you stronger than ever to properly understand what that is.
We gotta go backward 10,000 years in time. Our ancestors survived on the land completely barefoot because literally, the foot is like 4 million years of bioengineering. There’s a spring. There are muscles that are protection, there are calluses that are made over time, and it’s all so we could survive, so we could outrun our prey.
We would do this thing called persistence hunting, where we would basically be able to run longer than anyone else. We could also cool ourselves down with sweat, but then they started to wear shoes on their feet. Basically, just things to protect their feet from the environment.
The Evolution of Shoes: From Sharp Rocks to Cushioned Soles
Sharp rocks, the cold, and then the Europeans and Asians decided to take all of this to the next level. They added heels and platforms, so they would appear taller, they would make them super narrow, even to the point in China, they would do this thing called the Lotus Feet.
And then Nike comes in in the 1970s and it literally just completely messes everything up. Basically running started to become super popular. And Bill Bowerman, a co-founder of Nike, came in and invented a completely new way of running where you would basically take a stride longer than your center of gravity. Which would mean all of the force is going into your heel.
If you do that barefoot, it fricking hurts, I wouldn’t recommend it. But to do that, you had to have his super cushioned shoes, and they marketed it really, really well. And it’s literally the shoes that we wear today. By the way, there’s no, there was no scientific evidence that more cushion-reduced injuries. What the heck?
The Emergence of Minimalist Shoes and their Benefits for Foot Health
And there’s been a bunch of problems that have arisen as well. Like we have plantar fasciitis, ankle sprains, bunions, hammer, toes, and blisters. It can also be sending up more shock throughout your kinetic chain. To your knees, to your lower back, to your neck.
But there is a solution to actually fix these problems. Fast forward to 2005 and we now get minimal shoes. These bad boys come into the scene. There are a couple of marathon runners that start running in them, and we got this awesome book called Born to Run, which basically shows us these guys, the Tarahumara who run marathons fricking every day like it’s bonkers. And they literally do it in sandals.
What the heck?Basically, the author of the book Born. That was cool. Basically, the author of the book went down there trying to help figure out his own fricking pain from running and basically figured it out literally from studying these guys. So essentially, our barefoot, minimalist shoes are going to be super fricking flexible.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Barefoot Shoes: A Review of Toe-Spreading Footwear
They’re not, they’re not supposed to change your feet in any way. They’re encouraging your toes to splay out like they’re naturally supposed. There’s no drop at all. They’re just completely flat. There’s no heel, nothing like that.And not to mention they’re lightweight and they give you more sensory awareness of what’s on the ground.
So for example, if there’s a rock there, your foot can actually go around it like it’s supposed to. Also, we have a decent amount of research about it now. Shows that there are benefits, but it’s not conclusive. Use your own decision here. But again, these are still super ugly. Like who wants to wear these, man? But that was just my opinion. I wanted to know what other people thought.
Would you wear these in public? Uh, what am I doing in public? You’re going on a date? No, no, no. I would not wear them. Well, luckily we’ve gotten better barefoot shoes that actually look like normal shoes.
Barefoot Shoes: The Benefits and Challenges of Wearing Them
I literally get the comment all the time that this doesn’t even look like a barefoot shoe, but it is. These are also barefoot shoes. Would you wear these? Yeah, I definitely wear those. Yeah, Definitely. Because they look a lot like, They look like those shoes.
They look like normal shoes. When you said barefoot actually, I did not, I was like, wait a minute, and all the same features with this bad boy. Really wide toe gap so your feet can splay the way they’re supposed to. The only thing though is like barefoot shoes can get pretty expensive, but there are a bunch of different companies.
There’s Vivo barefoot, there are Xero shoes, and there are feel grounds. So hopefully you can find something that’s within your budget and still gives you the benefits that you’re looking for. But here’s where the real journey begins and the actual problem starts. I wish I knew this two and a half years ago when I got my shoes. So just like doing anything for the first. You either have to learn how to do it.
Tips for a smooth transition to barefoot shoes
For example, with your bike, you put on training wheels, and in this case, you’re gonna have to relearn how to walk again and re-transition to walking in barefoot shoes. Please don’t be a dumb ass like me and literally just dive in cold Turkey. There are a decent amount of people that hurt themselves, but here are the recommendations that I wish I knew earlier and will ease your transition period like crazy.
So the first step is when you do start wearing your barefoot shoes, take it easy. Maybe just wear them for one walk in the morning or just on occasional days. Don’t go crazy and replace every single one of your shoes. The second one is you can wear these toe spacers or also these toe stocks.
Do toe stocks, toe stocks want to invest? So you can wear these toe socks whenever you wear normal shoes to start encouraging your toes to splay. And when you go to parties or take your shoes off in front of other people, you’re gonna get lots of funny looks.
“Expert Tips for Transitioning to Barefoot Shoes and Alleviating Foot Pain”
But it’s always a good conversation starter. And also whenever you’re working or when you’re sleeping, I don’t like to do it really when I’m sleeping. You can wear these toe spacers, they look really weird, but they work. Subscribe to my only fan page.
I’m joking, I’m joking. And the last tip is I can almost guarantee you that your Achilles tendon and your calf are going to feel some type of way. Very interesting, very lovely feelings. I didn’t have this when I was transitioning, but having a massage gun, like a Theragun gun or literally whatever you wanna get is pretty clutch. Literally, just massage it out. Holy shit.Okay.Maybe the pain never goes away.
Anyways, it’s, it’s a handy little tool. Also, by the way, I’m not a professional with any of this stuff. I’m just sharing my experience and my research. I’m gonna link some videos down below, that definitely do a better job helping to transition you. And after two and a half years of doing this, I re-learned how to walk. My gait changed.
“Minimalist Footwear: The Benefits of Taking Smaller Steps and Strengthening Your Calves”
I don’t take as big steps anymore. I’m more aware of the ground. My calves grew intensely in size and literally I just, I just feel like a stronger, more pain-free human being.
And this goes to show that less is more and we might honestly just be overcomplicating different areas of our life. Be sure to subscribe with post notifications and check out this video here. I’m sure you’re gonna love it as well. Read More: Earn Passive Income Strategies to Build Passive Income.
