We all know strengthening our bodies is imperative to health but did you know that training you feet is too? Just like a house, a weak foundation causes a negative ripple effect up the chain. The same goes for feet!
Each foot has 26 bones, 30 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia, all of which work together to provide support, balance and mobility. Three arches also exist in each foot which provide flexibility and stability in a perfect balance that allows us to move - well, at least it should be in perfect balance!
Unfortunately, modern day shoes, ski boots and lifestyle factors have changed the way our feet operate. From the moment we start wearing highly cushioned and stiff shoes, it’s been proven that our mechanics of walking and running compeltely change. This alternating perpetuates as we age and continue to wear improper shoes and our lifestyles become more inactive.
Now, we’re not saying you can’t wear cute pumps or nice dress shoes but we want to ensure you spend time either barefoot or in barefoot shoes… otherwise, your feet will start to look like the shape of your shoes. Further, exercising and training in barefoot shoes is integral to ankle, knee, hip and lower back health.
As a person with Rheumatoid Arthritis, I’ve been through quite the journey with my feet. They were the first place where I developed symptoms and I was unable to walk normally. I limped around for 6 months with painful, swollen joints on the bottom of my feet. In this short time, I experienced permanent degeneration of some ligaments in my foot that was causing a complete arch collapse and pain up the chain to my SI (sacroiliac) joint. After working with brilliant physiotherapists, I learned how to properly strengthen and support my feet and I can happily say I have very minimal issues now.
That’s when I became very passionate about proper foot wear, learning to strengthen the feet, and sharing that knowledge with others. Over the last 5 years, I’ve implemented these proven techniques to reduce clients’ need for orthotics and to decrease their many pains.
Not only do we need to emphasize exercise but also spending time with your feet in a natural state. Since we don’t live in an environment that allows us to frolic outside with bare toes all year round, we need to find shoes that are as close to natural as possible that we can wear inside.
Cue in VivoBarefoot Shoes. I got hooked on them during my search to find the perfect hiking boot. I would find many were too narrow which compressed joints causing pain, have too stiff of soles which left me off balance and rendered my feet helpless against awful blisters every time I wore them. After trying the Tracker II hiking boot, I was instantly hooked. I took them on a trek to Wedgemount Lake (if you’ve done it, you know what I’m talking about) which is no small feat. No blisters, no slipping and complete waterproofing showed me these will be my hikers going forward.
Since then I’ve invested in Vivos for my gym shoes and I love them. I feel so much ground contact with more stabilty; I can feel my foot working and can connect the dots from my foot to the knee to the hip.
If you’re not ready to jump fully in to barefoot shoes, I would recommend the Reebok Nano shoe as an excellent alternative. They exhibit many similarities - zero drop from the heel, wide toe box, support around the foot (instead of the arch) - but have more rubber underneath which provide more cushioning. I use these for days when I’m doing lunges or box jumps when I need more softness to reduce impact and pain.
Did you know that your knee follows what your foot and hip tell it to do? Knee pain and improper tracking can come from insufficient inputs from the joints above and below it. Did you know that a stable hip can reduce lower back pain? An important part of that equation is a strong base!
Want to learn more about how to improve foot mechanics, strengthen your feet and how minimalist shoes can help? Join our free community event on June 12th and 13th in collaboration with VivoBarefoot Canada!
Check out the event link here for more info.
Sunday June 12th - 10am-4pm
Monday June 13th - 12-6pm
Here’s a video from our friends at The Foot Collective about why you should care about your feet: