Barefoot Motion defined

BEING BAREFOOT is the way nature intended. When barefoot you move in the most efficient, healthy, and injury free way.  You allow your body’s “Natural Motion” to takeover. Shoes not only deform your feet, but also, they force you to move in a manner that causes imbalance & injury. You can reverse the harm done by your shoes by simply choosing to GO BAREFOOT, or more practically by wearing barefoot-like or minimalist footwear.  The point is that you don’t have to be a barefooting FREAK to enjoy the health benefits of being barefoot.

• Our FEET have evolved over 2million years to do there job perfectly
• the human foot is incredibly RESILIENT,  if you just leave it alone
• prior to the invention of the modern shoes, humans didn’t have foot problems
• our feet adapt to whatever we have or don’t have on our feet, which do you want?

This blog will help you understand what to look for in healthy barefoot-like footwear.

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Myths about Shoes

The underlying myth about shoes is that the more HIGH TECH and EXPENSIVE the better the shoe is for you:

Problems with shoes

Arch Support:

The arch is the strongest shape in nature and archectecture, Its been used for archways because the more weight you put on it the stronger it gets.  The only way to weaken an arch is to push up on it from the underside.  By adding arch support to our shoes we are weakening our natural weight-bearing tool bringing it closer and closer to its collapse.

Raised Heel cushioning:

You run where the ground is softer so we run on our heels because that’s where they put the shoe cushioning.

Cushioning:

The foot searches  for stable ground and so what we end up doing is runnning our heels into the ground, a.k.a. “clomping”

Shank stiffeners:

prevent your foot from “feeling the ground.  The stiffer the sole = the more the wrong message is sent to the brain.  Soles need to be fully flexible so all 200,000 sensory receptors in your foot can understand what sort of surface you are stepping on.

Stabilizers:

are meant to isolate your heel from rolling side to side with the motive that “movement is bad”  To move along the most natural path of motion your foot needs to roll to the outside, aka overpronation.   Overpronation is natural and healthy for your feet, knees, and back

Effect of Shoes on the Feet

• atrophy of the arch muscles causing “fallen arches”
• weakening of the toe propulsion muscles
• loss of sensory perceptors on the bottom of the foot
• curling inward of the pinky toe
• pointing inward of the big toe
• narrow misshaped forefoot
• loss of the midfoot pad adjacent to the arch
• deterioration of the plantar facia ligament

Effect of Shoes on the BODY

← forceful heel impact

• knee injuries from repetitive increased force loads
• lower back injuries from inactivated core muscles
• misinterpreted signals from the nerves in the foot
• ankle sprains from elevated soles & unused ankle roll muscles
• achilles tendon strains due to underdevelopment
• shin splints from increased pounding
• stress fractures caused by tightening of the foot

Barefoot Running Technique

The great thing about barefoot running is that your body will adapt itself to what works best for you.  No one should attempt to run “one way.”  However there are distinct differences between running barefoot and running with shoes on.

• Foot Fall is how your foot lands
  • you should land on the fatty pad at your MIDFOOT
  • and maybe on your forefoot, especially at sprint speed
  • BUT NEVER on your HEEL
• Foot Roll
  • the path of your foot roll will make an ‘S’ shape

Links to Blogs on barefooting

• www.barefootconcepts.com
• Run Like Money
• BarefootTed.com

Barefoot Running styles

Barefoot running is a healthier running style than when running with shoes on.  You can study barefoot running positions but your body will unconciously adapt itself to run with this style.  So when explain the differences, you won’t even have to think to do it, it will just happen.

Some barefoot running styles:

• Pose Position
• Chi Running

Barefoot Motion

Why is it socially unacceptable to be barefoot in public? Why do we feel comfortable being barefoot at the beach or around the pool, but not around the neighborhood or in the local grocery store.