The Barefoot Walking trend has been circling around for years.
What is it? Is is safe? What should I do? Keep reading for the discussion!
The short answer: variety is the spice of life.
The long answer:
Barefoot walking can be categorised into walking in socks, completely barefoot or wearing "barefoot" shoes.
Barefoot walking enables strength in the ligaments, muscles and fascia. Barefoot walking increases the general resilience and strength of the foot and lower limb structures in a normal foot.
Shoes provide several benefits for the feet such as physical protection (which allows greater range of terrain and weather conditions when walking), cushioning and support for foot bones and soft tissue structures.
FOOTWEAR
However, if someone is very elderly, unwell or has certain medical conditions such as Diabetes Mellitus it becomes less safe to walk barefoot due to greater risks of falls and foot injuries. Additionally, shoes enable us to walk in different terrains and in various weather conditions which keeps us healthy (and to be honest, often in paid employment). Shoes are necessary for protection and cushioning. Furthermore, footwear can be modified or insoles/padding added to further support people of all ages who have biomechanical inconsistencies which predisposes them to foot injuries.
BAREFOOT
Generally, barefoot walking is healthy for the feet as it provides additional circulation, strength and coordination. Babies and children are often encouraged to walk barefoot to increase their proprioception, balance and strength. Barefoot walking is a healthy behaviour when someone is not at risk of detrimental complications from physical ground injuries such as cuts and scrapes, and their foot position allows them to walk without additional strain on their soft tissue structures. Barefoot walking is healthy day- to day when in a familiar environment as it can assist with circulation, digital offloading such as from corns and ingrown nails and improved balance and muscle strength within the feet. Additionally, strength and endurance builds confidence which is protective for falls and good for mental health. As discussed before, barefoot walking is especially important for children, and should be attempted occasionally when at home or in a safe environment.
How to start/keep barefoot walking
Strengthen, strengthen, strengthen your feet!
By keeping your foot and leg muscles strong, you can help to maintain your arch when walking and reduce the chances of injuries.
Additionally, ensure that you do not have any potential complications that may occur from walking on different terrain without shoes.
Make sure you keep up walking both in shoes and out of shoes to keep your whole lower limb healthy. If you are transitioning into a barefoot running shoe do this very slowly to give your body time to strengthen and adapt to different stresses and pressures on the feet and legs.
Assess whether it is safe for you to start barefoot walking/running
Begin strengthening exercises to help your body to adapt to changes
Try products below that will assist your foot in the transition to a more barefoot lifestyle
Begin walking/running barefoot very slowly to reduce injury chances.
Seek assistance if you get any unexpected pains or have shoe queries
EXERCISES TO GET READY FOR BAREFOOT WALKING/RUNNING
Here are some exercises you can do at home that will help you strengthen those muscles in your foot and leg to 'train' them for some barefoot activity:
1. Single leg stance/balance
This exercise aims to improve your balance and proprioception (stability) by training the small muscles in around your foot, ankle, and lower leg to stabilise you when you're walking on uneven surfaces. If you're pretty good at this exercise, you can make it more challenging by closing your eyes or even doing some single leg calf raises!
2. Arch scrunches
By placing a towel on the floor, use your toes to scrunch and squeeze the towel as much as you can. This exercise helps train the muscles that flex your toes since they don't get much opportunity to work during everyday activity like walking or running.
3. Resisted dorsiflexion/plantarflexion
Dorsiflexion and plantarflexion are essential movements for a walking and running, and even more so when you're barefoot! Doing these movements with the use of a resistance band allows us to load the muscles in a safe way to strengthen them so they can tolerate the weight of our whole body when we are ready to walk or run.
Ultimately, podiatrists recommend wearing a supportive shoe to optimise foot function when walking or running. However, barefoot walking when safe is a good way to enhance the strength of some particular muscles of the feet and assist with proprioception.
We hope you have found the above information helpful please don't hesitate to contact us at info@footbodysole.com.au or 8648 7678 or come in store to chat to our friendly staff.
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