Do You Have Feet?

Phew, glad to see that you do have feet!

Lately the topic of shoes has been coming up in my classes so i thought I would touch base on the subject so let's talk about shoes shall we! Especially the shoes you wear while training. 95% of the workout/running shoes available in the stores today have created a "dead foot" epidemic! These shoes feel so nice in the store, so soft and comfortable, they must good for working out right? NO! THEY ARE NOT! The are propping up your weak arches, forcing you to heel strike and creating a dangerously unstable surface for you to train on. A quote on this topic from movement guru Ido Portal is: "High tech shoes, low tech feet!" The more fancy your shoes are, the less fancy your feet are because when the shoe is designed to do all the work, the foot doesn't have to so it basically shuts down. Your foot is your primary contact with the ground so wouldn't you want to have more feeling in that connection? I know I do because having control of my feet leads to better control of my whole body! Also, most knee, hip and back pain/injuries are caused by the wrong shoes! To help you understand better, think of it like this, imagine sprinting, doing agility work or lifting heavy weights while standing on a floor of marshmallows. How much control do you think you would have? Not much! These big soled shoes are like training on marshmallows causing your feet to shift, slide and sometimes even roll! Orthotics are just a quick cash grab and they are an easy sell because of all the bullshit promises that these specialist tell you. So what's the best option for shoes? Here's my simple suggestion when buying shoes; walk around the store barefoot and then try on shoes until you find the one that feels as close to barefoot as possible. This would be a shoe that is pretty much flat without much arch support if any at all. Of course, if you do lots of speed and agility work you want to make sure it has enough lateral support so your foot doesn't leak outside the side of the shoe when doing drills. If your feet are feeling sore then the soles of the shoes maybe shot or your feet muscles and tendons are sore and tired from the extra work they are not use to in a more "barefoot" shoe.

Now this is just my opinion and I have told clients to get a sturdy pair of shoes with more support to take the pain away and then to gradually ease back into a more "barefoot" shoe. If that doesn't work then do what your feet need to feel good.

Personally I know I need new shoes when my feet and legs start to feel tired about at noon everyday.

Got questions leave me a comment below