The human foot is an outstanding piece of evolutionary engineering. Housing nearly a quarter of all the bones in your body, and a docking station for the nervous system. This often overlooked piece of the human puzzle plays a major role in our health and wealth status.
Unfortunately the “put your feet up culture” without the precursor of hard work has almost retired this formidable workhorse. Falling foul of the principal “use it or lose it”, the comfy air bubbles with arch supports have come round to bite us in the ass, knees and misaligned hips.
Fortunately we live in an era where information is just at our fingertips. The increased awareness about the benefits of a barefoot lifestyle has brought about a new generation of barefoot junkies.
Is this another fad, a bunch of tree hugging hippies or a collective with the inner-standing and appreciation for the complex craftsmanship of the human body? The latter was me, lizard crawling down the rabbit hole in 2015 and purchasing my first pair of vibram five fingers. Also referred to as “what the f#$K are those on your feet?”
Thankfully times have changed and the barefoot junkies have grown in numbers. Judgement has been replaced with curiosity and the cat has not died.
The renaissance of the movement culture in recent times led me to the watering hole, and the freedom to move freely has kept me sipping from the fountain ever since. The majority of movements are reliant on the feet and this dependency requires a complex yet powerful construction. One that is durable as well as flexible. A construction that allows you to jump, land, grip, extend, balance, bend, rotate, control speed and bear huge amounts of force. The design of the foot ticks all the boxes. Impressive.
However society’s obsession with comfort has denatured the use of the foot, creating a plague of direct and indirect issues. Hip replacements, knee pains, reduced mobility are all on the increase, and at an alarming rate. Not only are they increasing but they are occurring in a younger and younger demographic. The human body has been created to move, the intelligence and precision of it’s construction means any alteration will cause conflict. Conflict that causes distress. Not only at the source of the problem but throughout the body.
The feet like everything else in the body have been designed to develop holistically. Every toe and metatarsal has its part to play as we move and groove through life. Modern footwear alters the flow of natural movement as it substitutes your ten man army for a flipper. A flipper squishing and squashing those soldiers into a battle at sea, while the war is on land.
As the natural complexities of the foot disengage and deform, an unintelligent version of the foot emerges. Arches become weak or collapse, the little toes become unintelligent and immobile. Our balance moves, our alignment shifts, our gait adopts a new pattern, and the body starts to make adjustments.
DOES IT MATTER ?
Humans have advanced to an era of solution-based commercialism, and our programmed lust for financial security as well as flamboyancy has made us very good at it. The comforting solutions for the feet often stifle functionality, this can lead to alterations in primal movement patterns such as walking and even standing. Over time this has dire consequences. The human body is primed to be adaptable. It will adapt to survive at all costs. New or reduced movement, especially primal patterns will affect muscle and joint alignment. The domino falls slowly and subtly. Your awareness often comes too late as the body compensates to alleviate new pressures put on it. The hip gets replaced, the knee gets a brace and your fancy shoes get a new insole.
Before you rush off to try and eat dinner with your feet, all is not lost. The body has an amazing capacity to re-learn old tricks, and restore proper function. A step in the right direction would be to spend more time moving barefoot, it’s a simple, easy, free lifestyle change that will reacquaint yourself with your 10 man army of super troopers.
Unfortunately we don’t often have the time or lifestyles that allow us to regain optimal performance from our feet with just going barefoot. Less physical activity, coupled with an increased amount of time sitting down ultimately means the majority of us would benefit from paying more attention to developing our feet.
For those who are blessed with a good level of strength, balance, and mobility in their feet would benefit from a transition to minimalist footwear. The discussion on the benefits and struggles of this transition can be found online, and is often a good starting point in your journey.
If you want to move more naturally, take off those shoes and socks, and party like it was 1999! However for those places where footwear is necessary or preferable, Vibrams and Vivobarefoot are my go-to brands available in the U.K. They have a slightly different take on the barefoot movement, but both have a genuine passion for the practice and ideology. I rarely wear anything else these days, and I feel and move all the better for it.
Once the feet start moving naturally again, movements such as catching a fall or correcting your balance become instinctive. As dramatic as this sound’s, this is the stuff that could really save your life one day.
Apart from the physical benefits of improving your foot health, the feet are well connected to major areas of the body. Nerve endings from all the major organs all reside in the feet. As you might be aware reflexology would suggest that applying pressure to these points can improve the inner functions of the body. I have personally experienced the deep fascia release that comes with hiking in minimalist footwear. The challenging terrain is like getting a deep tissue massage from mother nature, but can also be very uncomfortable to the uninitiated. All this should have us wonder if there is a reason why all these nerve endings are in the feet? Could going outdoors barefoot be our natural reflexology session to restore imbalances ?
I am definitely no expert, and my hippy Eastern outlook probably has my thoughts compromised or biased. However, I genuinely feel better after spending time barefoot, especially in nature. Well. Until I step in dog shit that is. But I cannot express how much I believe paying your feet more attention, and being foot aware will benefit your overall well-being.
I’ve put together a short YouTube video of my foot mobility drill that I do (almost) daily. I hope it helps you regain some confidence in your feet and eases you into a barefoot thinking lifestyle.
BeMore.
BeMore 