183. The Health Benefits of Barefoot Running and Walking

Speaker: 00:00:03

Yo what's going on, everybody.

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Welcome to the elemental

Ivan podcast as always.

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: 00:00:06

This is your host, Evan Roberts.

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And on this show, I break down health

topics from a holistic perspective.

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: 00:00:13

That way you can walk away from these

episodes with a lot of tools in your

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pocket, things you can apply to your life.

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Right after listening to these

episodes and actually try to apply

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them to your life and see the

outcomes that they might have on you.

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A lot of the information I give on

this show is firsthand experience

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things that I've tested on myself

or had experience with, um, as well,

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trying to back it with some scientific

studies and things that I come across.

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And of course, as well, bringing

some really intelligent people

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on the show to provide, uh, some

information for all of you as well.

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And today's episode, we're

going to be doing a solo

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episode with just yours truly.

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And we're going to be talking

all about foot health.

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Now I have done an episode on

foot health in the past, but.

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I'm going to do another one

today and I'm definitely going

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to be doing more in the future.

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I would love to get a podiatrist or, you

know, one of these foot specialists on

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this show, because I think they would

be able to add a lot to these episodes.

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But nonetheless, I'm going to cover

some of the importance of foot health,

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why it's so important for the rest

of our body, because it truly is

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the base of our entire structure.

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Which is our body.

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Um, but before we do that,

please take a moment.

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So anyways, get into the show.

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On.

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Today's topic of foot health.

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I really have had this kind of front

of mind for me because I've joined a

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running club here not too long ago.

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And for me, I haven't ran.

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Uh, it's 4.5 miles.

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I haven't ran that in literally,

probably 12 years, maybe even 13 years.

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So it's been a very long time for me.

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I do a lot of hiking.

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I do a lot of walking and all even go

out and do some runs where it's maybe

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like a mile or two miles at most.

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I'm typically not going above that level.

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But four and a half miles.

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It's, uh, you know, it's

been kind of a lot for me.

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I've definitely gotten better at it

and I'm getting more adapted to it.

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But one of the things that really

stuck out to me was how my feet

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were handling these longer runs.

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So if you know me.

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I don't wear typical shoes.

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Usually I wear a barefoot or a

minimal style foot, uh, footwear shoe.

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So for those of you who are unfamiliar

with what a minimal or barefoot

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shoe even is basically, it's a

shoe that doesn't have very much

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padding in it, if any, at all, even,

um, it's going to be a flat shoe.

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So it's not going to have a

lifted heel at like to any degree.

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Just going to be completely flat and it's

going to have a wider toe box as well.

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And we do that because.

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Our feet are not meant to be in the

shape of like basically a cone, right?

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Like they're not meant to be in the

shape of what our shoes look like now.

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And just to give you a little

bit of a history on our shoes

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and the current look of them.

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Our shoes were pretty much designed

or modeled off of like boots that

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were used for riding horses, because

they were pointed at the toe, which

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allowed them to, uh, fit into the, I

believe it's called the stirrup easier.

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Uh, which is basically you just

where you put your feet on, uh, on,

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when you're riding a horse and then

they have a lifted heel so that you

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wouldn't have your foot go too far

in to the little placement there.

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So it was easy to get

your foot into there.

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And then you wouldn't get, put

your foot too far into the stirrup

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because you had that heel that would

keep it from going all the way in.

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So this was basically.

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The modern or the design

for the modern shoe.

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And it's really not designed around

the health of our feet, but rather just

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riding horses and now looking cool.

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So.

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Our feet definitely need to have wider toe

boxes because a lot of people's toes are

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basically growing on top of each other.

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We have people, uh, with Bunyan's

all over the place, right?

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These big toes are just growing

in over their other toes.

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And our feet are just looking really

destroyed and not like they should.

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Uh, toes should be a little bit more

spread out, able to grip and move

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around on the earth when you're walking.

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Um, you know, our feet are meant to

send signals to our brain all the time.

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Right.

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Always sensing what they're walking

on, uh, feeling the earth as we

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walk and, you know, we're, we're

walking on a little bit of a.

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Uh, harder or sharp, sharper surface.

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Our feet are going to send signals to

our brain, to know when, to relax in a

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certain part of the foot because it's

stepping on something sharp or pokey and

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then kind of strengthen in other areas

so that we can still stabilize our body.

