Going barefoot

[Bleicke]

Hi,

Anyone tried this? I wanted to buy new shoes but found none that fit me well. Then I read online about the Five Finger Shoes, which are basically just gloves for the feet. They're supposed to be great for developing of foot muscles, improving walking and running technique and posture. "Like when you used to run barefoot as a child."

Then I thought: pay $100 for walking barefoot? That sounds kind of silly. I've tried walking around barefoot for two days now and it's really cool. Yes, it does hurt afterwards, but it's a "good pain" like after working out. I even sprinted a little and it felt really great. Your technique auto-corrects when you run barefoot, since there is no cushion. If you strike the heel (which is bad), it hurts. It's H21/L8 degree Celsius here at the moment, and it's easily warm enough to walk around barefoot at night and day.

I'm trying it out for a while.

Can anyone tell me about their experience with walking barefoot? Longterm? Dangers? (besides stepping in glas or something). Benefits? Is it all in my head, or does technique really improve?

[Plays With Life]

Hi! I lived on the beaches in Hawai'i for a couple of months, and went barefoot the entire time. It's easier in Hawai'i, because all the stores & restaurants are happy to let you come in barefoot. My feet developed a nice callous on the spots I stepped on, so I could even walk on sharp lava rock, and hot pavement pretty easily. I ended up taking all of my steps with the ball of my feet first, sometimes even not putting my heel down all the way. I guess that's kind of chimp style?? Barefoot FTW.

[Bleicke]

Yea, I step down with the ball of the foot also. When I go very slowly, the ball and the heel land at the same time, which feels kind of sloppy, like a thai boxer would walk in boxing stance. But at faster speeds I naturally land with the ball of the foot.

I'm also a very bad shoe-walker. I've never really liked them and walk that way with shoes on, while most shoe-wearers strike with the heel, which fits better when you wear shoes.

[JAX]

I love walking barefoot, but it's not always do able. I walk barefoot when possible on sand, grass and dirt. But I avoid it on cement and hard man made surfaces. Plus inside stores they won't let you in barefoot and some places are just plain gross to step into. Imagine a public bathroom. I found for me Ecco shoes are the most comfortable, so that's what I go with.

JAX

[Lauxa]

I knew a guy in college that went barefoot all the time. He'd carry a pair of sandals in his backpack in case anyone requested that he put on shoes.

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by Lauxa

I knew a guy in college that went barefoot all the time. He'd carry a pair of sandals in his backpack in case anyone requested that he put on shoes.

That's a great idea!

[Victor Vikingr]

I plan on going barefoot once it gets warm enough. The sandal idea's a great one.

[Plays With Life]

Also, about getting cut and poked - I actually got used to that. One of the beaches I lived on had these trees that dropped thorny things everywhere. But me (and all the other barefooters) would just go ahead and walk right on them. I kind of got used to a little poke in the foot from those thorns, and it didn't hurt so much any more.

Right in the middle of the arch still hurts though

[bluedragon]

How wonderful that people think about this, in what you would expect to be an increasingly technology-dominated world...
I used to walk barefoot in a park, in Ohio, cause it was all natural with no glass pieces and other debris - there were very few people in general there. With time, I got used to it, but sometimes it was difficult cause there were a lot of tiny little rock pieces in the dirt, and it pinched like needles, even though you could walk if you insisted However, on normal dirt it was perfect.
You should also keep in mind, however, that if your feet are cold you may develop kidney problems - it depends on how you strong you feel they are, but you must be careful. I live in a country that is cold in winter, and I started wearing socks sometimes shoes even when in the house - and I feel much better internally. I would like to walk barefoot in the house, but I'm waiting for the weather to get hotter.

[Andrew Brunelle]

Yes, I've gone barefoot before, but it's just very uncomfortable at first, especially on paved roads. That's the main problem. The gloves for the feet or whatever they are sound like they would be a nice investment, but it is kind of expensive to go barefoot, but I'm sure there really are benefits to going barefoot, but I wouldn't do it on pavement until you have some nice, healthy callouses. Many stores don't allow barefoot people in the U.S., so be prepared with some kind of footwear, even if it just covers the top of your feet.

There's some website that you should check out Society for Barefoot Living Home Page

Good luck in this endeavor.

P.S. You should probably try those crazy shoes first and then transition to barefoot. I would think those shoes would be good practice for what it feels like to be barefoot.

[Plays With Life]

Haha! Really interesting website!

[Mossereath]

I love walking barefoot. Its sometimes difficult living in Arizona since we have a lot of cactus and various other "sharp" plants.

[lasti]

I've also started walking barefoot two days ago! I even wanted to start a thread about it. Seems like you were faster.

So far I absolutely love it. I love to feel the textures under my feet and the temperature of it. It's so fun!

There were some people staring at me but I somehow feel more confident and more grounded while walking barefoot. It's like the whole world is my living room.

[Bleicke]

Originally Posted by lasti

I've also started walking barefoot two days ago! I even wanted to start a thread about it. Seems like you were faster.

Ha! Eat dust.

Originally Posted by lasti

There were some people staring at me but I somehow feel more confident and more grounded while walking barefoot. It's like the whole world is my living room.

Yes, I felt that too It was like walking around with a brand new shirt (yea I get my validation from buying stuff), everyone noticing: you just go "Yep, that's right." Only this time I went "Yep, that's right, I'm not wearing any shoes."

[Some Random Loser]

Walking on cement is like foot massage (especially the grainy rough kind)

[Andrew Michaels]

I use five fingers for running and love them. They really cut down on running injuries.

Originally Posted by Bleicke

Hi,

Anyone tried this? I wanted to buy new shoes but found none that fit me well. Then I read online about the Five Finger Shoes, which are basically just gloves for the feet. They're supposed to be great for developing of foot muscles, improving walking and running technique and posture. "Like when you used to run barefoot as a child."

Then I thought: pay $100 for walking barefoot? That sounds kind of silly. I've tried walking around barefoot for two days now and it's really cool. Yes, it does hurt afterwards, but it's a "good pain" like after working out. I even sprinted a little and it felt really great. Your technique auto-corrects when you run barefoot, since there is no cushion. If you strike the heel (which is bad), it hurts. It's H21/L8 degree Celsius here at the moment, and it's easily warm enough to walk around barefoot at night and day.

I'm trying it out for a while.

Can anyone tell me about their experience with walking barefoot? Longterm? Dangers? (besides stepping in glas or something). Benefits? Is it all in my head, or does technique really improve?

[ssandra]

People who do this... when you live in a city are you not afraid for deceises and stuff? What if you stepped in a dirty needle?
Or if you got something in your foot that needed to be taken out, but got infected because of some bacteria?

Are you not afraid of that?

Of the people in warmer climates... are you not afraid to step onto "evil bugs" meaning the type that can cause you harm? Spiders? Scorpions? Snakes?
That´s what kept me from walking barefoot in Mexico...

[rocksupreme]

I hate wearing regular shoes - they're just too much.

In college, I hardly ever wore shoes. I bought some really cheap and thin house slippers for a little warmth during the winters, and carried a little hand towel when it rained. The only times I wore shoes were when I went to restaurants and concerts. And a wedding once.

Now, I'm all grown up, so I have succumbed somewhat to the demands of society. I wear Vivo Barefoot shoes most of the time. They have a very thin, Kevlar sole that feels very close to nothing. They are incredibly lightweight and quite nice looking too. Not nearly as funky as the 5fingers, so they won't attract a lot of attention in a non-sport setting.

[lasti]

Originally Posted by Bleicke

Ha! Eat dust.

No thanks, I prefer walking on dust.

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by ssandra

People who do this... are you not afraid ...?

Are you not afraid of that?

are you not afraid to step onto ...?

