Why To Think more minimalist
Why To Think More Minimalist (when it comes to shoes)
When it comes to shoes there are so many different types out there. Many people don't think too much about the function of shoes. They think more about how they look. Understand that our feet are an amazing biomechanical tool we have. And yet we trap them into shoes that are so narrow and don’t have the correct type of flexibility in them.
Our feet are made up of 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than a hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments. They also have a lot of baroreceptors (pressure receptors) in them. The function of our feet is to be able to feel the ground. The reason we have baroreceptors (pressure receptors) is because we as human beings need to be able to tell the difference between something flat versus something round as we step. Think of this from a survival standpoint, if we step on something round we need to quickly know if that is a snake, stick, etc. Our first response is to step back as quickly as possible, then see what we stepped on. Is it a snake, or is it just a stick?
The latest shoes aren’t the best for our feet. They are trapping our feet. Our brains always want to know what is happening in our bodies all the time. By wearing shoes that are narrow and or have a non flexible high cushion heel you're putting your brain on stilts. That space between your feet and the ground is unknown to your brain. It becomes threatening to the brain and can create bad posture, muscle tightness, etc. Think of this: a jammed joint is a weak joint and a mobile joint is a strong joint. If you're wearing shoes that are narrow or have a stiff heel you’re jamming 33 joints right there. Changing your shoes to more of a minimalist shoe can help with feet function. Looking for a wide, zero drop minimalist shoe is what you’re wanting to wear. It will help with the brain being able to know where your feet are related to the ground. Having a more wide shoe will help with the muscles, joints, tendons, and ligaments to be able to load and unload your weight with every step. Getting all 33 joints moving and working.
Now I am not saying to go out and get a pair of minimalist shoes right out of the gate. That can be bad to do. That’s like going 0-100. You have to work up to it. Build the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. If you are reading and want to know where to start when it comes to shoes and working your way to a full blown minimalist shoe I would recommend looking into nike frees or nike flexes. They have great flexibility of the heel and the heel isn’t too big. They also have better movement in the toe box of the shoe. If you’re ready for a full blown minimalist shoe you can look into Xeros shoes, Vivobarefoot shoes, Inov, or Merrell. Those are just a few different brands out there you can look at.
How to test to see if your shoe is a good shoe. One thing is does it have a wide toe box? Are your toes able to spread out while in the shoe? And second, if you flip your shoe upside down with the bottom facing the ceiling, if you hold the middle of the bottom part of the shoe with one hand and take the other hand to the heel, can you bend that heel? If it can bend without much resistance then it's a good shoe. If it doesn’t then maybe think about getting a different shoe. You can also assess a shoe. Try bending over and touching your toes. See how far you can get. Then put on the shoes and take 10-20 steps with them on and then reassess with the shoes on. If you reassess better then it’s a good shoe, if not maybe that shoe isn’t the right shoe for you. Now if it stays the same then that's also an indicator it’s a good shoe.