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Um, and when we put these really thick

in souls in our shoes, what ends up

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happening is we're not able to actually

read the earth any longer with our feet.

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Uh, now what we've done is we've just made

it super cushy and they can just walk all

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day filling this cushy kind of sensation.

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But what that can lead to down the

road is an inability of our feet to

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actually properly read the ground.

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So then when you do walk barefoot, um,

it's gonna probably be very painful.

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You're not going to know how to

naturally adapt to whatever surface

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surface it is that you're walking on.

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And as well.

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Uh, this can lead to injuries down the

road, because if you're walking with

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really bad form or even running with

bad form, this can lead to injuries down

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the road in your knees and your back.

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Um, Ankles pretty much anywhere.

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And this is something we want to avoid.

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And by doing these barefoot shoes or

even just walking barefoot, uh, we're

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able to strengthen our feet and hopefully

avoid a lot of these injuries down the

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road, because if you're walking with

improper form, or if you're running

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with improper form, your body is going

to receive that signal immediately.

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And you're going to try to

correct and run in a way that's

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going to be better for your body.

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So this is kind of the idea

behind barefoot running.

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Um, For me, it just makes a lot of

sense because obviously we evolved

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with the feet that we have, and

we've really only had the super cushy

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shoes for a short period of time.

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Uh, you know, traditionally people

have had shoes, but they've been a,

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basically just a barrier between you

and the earth so that you can run on

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hot surfaces or maybe something that

is, you know, very Rocky and hard to.

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Uh, run or walk on with bare feet.

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So.

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That's kind of the whole

idea behind barefoot running

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barefoot, walking, all of that.

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And I just wanted to share a little

bit of my experience with the run club.

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So I started running with these barefoot

shoes and I was experiencing honestly, a

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bit of discomfort for the first few weeks.

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And it wasn't till about week three

or four that I finally started to,

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I think, develop the muscles, but

also find my stride and my run.

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One, uh, that felt good for my body.

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And wasn't putting a ton of the

shock on my body with each step

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that I was coming down with.

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Right.

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I was literally training and

learning how to run for my body,

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which I think is very important.

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And when we wear these thick,

cushy running shoes, I don't

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think we get those sensations.

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Uh, you know, or the, that feedback

from our body telling us, Hey, like

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you're running in a way that's not good

for the body and you need to adjust.

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But rather when you have these thick

running shoes, you don't have to adjust.

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You can just keep running like that.

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So you can run improperly for a

long period of time, which, like

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I said, can very likely lead

to, uh, injuries down the road.

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So.

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If you haven't already looked

into the book, born to run,

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I recently just finished it.

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And, uh, I know it's been out for

a while, but it's a great book and

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brings up some great points and topics.

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Uh, you know, talks a lot about

some of these kind of older tribes

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that have ran very long distances

and with very minimal foot support.

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So personally, I think it's good

for us to use barefoot shoes.

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I think if you've never used barefoot

shoes before then do not just throw

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on a pair and go for a five mile run.

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Like you're probably going to

wreck yourself by doing that.

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You need to.

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Get your feet adjusted and, um, train them

to walking and running barefoot again.

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So.

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Well, I would recommend is if you've

never used barefoot shoes before, or, you

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know, walked around barefoot, really for

that matter, aside from just on your, you

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know, tile and carpet inside your house.

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Um, there's a few ways that you can

start to train your feet to get back to.

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Being wild again.

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Right?

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Like being able to just walk

and run normally without having

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all this protection on them.

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So.

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First off.

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If you live in a place that's safe

for you to walk outside to barefoot.

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Do that, that is a great place to start.

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It can be on grass.

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It could be on some dirt.

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Um, you know, whatever the

terrain is outside of you.

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Um, I would recommend that if you are

going to be walking on concrete or

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asphalt, for example, That maybe, um,

you know, you make sure you're in a

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relatively, like clean, safe environment.

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Of course.

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I don't want you walking around.

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Uh, like downtown LA or something without

any shoes on, it's definitely not the

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place to do it, but just going out for

a walk without any shoes on is a really

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great way to start training your feet,

to, uh, learn, to read the ground again.

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Right.

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Like I love.

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I love that kind of imagery.

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Right?

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Like being able to read the

ground, almost like someone

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reading with, uh, with braille.

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Uh, our feet are truly reading the ground

and, and T you know, Adapting the body

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to the surfaces that we're walking on.

