Check Out These Feet!!!
You're either looking at this being totally grossed out, or you're like me and are fascinated by how this mans feet have developed. These are the feet of an Ashaninka Indian who lives in a rainforest in the upper Amazon Basin of Peru. His feet look like this because he doesn't wear shoes! That's right. He walks all over the treacherous rainforest in bare feet all the time, and this is the result; an incredibly strong foundation that provides soooooo much support to his body it's hard for most of us to fathom. This is what most people's feet should look like; hard, tough, BIG, ugly, muscular, and super calisced. But our feet are soft, weak, dainty, and not near as ugly as they should be.
Due to the fact that this man NEVER WEARS SHOES, his feet are INCREDIBLY STRONG. But why does that matter??? Because your body is just like any other structure (skyscraper, phone tower, your home); it needs a solid foundation to build and stand upon. Our feet are our foundation. The stronger your foundation is; the healthier, stronger, and more capable the structure. In other words, if you have weak feet, then the rest of your body won’t be able to function at its maximum potential and is more at risk because of a weak foundation. If your feet are strong then your body is less at risk and more capable.
Risk of what??? INJURY! You are more likely to sprain your ankle, tear your ACL, loose your balance, hurt your back, and/or any other number of injuries due to the fact that you have weak feet! The problem starts with shoes. As a baby/toddler, before you start wearing shoes to school or daycare everyday, you were literally always barefoot. Which means that your body was EXPERIENCING the world completely differently than you have been experiencing it since you started wearing shoes. Your feet were always able to feel what it was standing on, and their range of motion was never limited consistently for hours at a time when you were barefoot as a kid. But we take all that away when we put our feet in these super padded, extra arch supported shoes that i like to call foot caskets.
Imagine not being able to feel what you touch with your hands or use your hands like you are used to using them now. Picture living your entire life up to this point wearing really thick oven mitts on your hands... that’s almost exactly what we do to our feet when we wear shoes, except shoes restrict movement more than an oven mitt would. But just like a hand in a thick oven mitt; a foot in a shoe can move some, but it will NEVER be able to move to its full potential which means it can never be used to its full potential! If your feet can’t be used to their full potential, then they will never be able to give your body the support that it needs.
So what's the solution???
Take off your shoes and use your Toes!!!
Since most people reading this have been consistently wearing shoes for at least a couple decades now, you need to know:
just going barefoot isn’t going to fix the problem. You have to go barefoot and actively be thinking about using your toes to grip the ground as you walk!!!
The ability to use your toes naturally without thinking about it, is a skill that we loose overtime by wearing shoes. In shoes, the toes have nothing to grip between them, the environment never changes so the feet get very little stimuli, and they are never really needed on a consistent basis to help in any kind of movement. So over time, our bodies learn that the toes must not be very important in this environment, they must not be necessary. Eventually your toes will stop gripping the ground as you walk even when your shoes are off. The body literally forgets how to use the toes overtime. You will have to actively think about using your toes and try to move them at that present moment in order to use them.
This is called the Law of Conservation of Energy, which basically means that the human body is always looking for ways to conserve energy and use that energy in areas where it is more needed. Pretty simple right? So in this specific example of shoes, toes, and feet; in order to conserve energy, the brain will shut off the neural pathway that allows you to use your toes when you walk without thinking about it, and then it will transport that energy to somewhere else that is most likely being used too much (like your knees and back). Now you can reestablish that neural pathway; but it will take a smart and consistent mobility routine done daily for at least a couple months. Long enough to let the body and the brain know that these muscles are important and we need them!!!
Now, I’m lucky enough to own my fitness studio which means that I make the rules in it. And there are NO SHOES ALLOWED so I get to be barefoot 90% of the time! But most of us, sadly, have to wear shoes everyday to work. My advice when it comes to shoes is to get the cheapest ones possible. You don’t need all that arch support and padding. You need functionality! Shoes that allow for the maximum range of motion possible! I wear Feiyue Martial Arts Shoes (I have no affiliation with Feiyue of any kind, nor am I getting anything out of recommending them. They just have the best and most functional shoes that I’ve found. It’s also what I tell my students to wear). Check out the amazon link below. And by the way they are less than $30 bucks! Click here to buy.
I also made an instagram post about these shoes earlier this year. Click here to see for yourself how much these shoes move.
But if you don't have to wear shoes, Don't! Be barefoot as often as possible and always be conscious of how you are using your toes. When I first discovered what a cancer shoes are to our bodies, I immediately took my shoes off and tried to start thinking of ways to strengthen my feet (aka my foundation).
My favorite mobility exercise I came up with was walking, jogging, and sprinting in really thick grass barefoot. As I would walk I would try to grip the blades of grass with my toes and pull them from the ground as I walked. When I would jog or sprint, I would grab the grass with my toes and try to kick or throw the grass up behind me as I ran. The toes should be the last part of your foot the leave the ground when you are moving forward. And if you're running, the toes should provide you with that extra little last second boost as you push off the ground.
Another mobility exercise for the toes is to take a towel and lay it flat on the ground. Then stand at one end of the towel and place one foot on top of the towel (not the whole foot, just make sure at least your toes are on the towel). Now grip the towel with your toes and pull the towel towards you only using your toes, your heel does not change positions or moves backward, only the toes are moving. Once you scrunch up the towel as much as you can, push the towel away with your toes till its flat again, and then keep repeating.
In conclusion, I see shoes as no less than an evolutionary deterrent. Its been studied and proven that the rates of injuries such as ACL tears and sprained ankles have increased(links at bottom of blog), along with surgeries and procedures such as joint replacement surgery or spinal fusion surgery. And it’s not just that injuries and surgeries are happening more often, they are happening much, much younger than they used to! Even kids as young as 5 years old are having surgeries due to injuries now. And the reason is shoes. We are wearing shoes longer, more often, and putting them on at younger ages. Shoes are becoming more and more restrictive; inch thick souls that barely move, arch support inserts so you don't have “flat feet”, high top sneaker to prevent you from rolling your ankle.. oh.. and don’t forget to wear ankle braces with those shoes too if you plan on exerting yourself ;). This is making our foundations weaker and weaker over time. And it’s really important to remember that we are creatures of evolution. If we keep this up long enough our feet may just turn into flat pads like a duck in 10,000 years. And we need our feet to move!!!
Take your shoes off, go walk in the grass, use your toes, think about using your toes, and use your toes some more! I don’t know who said this, but, one of my favorite quotes really applies beautifully here. Shoes are really just the result of us trying to reduce our risk of injury and pain, ironic isn’t it? But as it is with most things…..
The more comfort you seek, the more discomfort life will bring you.
Sources
Book Recommendations
- Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
- Primal Body, Primal Mind by Nora T. Gedgaudas
I read both of these a few years ago. They are what got me onto a different path when it comes to health, nutrition, fitness and movement.
Law of Conservation of Energy
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/2939756?seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3229224/Humans-born-lazy-Study-finds-wired-save-energy-make-movements-streamlined-possible.html
- https://www.britannica.com/science/conservation-of-energy
Injuries occurring more often and happening at younger ages
- http://www.aappublications.org/news/2017/02/22/ACLTear022217
- http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/news-room-articles/new-study-finds-rate-of-injuries-among-youth-soccer-players-doubled-rate-of-head-injuries-increased-1600?contentid=157056