No, I'm not afraid.

[Bleicke]

I actually stepped into a newly broken glass bottle today. I was walking up the stairway in my university, and someone had dropped a glass bottle from the very top. I felt something crunchy and I thought I had stepped into cookie crumbs, but when I looked down my foot was deep in glass shards. I dusted it off. Felt nothing, after only 2 days of walking barefoot. I later took a closer look and found a pretty deep cut, just not deep enough to be felt. Guess you get used to this pretty fast.

The one thing annoying me is that I still have some sore spots on the balls of my feet. I land on that particular spot when walking and running, so there's really no avoiding it. It feels like a blister, but I can't see one. Maybe it's just getting too hot and will resolve itself in a few days.

Today I got offered shoes by a friend. It was nice He was worried. I declined. Someone else asked if I'd been robbed.

Weird: I have sore muscles in both my calves and my thighs, just from regular walking (not even much, maybe 1-2km today). Seems you use a few muscles that atrophy when using shoes.

Atm it's still fun, hope I get more resistant soon so I can run around instead of "carefully tread".

[Plays With Life]

One thing I found barefoot is nice for is hikes where you need to cross water. If I'm barefoot I can just wade right into the water as I am, come out the other side and keep going. If I'm wearing hiking boots or something, I'd probably want to take them off, then put them back on after crossing. Or get them soaked which is uncomfortable and heavy.

[Rose of Cairo]

I walk barefoot too and I love it! The problem I have with it is that I'm cold. I generally tend to have cold feet, even when I'm wearing shoes. Barefoot this is even worse, I then have two ice blocks in place of feet and the cold creeps up my legs. When it's really hot here in summer, then I totally love it though. I avoid shoes as much as I can.

[Eric Roosevelt]

I like how the skin on your feet hardens after a while. It's nice. Apart from stepping on something sharp, I think the only danger is looking a bit silly in some situations where everyone else is wearing shoes.

[rocksupreme]

Originally Posted by Bleicke

Weird: I have sore muscles in both my calves and my thighs, just from regular walking (not even much, maybe 1-2km today). Seems you use a few muscles that atrophy when using shoes.

Not weird at all. Most shoes have significantly more padding at the heel than at the toe. Removing that changes the angle at which your foot strikes, but it also changes the way your feet and legs carry your weight. You will probably notice postural changes as well after a couple of weeks.

[Dan.Linehan]

Barefoot Ted has a great YouTube page if anyone is interested in barefoot training.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

[Dan.Linehan]

See also: MovNat.

[openeyes]

Much more can be done barefoot than most people seem to realize, it's good to see so many other freefooters here. Barefoot hiking is particularly nice, and any fears of feet getting overly dry and cracking (something Ray Jardine mentioned in Beyond Backpacking) can be alleviated by using some kind of heavy moisturizer/oil at the end of the day. Some use Bag Balm (for cow udders).

When I spent a summer hiking a dozen+ miles per day barefoot I found it felt fine to run on gravel and when I ended up crossing an abandoned bridge covered in broken beer bottles I didn't get a single cut, even though the glass was unavoidable. Stepping straight down with the front of the feet helps, as the free barefoot hiker book linked to above details.

I've only had one place insist I leave or put on shoes (Trader Joes). Everywhere else has been fine. Elle (the often mentioned girlfriend) has always gone most everywhere barefoot. As a result she's a shining example of someone whose toes were never crushed together by shoes. Her feet are almost like hands when it comes to dexterity. She keeps nice loose slip on shoes in the car for going in certain places, but has no problem walking around Asheville in the snow when it's 14 degrees fahrenheit.

[vilbara]

The topic of running barefoot vs shoes has been covered on slashdot last week:
Slashdot | Do We Need Running Shoes To Run?

For those who like watching movies, I recommend this one (barfuss DE = barefoot EN):
Barfuss (2005)

[Lupe]

what about flat footers?