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So go walk barefoot.

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If you're able to.

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And on top of that, you can definitely

purchase a pair of, of, uh, barefoot

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shoes and just kind of wear them

every now and again, to kind of start

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getting your feet used to having less

cushion and, um, you know, having

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this wider toe box where they can.

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Your toes can move around

and actually grip the earth.

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And what else you can do is get

a lacrosse ball or some kind of a

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myofascial release ball and just

roll your feet around on that.

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You know, if you find a place that kind

of hurts a little bit, maybe you just sit

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in it for us for a little bit of time and

allow all of the ligaments and tendons

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and bones and, um, just everything to kind

of release and, uh, gain that sensation

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again, that you've lost over time.

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Is a really great practice.

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And then as well, you can also use toe

spacers, uh, or, I mean, if you really

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want, when you're sitting down on the

couch, you can honestly just stick

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your fingers in between your toes.

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And just sit there for a while.

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Um, but toe spacers are a much

more effective method here.

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You can just throw some toe spacers

on your toes and, um, it'll help

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them to spread out and widen again.

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Uh, because a lot of people, myself

included have worn shoes that are

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too tight and your toes are probably

growing on top of each other or very

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closely together instead of having a

little bit of space in between them.

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So using toe spacers are

a great idea as well.

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There's also a few different exercises.

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You can do one that is very simple

and easy to do is you can stand with

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your feet facing forward, uh, you

know, shoulder distance apart and

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just lift the big toes, but keep all

of your other four toes on each foot

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down planted firmly on the ground.

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So you just lift that big

toe up and then go ahead and.

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Release, put that big toe back to

the ground and then do the opposite.

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Keep the big toes on the ground,

but lift all of the four other

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toes off of the ground on.

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Both of your feet.

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And just practice that go back and

forth between lifting just the big toe.

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And then the four smaller toes and

then big toe four smaller toes, and

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just kind of rotate between that.

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And you're just really once again,

teaching your feet and how to move again.

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Right.

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And not just be stuck in this.

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Uh, foot coffin that they been stuck

in for a majority of their lives.

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So those are a few practices

using a lacrosse ball.

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Uh, going for a barefoot walk.

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Doing that little toe exercise,

um, using toe spacers, right?

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These are all great methods to kind

of rewild your foot again, but I

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would definitely say the best way to

do it is to do some barefoot walking.

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So if you're able to get out

and just walk barefoot, that's

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going to be the best practice.

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It's going to retrain the feet to walking

without, um, always having this layer

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of cushion between them and the ground.

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And, uh, yeah.

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Get yourself a pair of barefoot shoes.

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Um, you know, there's, there's

varying degrees of barefoot shoes.

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Like you have some that are.

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Uh, maybe like, uh, a midway shoe.

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Like they still have a little

bit of padding on them, but

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they have a wider toe box.

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And there's not a, drop-off

like from your heel to your toe.

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So you can kind of work your way into

these, uh, barefoot shoes or, you

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know, like I said, by a true minimal,

uh, barefoot type shoe and just wear

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it on occasions until your feet.

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Kind of adjust and get used to walking.

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With less cushion on them, essentially.

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Right.

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And these wider toe boxes.

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So, of course I know.

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Uh, people are probably curious,

like what's, what's a good brand.

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Uh, to check out there's multiple

brands out there, even on Amazon,

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they have, um, you know, some kind

of cheaper brands, which personally,

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I actually buy a couple shoes from

Amazon, uh, that are, you know, kind

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of a barefoot or minimalist style shoe.

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Uh, because they're, cost-effective

honestly like they're like 40 bucks.

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They're pretty cheap and maybe

they're not the best, but they're

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pretty decent for what they're worth.

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Um, the brand that I typically

purchase from Amazon is called.

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Whitten that's.

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W H I T I N I believe.

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Um, yeah, type that in.

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I'm sure it'll pop up.

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And it's a pretty good introductory,

um, barefoot shoe, especially

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when it comes to pricing.

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Like if you're not willing to go

drop like a hundred dollars on a

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barefoot shoe, I don't blame you.

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I think this is a great

introductory way to get into it.

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If you want to start going down this

path, which I highly recommend it.

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Um, and then beyond that you

have two pretty popular brands.

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Uh, both I personally really

liked them, uh, but they're

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a little bit more expensive.

