(Almost) all my thoughts on minimalist/barefoot style shoes

“What kind of shoes should I be wearing?” – I hear this question all the time in the clinic and the gym. There is no simple answer to this question, as it depends on your current foot and ankle health status, your injury history, your typical activities and your current typical footwear. 

I am a devotee of minimalist or “barefoot” style shoes, and I think it’s important to disclose that bias up front. True minimalist or barefoot shoes are defined by several features: zero heel drop (the height of the sole of the shoe is the same at the front and back of the shoe), high ground contact (you can feel bumps and rocks and changes in the surface of the ground because of no or minimal padding in the sole), no arch support or other structural modifications in the shoe that affect the shape of your foot, and a wide toe box that allows your forefoot and toes room to move and accommodate to the ground surface (which you can feel because of the minimal amount of padding in the sole of the shoe.)

I started transitioning to minimalist/barefoot shoes 4 years ago when I realized that the kinds of shoes I could wear was becoming more and more limited. I needed a lot of support and cushioning and couldn’t wear flats or sandals that didn’t have significant arch support. I felt frustrated that I could basically only wear sneakers and I also had seen relatives deal with years of foot pain and plantar fasciitis and a constant search for the best foot support or orthotic to help with their foot pain, and I did not want to go down the same road. I was familiar with the principles of barefoot shoes for running (popularized by the book Born to Run and clinical research done by Irene Davis and her team), and I figured the same principles likely applied to daily life footwear as well. 

Generally, these principles can be summed up as: our feet are meant to be strong and adaptable, modern footwear directly impedes foot strength and adaptability, and that with appropriate exercise and stimulation (namely, barefoot walking and less support from shoes along with foot and ankle strengthening exercises) feet can get stronger. It didn’t make sense to me any more to provide more and more cushioning and support for my feet as this seemed likely to make the muscles, tendons and ligaments in my foot weaker and weaker over time, thereby necessitating more and more support, a vicious cycle.

I started my shoe transition with a pair of belenka Winter Barefoot Boots, which are still going strong 4 years later, though I am thinking about replacing the inner lining (they sell these separately so you can make the shoes last longer - yay!). These were a good initial transition shoe because they had a very wide toe box and no heel drop, but still a lot of cushioning. The most important thing I did while transitioning footwear was to go slowly. I wore the belenka boots a couple of hours a day and the rest of the time I was still wearing supportive sneakers. Gradually over the course of a year, I increased the amount of time I was spending in barefoot/minimalist shoes until that is all I was wearing (I did this with a pair of belenka Breeze shoes for summer to replace the winter boots). 

Since then I have I tried a variety of brands until I landed on Splay Freestyle shoes as my preferred every day shoe. They are simple, look good with all casual outfits and are super comfortable for my foot shape. One resource that was super valuable for me as I searched for the best shoe options was Anya’s Reviews. This is an incredible website with reviews of almost every barefoot/minimalist shoe that is currently being made. She also has great recommendations for how to transition to barefoot shoes and which styles/models are appropriate as you are starting out. 

It is worth noting that you are supposed to do regular foot and ankle strengthening exercises as you transition footwear and I recommend this to clients any time I mention the benefits of barefoot style shoes. In my own transition I did some exercises, maybe once or twice a week at most, but for the most part I was able to get away with essentially just getting more foot exercise by wearing more minimal shoes for slowly increasing periods of time. This doesn’t work for everyone, but if the idea of needing to exercise your way into a different shoe style doesn’t appeal, you may be able to get away with just going slowly enough that your foot has time to adapt and strengthen.

At this point, I only wear minimalist/barefoot styles. I value the ability of my feet and toes to be able to move naturally and I REALLY value the fact that my feet don’t hurt at all any more. I have hiked 15+ miles a day in barefoot style hiking boots (Xero brand) and walk, stand and exercise all day in my Splay shoes. I can also wear cute flats for special occasions (and you can find a barefoot/minimalist shoe for every occasion on Anya’s Reviews.)

As a physical therapist I have over the years changed my approach from recommending orthotics to everyone with foot pain, to recommending orthotics plus foot strengthening, and about 4 years ago, stopped recommending orthotics at all as a long term solution, and instead recommend foot strengthening for everyone, and orthotics only as needed to make daily life manageable if someone is having a lot of foot pain. 

All that said, I still answer the question “What kind of shoes should I be wearing?” with “It depends.” Even though I think that most people can transition to minimalist shoes, and that this is the best route to take to avoid foot pain and injury, I recognize that for many people, that is not an option they are interested in pursuing. I do recommend that if people want to continue to wear traditional shoes, it is still worthwhile to spend as much time barefoot as possible at home (though if you currently are never barefoot, start with 5 minutes at a time and work up from there.) Your feet will still benefit from the exercise that being unconfined provides.