My Functional Foot

I recently posted a link to an article about the evils of running shoes and how shoeless populations like the Tarahumara Indians are able to run ridiculously long distances without shoes and without injuries. I've been working out and spending as much time as possible either barefoot or wearing the Vibram Five Fingers (like in the picture) which is the same as being barefoot except without having to worry about puncturing the bottom of your feet. The result, for me, has been increased lower leg and foot strength and reduced lower leg and foot injuries. I trail run, I play soccer (not as much as before but still kick around at the practices I coach). I do stuff that puts me in lots of off-balance and unstable positions and I don't get hurt. I used to turn ankles playing soccer and trail running. Now I don't. I don't need a scientist to tell me going barefoot is good for me. And I don't need a podiatrist telling me going barefoot is bad for me. To be fair to the podiatrist, if you spend 12 years studying feet you should be able to get a job that pays more than selling shoes at Marshalls, even if it means you're selling people on things to make bad shoes better (or worse depending on your point of view) instead of just telling them to go barefoot and strengthen their feet. But, hey, podiatry isn't the only part of the medical industry that's not really interested in making you better. If they did then they'd be out of a job. Nothing is better for job security than treating symptoms rather than providing solutions. But I digress. That's a blog for another day.

There's lots of studies for and against going barefoot. Don't trust studies. There's always an ulterior motive.. I recently saw a study showing that High Fructose Corn Syrup was no more likely to make you fat than regular sugar. Cool, pass me another Twinkie and a Coke (both of which probably had a hand in funding the study). Cigarettes are also no worse for your breath than licking toilet seats. Or did you miss that study?

So lets go back to the old tried and true method of using common sense. Common sense tells me that shoes deaden my nerves which is bad for my proprioception which is my body's ability to tell where it is in space. Watch somebody who spends all their walking hours in shoes try to balance on one unshod foot with their eyes closed. Or better yet, try it yourself. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to do it for a minute without touching your other foot down. If you can't, then your proprioception needs work. Common sense also tells me that shoes provide my feet and lower legs with the support that my body should be providing to itself. If my muscles don't have to provide that support then they're going to get weak.. Like I said, since going barefoot over a year ago I have definitely had huge increases in lower leg and foot strength. I'm not a podiatrist, but I'm pretty sure the foot has about 40 or more joints in it. How many joints do you suppose a running shoe allows to move in the way they were intended to move? Here's more common sense... When I wear shoes I heel strike when walking or running. When I don't wear shoes I don't. Know why? Because heel striking hurts. Heel striking sends shock waves through your body and messes up your knees. Want to fix knee pain? Stop heel striking. Want to stop heel striking? Go barefoot. Our body's natural movement pattern is to land on the balls of our feet, softly, without sending shock waves through our bodies.

Popular arguments against going barefoot are that it would hurt. I would argue that any muscle or joint that hasn't been properly used for years and years is going to hurt when you start using it. You also don't want to decide you're going to go run a marathon barefoot the first time out. Consider that your foot has essentially been disabled in a wheelchair for the better part of your life. The first time out of the wheelchair are you going to go run a marathon? Of course not. Ease into it. There's arguments that if you look hard enough you'll find just the right shoe that doesn't mess up your biomechanics. True, and if your problem is that you repeatedly hit yourself in the head with a hammer then you can eventually find the right helmet that will make it so that it doesn't give you such bad headaches. But why spend hundreds of dollars on shoes and orthotics when all you probably need to do is spend more time on the feet you were born with. Speaking of babies, ever see how they freak out when you put shoes on them? It's because they know something that you forgot..

Go barefoot, train your feet properly.

kevin