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The first one is going to

be zero that's X, E R O.

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Uh, zero barefoot shoes, I believe.

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And.

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They're a really great brand.

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I have a hiking shoe from them and I

have my eye on a just normal type shoe

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that I would love to, uh, test out

from them as well as a running shoe.

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But the hiking shoe that I have

from them is a really awesome shoe.

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I like it a lot.

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It's a good fit.

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Um, you know, and it's, it's built

perfectly for what I need it, but while

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still giving me that minimal, uh, shoe

feel to them, and then the other brand is

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going to be vivo that's V I V O barefoot.

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And they're probably a little bit more

pricey than the zero shoe, but once

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: 00:16:56

again, it's just a really good brand.

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: 00:16:59

I mean, they.

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: 00:17:00

Make a very minimal style shoe.

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: 00:17:03

Maybe even more minimal than

the zero shoes, I would say.

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: 00:17:06

Uh, so that's like hardcore,

if you really want to try some.

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: 00:17:11

Barefoot shoes, try the vivos out.

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: 00:17:13

Um, I have been a little bit

shaky with her quality on some

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: 00:17:18

of the shoes, honestly, and for

the price, it kind of sucks too.

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: 00:17:22

Purchase a very expensive shoe to

have it kind of like start to wear

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: 00:17:24

and tear on you in the future.

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: 00:17:26

They do have a program called reveal.

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: 00:17:28

Vivo, which is a program where.

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: 00:17:31

They get shoes that, uh, you know,

have been worn and they refurbish them.

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: 00:17:35

And I have a buddy who

purchased a pair from there.

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: 00:17:37

He said they were awesome.

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: 00:17:38

So I think that's a great option.

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: 00:17:40

It's a little bit of a cheaper option

as well when it comes to the vivo shoes.

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: 00:17:44

But they do have some good shoes.

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: 00:17:46

I do like them.

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: 00:17:47

They, uh, they are a true minimal

style shoe, a true barefoot shoes.

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: 00:17:52

So I do like that and their hiking

boots are truly one of my favorite

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: 00:17:59

boots in the world to wear.

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: 00:18:01

Um, They're pricey.

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: 00:18:03

I forget how much they are.

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: 00:18:04

I know it's 200.

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: 00:18:05

Uh, 200 or a little bit over 200.

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: 00:18:07

So they're pricey boots, but.

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: 00:18:10

Oh, my gosh, they're the

best boots I've ever worn.

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: 00:18:13

They're so comfortable.

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: 00:18:15

And, uh, they just hold up really well.

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: 00:18:17

I wore them all throughout my trip in

south America, and that was like four

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: 00:18:21

and a half months with a ton of hiking.

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: 00:18:24

And they were just

awesome the entire time.

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: 00:18:26

So I really, really loved the

brand for specifically that shoe.

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: 00:18:31

Uh, but they also have some

other really great shoes.

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: 00:18:33

So those are some great options to try out

if you have the money and you want to just

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: 00:18:38

go all in, check out zero checkout vivo.

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: 00:18:41

If you're on the fence and you

don't really have all that much

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: 00:18:44

money to spend checkout Witten.

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: 00:18:46

Um, you know, it's a, it's a pretty solid

option and it's a lot more affordable and

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: 00:18:50

you know, less of a barrier for entry.

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: 00:18:52

So.

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: 00:18:53

That's kind of my recommendation there.

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: 00:18:55

So just to kind of like recap everything.

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: 00:18:57

Cause I know I covered a lot.

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: 00:18:59

Um, Shoes.

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: 00:19:01

The modern shoe is not designed

for our feet, but rather for style.

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: 00:19:07

Uh, yeah, it's, there's a whole topic

we could go on with the Nike running

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: 00:19:12

shoes and how those were developed

and just a bunch of different things,

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: 00:19:15

but just real core of it is shoes

are not designed for our feet.

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: 00:19:20

They're designed for style.

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: 00:19:21

Minimal or barefoot style shoes

are designed for functionality

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: 00:19:26

and for the health of your feet.

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: 00:19:28

So, what we typically want to look

for is a wide toe box and something

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: 00:19:32

with very little to no padding in

them and has a zero drop on it.

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: 00:19:38

So, you know, the heel is not any

higher than the toe they're flat

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: 00:19:43

and on the same level surface.

