9 reasons to wear barefoot shoes

In today’s world, we always have to wear shoes. But the majority of the shoes people wear are in direct conflict with the way our feet and lower bodies are designed to function. Tall heels, thick padding, restrictive materials that don’t allow for movement, a heavy sole that keeps us from feeling the ground—modern shoes are beasts that separate us from the world around us and inhibit our ability to move around without pain. On the other hand, shoes that mimic the barefoot experience offer tangible benefits for your health, wellness, athletic performance, and overall well-being by recreating the environment in which the human foot evolved.

Here are 9 concrete reasons to wear barefoot shoes.

Improve proprioception.

Proprioception describes the physical awareness we have as we move around the world. Do we know where our limbs are in relation to the environment? Do we have an intuitive understanding of what our heads, shoulders, hips, and arms do when we run, jump, move, or even walk around? All of this contributes to our general sense of proprioception and regulates the speed, strength, and security of our interactions with the outside world. If you have better reception, you will be a better athlete. You will be more efficient in every physical capacity. It will be smoother.

The first and most important way we can establish sensory awareness is with our feet touching the ground. The simple exposure of the millions of nerves on our feet on the ground—the textures, the slopes, the rocks and twigs underfoot, the sliding—gives our nervous system an incredible amount of actionable information about where we are and how we are moving. Barefoot is obviously best if the environment is forgiving, but simple, thin-soled barefoot shoes are the next best and provide a great deal of information—and they can be worn everywhere.

Better rooting in the ground. stability.

The closer you are to the ground, the more stable you are. The less material you have between you and the ground, the bigger your roots will be. Barefoot shoes give you better ground feel and ground control by reducing the amount of shoe material between you and the world.

Studies on athletes show this. Those who wear the most supportive shoes, especially those with ankle support, have the worst balance and stability when performing. Those who go barefoot (or wear simple shoes that provide no support and mimic the barefoot experience) have the best balance and stability. In fact, studies of ankle stability often use barefoot athletes as a control group in which different ankle strapping methods and high boots are compared. The control group always wins in these studies.

Better foot landing mechanics and fewer injuries.

When you run in heels, you tend to land on your heels. When you run in a zero-heel barefoot shoe, you land more naturally — midfoot to ball of the foot. This can have significant implications for your risk of repetitive stress injury. Forehands in general tend to place much less load on the knee joint. In a toe landing, the knee is slightly bent, allowing the muscles to help absorb the shock. In the event of a heel strike, the knee is fully extended, forcing the joint itself to absorb the shock.

A study from 2012 found that among endurance runners, heel strikers had twice the injury rate. Mid/forefoot strikers were less likely to suffer any injuries.. Having a moccasin without a high heel allows your feet to drop according to natural mechanics. Instead of a heel striker, you become

better posture.

Even just a half inch of cushioned heel throws your entire figure on the line. It’s like standing on an incline, and in order to maintain a straight upright position, your lower back is thrown into lordosis, your knees are turned forward, and your ankles are angled short. Instead of a straight stack of joints and textures from top to bottom, you’re more like a wobbly tower of Jenga.

More accurate biofeedback.

I’m not going to try to claim that running in barefoot shoes allows you to go further and longer distances. no. The Clouds, which are thinner cushioned running shoes, allow you to run further in comfort, but that’s not a good thing for most people. Most people should get the biofeedback, also known as discomfort, that you get from simple shoes. They tell you when your body has run enough. If you break that connection and bypass natural biofeedback with cushioned shoes, you risk overtraining and taxing your joints and other tissues.

Barefoot shoes give you accurate biofeedback about how much extra stress your feet – and your body in general – can handle.

Stronger feet.

Feet are not just wedges of flesh and bones. They are active limbs with dozens of muscles that require engagement and stimulation. If you stick them inside a stiff shoe, your foot muscles atrophy and weaken. If you wear simple barefoot shoes that allow full range of motion through every foot muscle and every toe, your feet and toes will become stronger, healthier and more flexible.

Wider toe boxes.

Narrow shoes press the toes together, reshaping them and forcing them to take an unnatural position. The natural position of the toes is separated, providing a wider weight distribution through movement and loading. The more compressed your feet and toes are, the more weight is concentrated on certain areas, which leads to stress fractures and swelling. The wider the shoe, the more evenly the forces are distributed on the foot. Toes also have to be better able to grip something than we’re led to believe, and barefoot shoes can help us achieve that.

Feeling comfortable with being the odd one out.

This was no small thing. I often tell you guys to “let your weird flag fly” because that is what it takes to be a happy, healthy human being in this world. If you don’t agree with the way things are, the way most people live their lives, the way people eat and exercise (or don’t), why not get a little weird? I’m not talking about being the bearded guy screaming on the street corner. I mean you should be comfortable deviating from the norm if that’s what you really need and desire.

Wearing shoes that stray from the ordinary is an easy, low-key entry point into “weirdness.”

It’s a return to the way we came to this world.

On many levels, barefoot shoes bring us back to the most pure state of all – how we got to this world.

This is how we humans entered this world two million years ago: walking upright with bare feet.

It’s the way modern humans do it all over the world: walking upright barefoot or in the lightest shoes or sandals.

This is how we were born as individuals: children without shoes.

The onus is on those who wear and sell large, cushioned protective shoes to prove their shoes are safe. The default is that the oldest and most natural position of walking on two bare feet upright is also the safest and most effective. You have to prove that it is not.

Tips for preparing for barefoot shoes

Once you get your first pair of barefoot shoes, be careful. If you resume full activity levels in new shoes, you may risk injuring yourself. You need to acclimatize your lower body to the new position.

1. Spend a lot of time barefoot. Go barefoot at home, in the park, in the yard, on the beach. truly
2. Train your feet. Do a toe stretch on a textured rubber band, squeeze pencils between your toes, pick up objects with your feet, walk in deep soft sand, alternately point at distant objects then at your face with your toes, and walk on the sides of your feet.
3. Start by taking shorter steps when walking and running. Walk and run quietly, try to be silent.
4. Start slowly. From short walks to longer walks to brisk walks to easy runs to sprints to sprints. Don’t skip a step.
5. Stop when you feel pain. Don’t stress the pain. Stop right away and come back tomorrow.

About the author

Mark Sisson is the founder of Mark’s Daily Apple, the father of the Primal food and lifestyle movement, and The New York Times Bestselling author Keto reset diet. His latest book is Keto for life, where he discusses how he combines the keto diet with a Primal lifestyle for optimal health and longevity. Mark is the author of several other books as well, including initial schemewhich has been credited with turbocharging the growth of the primal/ ancient movement in 2009. After spending three decades researching and educating people about why food is the key ingredient to achieving and maintaining optimal health, Mark launched Primitive cuisinea real foods company that makes eco-friendly Primal/paleo, keto, and Whole30-friendly kitchen staples.

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