What kind of shoes are best for me?

Mar 26

Check out these options for footwear offering minimal support and maximum mobility

Many of you have asked about options for good footwear out there. In general, footwear that offers you a wide toe box and maximum mobility for toe and arch hinging. Minimal support will allow you to articulate your feet and build foot muscle strength offering great support for your entire structure. This empowers your foot to keep its functional arches and not have you rely on ‘built in arch support’. Rigid soles and ‘arch support’ actually serve to immobilize your foot and make the intrinsic muscles of the foot lazy and non-responsive. Good foot health keeps you mobile, resilient to unexpected slips/uneven terrain and ready for action!

If you want to know more about why minimal shoes are good for you, check out this book by one of my favourite body nerd crushes, biomechanist, Katy Bowman, Whole Body Barefoot. She also explains how to transition to minimal footwear safely (we cannot go from high support to barefoot shoes or minimal support overnight and not expect injury). We have to gradually build up the strength in our feet to get there. You can check out more about her and her offerings here: www.nutritiousmovement.com

I recommend using toe spreaders (start out easy using them for 20 minutes, twice a day) as a passive means of starting to build up the muscles of the feet. You can do this while lying down or seated (eating dinner, reading a book or watching a movie). Here’s some that I really like:

https://yogatoes.com/

Check these companies out for a list of shoes designed for minimal support/max mobility:

STYLISH MINIMAL SUPPORT:

Also try: revivo

Zaqq (handmade barefoot shoes/boots)

The Drifter Leather

Ahinsa

body Glove 3T Barefoot Shoe