Barefoot Shoes Mean No Cushion?

Barefoot shoes have a couple of features that make them slightly trickier to accept. One of these features is the lack of cushion and “support”. 

As someone who is first getting into barefoot shoes, it can be quite hard for you to get used to this new feeling, but there is a reason barefoot shoes have such a design.

Let’s look at the thin sole, or the lack of cushion first.

Our bodies have been sculpted over years of evolution. We’ve come from living and sleeping in caves, to running and travelling across the world, to climbing trees, making houses, and now living rather comfortable lives. 

Our bodies are very resilient. Our feet have a thick fat layer under the heel, an arch muscle to absorb impact, and nerves at the root of our feet for sensory feedback from the ground.

Our feet are the only point of contact we have with the earth. This means, all our balance and movement happens when our feet relay feedback to our brain.
When you wear cushioned shoes, this connection is broken. This puts you in a compromised position with respect to your balance, your agility and your ability to maneuver through even the simplest of trails effectively and efficiently.

Barefoot shoes allow for you to stay safe from unnatural materials on the roads, or the ground you’re walking on, but they allow, with their thin sole design, for you to start feeling the ground again.

Now let’s look at the lack of supporting elements like a heel support or an arch support.

Your feet have a certain structure that allows you to move effectively. 

They are designed to carry your weight, to allow you to walk, run, bend and move in all different directions. 

Somehow marketing has convinced you, and all of us, that we need additional support for something as basic as this. Of course, everybody likes cushions. Suddenly your feet don’t have to work too much and you feel fantastic. The only downside however comes later in life. When your feet don’t develop the ability over time to support you, and the work is outsourced, your foot muscles become weak.

This causes all sorts of problems. Plantar fasciitis, heel pain, flat foot, knee problems, hip problems, lower back problems, posture problems.

Your feet, like any other muscle in the body, need to be worked to keep them healthy and as soon as you strap on an insole or a heel cup, that muscle shuts down.

Barefoot shoes take all this unnecessary comfort away. 

True comfort is having the ability to take on a challenge and come out winning. 

You can do that, if you train and believe in your body’s ability to adapt and thrive.

Live Unbound and see your life change.