Table of Contents
By Katy Bowman, MS
Did you know there are thirty-three joints in each foot, and the muscle groups of the bare feet make up twenty-five percent of the body’s total number of muscles? The complex machinery of the foot plays a critical role not only in ankle stabilization and gait but also in whole-body balance, nerve conduction, and even cardiovascular circulation. So, what we choose to wear on our bare feet can affect a whole lot more than just our outfits.
Anatomy of Minimalist Footwear
Humans have been wearing foot coverings for eons—they provide protection for bare feet from various hazards, such as sharp objects, extreme temperatures, and abrasive surfaces. But whenever we turn to technology—yes, shoes are technology—it can have an impact on our biology. Simply put, our bodies cannot function optimally unless our bare feet are in good shape and can move naturally. Therefore, transitioning to more optimal footwear is a move towards a stronger body, which in turn is a huge step toward whole-body health.
The term “minimal footwear” (also referred to as minimalist footwear or barefoot shoes) refers to a shoe that minimizes alteration of natural human movement. The term “minimal” may be misapplied to the number of materials making up a shoe. For example, a flip-flop is often perceived to be a minimal shoe because of its low shoe mass. However, from a biomechanical perspective, flip-flops alter the way we walk, which means that simply having minimal mass isn’t the best characteristic by which to classify a shoe as “minimal.”
Here are the top characteristics of what defines a minimal shoe:
- A sole that is thin and flexible enough for the tissues in the foot to feel the ground and respond by naturally articulating, innervating, contracting, and releasing.
- A heel that is neutral, or “zero-drop,” allowing all joints to work from a neutral baseline and enabling the full range of motion for all joints in the body.
- An upper that fully connects the foot to the shoe, so there’s no need to grip the toes or the front of the shin to keep the shoe on while walking.
- A spacious toe-box that allows enough room for the toes to extend and spread as necessary while walking, hiking, or climbing.
- A front of the shoe that rests on the ground, as opposed to one that swoops upward—referred to as “toe spring”—slightly extending the toes.
Closer to Bare Feet
In other words, minimal footwear is not about being as tiny as possible; minimal footwear allows bare feet to behave as feet while still offering a buffer between the foot and the unnatural detritus found in the modern world that can cause injury.
In comparison, conventional footwear tends to be narrower than the foot in its unshod state, has an elevated heel, and is typically stiff- and thick-soled. The narrow structure can press toes together, which weakens foot musculature, thereby affecting nerve health.
Elevated heels make it difficult to access the full range of motion of many joints—which in turn creates highly repetitive but small motions in the hips and knees. And because all the parts are connected, we have to make constant adjustments to the pelvis and spine in order to stay upright while essentially walking downhill on flat ground.
Here is a summary of the ways that conventional shoes can affect whole-body mechanics:
- A narrow toe-box prevents toes from spreading and may even crunch the toes together (eg, pointy dress shoe).
- The upper doesn’t connect with the foot (eg, clogs and flip-flops).
- The sole is stiff and unyielding, forcing the work of walking to come from the ankle rather than being distributed throughout the foot.
- The sole is thick, so the foot isn’t moving at many of its thirty-three joints by walking over shapes provided by the ground.
Transitioning to Minimalist Footwear
So, you want to revive some of the foot structures that have been dormant. Does that mean you should throw out your heels straight away? Nope. When you’ve worn a positive-heeled shoe most of your life, foot structures are distributed differently than you need them to be in order to walk with your heels down.
To transition abruptly is to run the risk of creating an injury. My first recommendation for moving away from heels is to spend at least one-month performing corrective exercises daily while continuing to wear regular shoes. Yes, even if you regularly wear high heels.
Here are some general guidelines to keep in mind as you’re transitioning from more supportive shoes to more supportive feet, and from moving less to moving more:
Give underutilized muscles time to develop via corrective exercises (see examples below). Of note, begin the foot exercises before switching shoes and continue as you transition to less supportive shoes.
Master shoeless or minimal shoe walking before you try running. After all, running creates greater forces in the joints of the foot, so walking is the more natural precursor to developing the appropriate strength for running.