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: 00:19:46

So that's what you want

to look for in a shoe.

365

: 00:19:48

If you want to start rewilding or

strengthening your sh your feet

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: 00:19:52

back up, you can do things like roll

them out on a, um, a lacrosse ball.

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: 00:19:56

You can do that foot exercise.

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: 00:19:58

I mentioned you can use toe

spacers or best of all, you can

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: 00:20:02

just go out for a barefoot walk.

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: 00:20:05

And, uh, definitely try out

some minimal style shoes.

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: 00:20:10

They can be uncomfortable in the

very beginning, but your body

372

: 00:20:14

and your feet will adjust and

adapt to the new sensations.

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: 00:20:19

And eventually you'll be walking and

feeling great is ever in these shoes.

374

: 00:20:23

And, um, yeah, I personally

really loved them.

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: 00:20:25

Um, I'm going on this.

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: 00:20:27

Kind of journey down long distance

running and being barefoot.

377

: 00:20:33

It's.

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: 00:20:34

I kind of raised a lot

of questions for me.

379

: 00:20:36

Um, I'm trying out a barefoot running

shoe, which has more padding on it.

380

: 00:20:42

But I'm also trying out my

just true vivo barefoot shoes.

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: 00:20:48

And, um, as of right now, it's, it's kind

of tough for me to say I'm, you know,

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: 00:20:53

I'm, I'm really figuring out like if our

bodies are good for running long distance

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: 00:20:58

with minimal style shoes, which according

to, um, the author of born to run, which

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: 00:21:04

is a book I've recently just finished.

385

: 00:21:07

We were meant to run long distance

and we can do it with very minimal.

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: 00:21:11

Uh, patting on our feet,

you know, just something.

387

: 00:21:14

Uh, like a very basic, uh,

barefoot shoe, pretty much.

388

: 00:21:18

And, you know, I kind of tend to

lean in that direction just because

389

: 00:21:22

I look at where we've come from.

390

: 00:21:24

And if you look at where we've come from,

we were running very long distances.

391

: 00:21:28

We probably ran a bunch when, you know,

I don't know when we were in tribes

392

: 00:21:32

or, you know, if you just went back

a certain amount of time, We probably

393

: 00:21:36

ran way more and we definitely did not

have these super cushy running shoes.

394

: 00:21:42

So, um, yeah, I think our bodies were

meant to do it and designed to do it.

395

: 00:21:46

And I think that we're kind of

inhibiting them and honestly,

396

: 00:21:50

actually taking a step back from all

of this kind of shoe technology is

397

: 00:21:54

probably going to be a good idea.

398

: 00:21:56

So.

399

: 00:21:57

Anyways, that's where I'm going to leave.

400

: 00:21:59

You all try to rewild your feet, help

your feet to read the ground again.

401

: 00:22:04

And, um, yeah.

402

: 00:22:05

See how you like it.

403

: 00:22:06

It's not going to happen overnight.

404

: 00:22:07

It's going to be months, honestly,

especially for someone who's worn shoes

405

: 00:22:11

for a very long period of their T.

406

: 00:22:13

Uh, of their life.

407

: 00:22:15

Uh, it might be very difficult

to make that transition, but the.

408

: 00:22:18

Th, you know, no better

time to start than today.

409

: 00:22:21

Um, and you can literally start by

just kicking your shoes off right

410

: 00:22:23

now and just walking around barefoot.

411

: 00:22:26

So give it a go.

412

: 00:22:27

And rewild those feet, teach

them to read the ground.

413

: 00:22:30

And hopefully you all had something

to take away from this show.

414

: 00:22:33

Um, like I said, I'll, I'll

try to get a foot specialist, a

415

: 00:22:36

podiatrist on here in the future.

416

: 00:22:38

Uh, who can really delve into this

topic, but anyways, I hope you all

417

: 00:22:42

enjoyed, and it's always such a

pleasure, pleasure to have you here

418

: 00:22:46

on the show tuning in week after week.

419

: 00:22:48

And.

420

: 00:22:49

Yeah, hopefully this provided some

value so much love to all of you.

421

: 00:22:53

Hope you have a beautiful

rest of your week.

422

: 00:22:56

And as always, you guys know the motto

of the show, it's do everything with good

423

: 00:23:00

intentions and connect to your elements.

424

: 00:23:03

Much love to every single one

of you have a great one piece.