Should you eat meat or a fancy a green salad? Should you wear jeans or chinos? Should you visit South America or gaze at the jumping kangaroos of Australia. It is your decision. But most of all, unless you aren’t ready to go through this journey – it’s not for you.
Switching to barefoot shoes is a great life choice both health wise and its environmental impact. The main thing to keep in mind is to get into this concept with an open mind and a slow rhythm. Think about it – you are X years old and since the day you started taking the first steps you have been placed in narrow, stiff, and cushioned shoes. In due course that’s what you knew – running barefoot was a big no no and by time, the idea of that is almost unthinkable.
So, your lower leg musculature, your feet, your back and your brain are used to stiff, cushioned narrow shoes; let’s start from here. You stumble upon this blog and you are realising that – it’s a great idea to start introducing barefoot shoes- BRAVO! But how?
Best is to start slow, get yourself your first pair of barefoot shoes. Make sure the length of the shoe is around 8-10mm longer than your longest toe. (I don’t advice going for your ‘normal’ size – the size is very dependent on different brands) Whilst you wait for your shoes to arrive start by getting more and more used to walking around the house barefoot. If it’s cold no worries: a pair of socks will do the trick. If like many – you look down and see that your toes are squashed together you can introduce toe spacers(link) and a forefoot mobiliser (link). These will help with stretching the intermetatarsal muscles (small muscles between the toes) which are normally very tight when people constantly wear narrow shoes.
While I know the feeling of a new pair of shoes and you just want to go and wear them all day and show them off. I would think twice of that plan. Start by wearing them for a couple of hours and see what your body tells you. Yes, listening to our bodies is an important part of staying safe and healthy. If you are doing fine, you can wear them longer and longer but if you start getting any tight and sore spots check them out. That means that these areas are not used to the new movement or to the new stretch. Don’t worry, all will be fine. Remember the first time you headed to the gym – and you couldn’t walk for a week. Or challenged your friend to a push up challenge and you couldn’t grab the plates on the top cupboard? it’s the same thing. Your body is a machine which adapts – you need to adapt.
By time you’ll get used to walking with your new shoes and start appreciating more and more what’s the fuss all about. I will not give you details though – I will let you find that out for yourself.
We are here to help you in your barefoot lifestyle journey. From exercises to footwear, queries, and challenges you might be facing – just let us know and we will do our best to guide you.
Clinton Schembri Francalanza (Functional Podiatrist)
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