Once you’re ready for running, start with short distances—on dirt or grass—before logging longer runs.
Seek out expert guidance on correct walking and running form. Conventional running shoes offer excessive cushioning to protect against high joint forces. The better you align your feet (and your body above your bare feet) while exercising, the less you will overload them.
To get you started, here are three exercises that stretch the intrinsic foot muscles—those that start and end within the foot.
Corrective Exercise: Passive Toe Spreading
Separating (also known as abducting) your toes mobilizes the bones, muscles, and connective tissues in your feet so you can start achieving better intrinsic muscle strength, circulation, and nerve health. Eventually, you will be doing this with the muscles within the bare feet, but first, you’ll start by using the muscles of your hands.
Start by sitting with one ankle crossed over the opposite knee. With your hands, gently spread your toes apart. Ideally, you’ll stretch the toes for a minute at a time, but start with smaller distances and shorter intervals—around fifteen seconds—and progress to greater distances and longer holds as you feel comfortable.
Eventually, you can interlace your fingers and toes together—the same way you would with your hands, but with one hand and one foot instead. I like to hang out like this when I’m reading or watching movies. For more convenience, you can get toe-alignment products such as toe-spreading socks and toe-spacers.
Wear your spacers/socks overnight or while you watch TV so that you’ll be working your foot kinks out while getting something else done. (I woke up three hours into the first night sleeping with my alignment socks on. My bare feet were sore—they had had enough exercise for one night. Listen to your body!)
Corrective Exercise: Standing Foot Massage
Start introducing low and controlled loads to the feet that will mobilize the muscles and joints within them. Begin standing with a tennis or similarly sized squishy ball under the arch of one foot. Slowly load your weight onto the ball, moving your foot forward and back and side to side to apply pressure to individual joints within the foot.
Did I mention there are thirty-three joints in each foot? Well, I’m telling you again. Think of your foot as a floor you must vacuum. While vacuuming, you don’t just go around the edges, do you? Nope, you vacuum the whole area. Apply this diligence to your foot massage. Move tiny distances at a time. Leave no foot joint unstimulated. Work the sole of the foot with the ball, applying more or less pressure as needed. Eventually, try different ball sizes and firmness levels. Each will mobilize the joints differently.
Corrective Exercise: Top of the Foot Stretch
This stretch is great for undoing chronic “gripping” tension in the toes and the front of the ankle. If you’re a chronic flip-flop wearer, then this exercise is especially pertinent to your bare feet. Holding on to something supportive, if necessary, stand on your right foot and reach your left foot back behind you, tucking the toes of your left foot under and placing them on the floor.
The tendency here is to lean the entire body forward to reduce the load to the bare feet. If your body is really leaning forward, then shorten the distance you’ve reached the leg back or sit down in a chair to lessen the load.
Once you’re used to the load, bring your pelvis over your standing (not your stretching) ankle, and try to bring the upper body over the hips. The goal is to work up to holding this stretch for a minute, but it’s very common to experience cramping. If you do, just come out of the stretch, wait until the cramp passes, then try again. And then, of course, switch feet. This is a portable stretch that you can do any time you’re standing. Perform it a few times every day until you’ve eliminated cramping and/or your bare feet regain their intended dexterity.
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More stretches and foot strengthening exercises can be found in Katy Bowman’s Whole Body Barefoot: Transitioning Well to Minimal Footwear. Katy is a bestselling author, biomechanist, and founder of Nutritious Movement, who is changing the way we move and think about our need for movement. She has written ten books on the importance of a diverse movement diet, including Move Your DNA, Simple Steps to Foot Pain Relief, and her latest release, My Perfect Movement Plan—a practical workbook to help you get all the “movement nutrients” your body actually needs in a way that works for you and your lifestyle. Find her at https://www.nutritiousmovement.com/ and on the Move Your DNA podcast.
Well Being Journal adapted the above excerpt from a selection of passages from Whole Body Barefoot by Katy Bowman, MS, copyright Katy Bowman 2015, and reprinted with permission.
