THE BARE TRUTH ABOUT FEET?
Do you work out without shoes on? Do you find yourself going barefoot? Are you finding yourself having aching feet at the end of the day or posture problems? Believe it or not, some of the information on going barefoot may shock you!
I have had a very long foot journey from a broken fibula at the age of 13. Looking back on that healing journey at that time there was no real therapy, anyone advising a recovery plan or physical therapy to recover from broken bones. So after breaking it and once my time was up on being healed I went straight back into sports. I cringe at the thought of that now. Being in those developmental years still, not even finished growing and being a super active teenager, jumping back into a pair of shoes (that I would soon be outgrowing) didn’t have me realizing what my foot was doing in those shoes, therefore some “wonky” things started to happen. This would then play a huge effect with that left foot, which affected it not to work right, have some mobility issues and becoming lazy.
Listen, when you experience firsthand the cause and effect of your own problems you become pretty darn passionate about helping others avoid that same journey. Any other people out there with a past adolescent sports injuries, parents of teens or just anyone truly interested in diving into more about foot health, this ones for you!
Why do I feel so passionate about this subject? The feet are so incredibly important! Almost 30% of the joints in our body are in our feet! So our feet really are the base support for our whole body.
I'll hear all the time that the core is our foundation but I honestly could say the same things about our feet. A lot of times when someone has pain, back pain specifically, I will really stop and take a look at their foot mechanics. Once I do this, almost always the pain comes from improper foot mechanics.
When we wear shoes, yes, we have support and increased shock absorption but in the same breath, it’s important to note that we are not going to feel the ground so we are potentially being lazy with our feet when we are in shoes. We’re putting more unnatural pressures on the knees, spine, neck and hips based on the type of shoes we’re wearing. So, you can see how our foot mechanics are going to affect our whole posture.
When someone is having back pain I will have them get out of their shoes and start standing without them at home or walking around so they can feel and be aware of what their feet are really doing. Why is this important? Because most likely they’re standing on their heels which “locks up” if you will, the joints in their hips, knees, ankles and compresses the spine which has their bodies relying more on their joints and ligaments when they’re standing versus proper utilization of the global muscles like your core and glutes. This not only can cause pain but also can affect our posture when we are standing, walking and sitting.
Ok, so now that you know how pain can be caused just by our feet and how much our feet really do play a roll, let’s dive into all the extra added benefits of going barefoot.
Going barefoot can help with a little something called grounding. You may have heard this term being thrown around a little bit more lately and i’m noticing a huge increase in health and wellness professionals talk about this and bringing it more mainstream, which i love to see! Grounding refers to the contact with the Earth's surface electrons by walking barefoot. This can improve our proprioception which helps with balance and movements. This is us subconsciously knowing where are bodies are in space. So for example: I can wiggle my hand and can tell I'm wiggling it and where it is doing that on my body. Grounding also helps us feel connected to the environment and can help us balance and develop our natural movements.
I really like to encourage my “little patients” or parents of little ones to not wear shoes as much as they can, especially when they are learning to walk. You can look at their feet and it looks almost like a triangle. Notice how it's smaller at the heel and gets wider. When you look at adults it doesn't look like that anymore because we wear more narrow shoes. Think about those heels from your 20’s in your closet or your pair of favorite casual dress shoes. The ball of the foot and the toes start to move inward towards each other which is not good. It can create bunions, can make our feet lazy and create improper foot mechanics. This will not allow us to have strong feet. So training and walking barefoot is something simple we can do for the health of our feet and body.
Something I've started doing is training barefoot which helps me feel the ground, stabilize and really feel what my feet are doing. So if you find me in the gym, just doing weight training or low impact workouts I am going barefoot or wearing the five finger shoes brand. Click the link here to check some out!
Here is your excuse to put away the shoes and spend more time this year being barefoot and free!