If the shoe fits... (It probably doesn't!)

Over the last couple of years I have developed a little obsession with feet and, more specifically, footwear. Having listened to many podcasts with pioneers of barefoot movement and minimalist footwear I wanted to make a change for myself.

I’d previously spent a lot of time in my converse as they had a low profile but I knew I could do better. Over the last couple of months I changed to an even more minimalist show with a wide toe box. For me, these have been game changing! It’s like I have set my feet free from a confined space for the last 30+ years.

Before I go any further though, let’s talk about feet and shoes a little more…

The Shape of Our Feet

I want you to look down now at your feet. Kick your shoe off and stretch your toes out wide. Feel that instant sense of freedom. Why does this feel so good? Because this is the shape your feet should be. Look at the image here and consider where the widest part of the foot is?

It’s not the midfoot like most shoes are designed, it’s found at the toe. From your biggest to your smallest toe is the widest part of your foot. Yet all of our shoes squeeze the toes together to make the shoe look more aesthetically pleasing.

And this theory of how shoes should fit starts from our very first shoe at 1-2 years old! Children’s feet get measured for fitting at the mid point of the foot and this continues through life. It’s just accepted as normal because it’s the way it’s always been.

For many this may seem to be a small price to pay for the latest trend but after decades of squeezing your toes into these shoes it has the potential to cause you problems. Bunions are extremely common with the big toe being constantly pulled into the midline of the foot. Other common ailments would be lack of mobility leading to ankle, knee and hip pain.

Here is an image of two pairs of shoes I own. One without and one with a wide toe box.

The image of the shoes side by side perfectly demonstrates how much the ‘normal’ shoe pulls my toes together. It becomes obvious rather quickly how this can lead to problems over time when you lock your toes in a room they don’t fit in for 8 hours a day, 6-7 days a week.

Mind The Drop…

Moving away from the toe box, let’s talk about the drop on a shoe. This is something I have been aware of for years now, hence the Converse as my preferred shoe. They have little to no drop. And the drop is the difference in height from the front to the back of the shoe. An easy way to visualize this is considering a high heel with a three inch heel. The drop, in theory, is three inches. You’ll find most shoes will have a drop of anywhere between 10mm and 30mm.

This image demonstrates the drop on my normal shoes against my minimalist ones.

Again, this may seem like nothing, but spending 1000’s of hours and millions of steps with all of the muscles in your posterior chain shortened will eventually lead to problems. Your heels are raised therefore your calves, hamstrings and glutes are all in a shortened position. Potentially your hips are now tipping out of alignment and your lumbar spine is sitting in slight extension shortening the muscles around it. Pain and stiffness could now present itself anywhere up this chain stemming from one thing, your shoes.

Wearing high heels all day for work, or life in general, is the most counterproductive thing in the world. But you link your back pain to sitting at a desk most of the day. Nobody considers the foot, why would they?! And I have picked on a high heel but male footwear is no different. All dress shoes for the suits have a raised heel causing the same harm.

But my shoes are so comfortable!

I get this, people like their shoe for its’ comfort. A nice pair of Nikes are like a cloud under the foot. Or a specialist shoe with an insert for your collapsed/weak arch feels great. Unfortunately, this just adds to the problem though.

Your feet have thousands of tiny nerves in them. They are designed to feel the ground and respond accordingly. This would allow them to keep strong and healthy. It would also allow your arch to remain strong and healthy as it should be. Your feet are amazing things but they need to be allowed to do their work otherwise they will get lazy and weak.

When you choose to wear specialist shoes without trying to address the problem properly you’re just putting a plaster on a puncture. It will not get better. You must have a clear course of action to rehabilitate the problem as much as you can.

So, Where Do You Start?

If you want to start taking care of your feet properly, start by simply wearing shoes as little as possible. Spend time barefoot wherever you can. This will let you feel your feet properly and let them work how they should.

If you feel your feet have already suffered from years of imprisonment, get stretching. Stretch the toes with your fingers, open them up and work on them every single night for a few minutes. Take this a little further with some soft tissue work on the bottom of your foot with a ball or roller then make sure you have plenty of mobility in your ankle.

From here, a transition to a more minimalist shoe might be an option. And this should be done in a phased manor. If you’ve spent the last 20 years in shoes with a large drop and narrow toe box you may only want to wear the minimalist shoe for a short period of each day building this time up over weeks or months. Your feet need to get stronger too so give it time. It wouldn’t be wise to change instantly overnight.

Once you have transitioned into a more minimalist shoe with a wide toe box, you will never look back! You will crave that freedom your feet have every day.

What about sports?

If you train and play sports, or if you have a particular shoe for running (even with an insert for collapsed arches), there’s no major reason to change these shoes unless you really desired to.

Going from spending next to no time with your feet in a good position to spending the majority of your time with your feet in a good position means the planned activity should have much less of an impact on your foot health and any ailments leading from that.

If you did opt to go minimalist across sports too, you need to spend time transitioning just as you need to with day to day wear to make sure your feet are strong enough to cope.

FINAL THOUGHTS…

The foot is the foundation of the body. It’s what holds you up and it is very specifically designed to do a job. You have to let it do that to keep them strong and healthy for all of your years. The best way to do this is to spend more time with no footwear on.

From my personal experience, I wish I’d invested in something more minimalist years ago. The wide toe box provides the most comfort I have ever had in a shoe.

I would get knee pain on anything over 15k steps in most shoes due to an old nagging injury I have. I wore these for the first time and I clocked up over 15k steps without any pain at all in my knee. I can’t claim them to be a miracle cure for anything, this is just my experience.

I honestly don’t think I would/could every go back to wearing a normal shoe now though. My feet are stronger than ever!

Any questions, let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading.