My first job after high school was working in a shoe store. Every customer that came in wanted the design, style and brand of their preference. They would routinely try new shoes on and then look in the shoe mirror to see how it looked on their feet. They’d also walk a bit in them and feel if the shoes were comfortable enough for them.
The shoe market was design for appearance and appeal more than anything. Most people want shoes that look nice and feel comfortable. The challenge here is that because shoes have been designed for fashion appeal they have been designed for form over function, but why not both?
Shoes Are Unfortunately Designed To Be A “Cast On Your Feet”
Shoes in the modern day area have been designed for aesthetic appeal. They have critical errors that actually harm our posture, foot and ankle strength as well as flexibility and mobility in the long term.
Tarzan Feet Vs. Ballet Feet – How Our Feet Are Undeveloped
What most westerners aren’t aware of is that in many 2nd and 3rd world countries across the world these populations do not have shoes or rarely wear shoes and their toes are actually spread further apart than ours here in the west. Think Tarzan feet! (above!) vs. shoes that constrict and push the toes together like ballet shoes. All shoes except for barefoot minimalist shoes push the toes together at some level which is not good for posture or balance. Think about it. Widened toes allows for more surface area on the ground which provides more balance, structure and support. Ballet shoes aren’t the only ‘bad shoes’ here. Heels are awful for foot posture. Regular everyday exercising shoes from big brands like Nike and Adidas are awful too.
They crunch the toes in the front and elevate the heel in the back which is awful for posture.
Imagine a cast on your arm. Maybe you’ve had one. I have! The longer you wear this cast the less mobility, flexibility and strength your arm has. Think of your shoes in the same manner. Because shoes were designed for fashion and aesthetic appeal they left out key details in the part of the design process that has to do with our posture! Our biomechanics. This is very important for children and adults alike. Thankfully these postural imbalances can be reversed with the proper footwear which we’ll get to later in this article.
The Key Mistakes Of Modern Footwear Are As Follows:
- The heel is elevated which causes you to create muscle atrophy in your feet as you’re always walking with a forward posture stance which is not biomechanically correct.
- The shoe box (the toe area in the front) is constricted and squishes your toes together. This actually causes the toes to be weaker and the little micro muscles in your feet to be weaker as well. This diminishes balance, mobility and flexibility over time.
- Heavy shoes! Who wants to walk around in shoes that are heavy? Barefoot minimalist shoes mimic barefoot walking and are incredibly lightweight.
Watch this video to learn more:
Biomechanics (posture) experts recommend getting one pair of barefoot minimalist shoes in order to retrain your feet and ankles to rebalance posture naturally. This simply flattens your foot and widens your toes ability to stretch and be used with each step. The first pair of shoes might cause your legs to be a little bit sore at first but you are actually building muscle that was atrophied. You’re also creating more mobility, flexibility, balance and core strength.
I speak from firsthand experience when I share that when I went from regular athletic shoes from a big brand (we’ve all heard of) to Xero shoes my life changed for the better. In my personal opinion (i’ve tried 3 different brands) Xero shoes makes the best barefoot minimalist shoes on the market. My ankles, legs and knees feel better. I am no longer in pain and my calves have developed and become a little bit stronger also!
There were three different barefoot minimalist shoe brands that I tried and I landed on Xero shoes simply because they were the most comfortable shoes and gave me the most comfort and strength in my feet.
Visit XeroShoes.com by clicking here.
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