Why consider some form of Minimalist shoes?
*recommendations are a just a few scrolls down*
26 bones, 33 joints, over 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments. Your feet are amazing.
You should be looking for shoes with:
-wide toe box to allow those toes to spread
-thin to provide your foot with a natural feel and soft tissue work
-flexible for natural strength
Many shoes have heel lifts, arch supports, and too much cushion. But I thought that is what I needed?
The heel lifts (also known as heel to toe drop) cause your center of gravity to be shifted, which creates a shift in posture.
You either tuck your tailbone and roll your shoulder forward.
Or you hike your butt out and roll your shoulder back.
This can lead to pain from the ankle to the head.
2) The arch support:
Creates an environment that leads to weak intrinsic muscles
These weak muscles lead to the collapse of the arches in the feet (there are 3).
This leads to higher chances of ankle injuries due to weak ligaments and tendons.
3) The excess cushion:
Takes away from your sensory connection with the ground.
This can lead to striking the ground harder and over striding.
We are more than likely to injure ourselves on soft surfaces than hard surfaces, due to how soft surfaces reduce elastic recoil, which is the major source of injuries.
Recommendations:
The type of shoes many of my clients, as well as myself, wear minimalist shoes, which is great for improving your proprioception and foot/ankle strength.
Not all barefoot/minimalist shoes are made the same so depending on your preference, it will effect which brand you start with.
Overtime, once you adjust it will greatly help eliminate pain in the neck, back, hips, knees, etc. because the feet get soft tissue work everyday.
Stiff tissue=pain
Below I linked you to some of my favorite brands:
This is a 25% off coupon off of some minimal barefoot shoes.
These will have a little more protection than the next one I will mention.
So they can be used for outside and trail walks as well as work.
These are another minimal brand but less protective in regards to the sole.
So if you are more sensitive with your feet, think only casual.
And this line of shoe is a great option if you prefer more cushion.
But make sure to only look at the primal, chillum, drifter, and chukka selection.
This brand is not as stylish, but have some great choices for lower cost.
These have much more fashionable looks that resemble modern styles like vans and other well known shoes!
These are much cheaper options that hold up very well. A great place to start if you are skeptical.
Wearing barefoot style shoes has been shown to increase foot strength in 6 months by 60%.