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Shop Mobilization Tools"What Westerners call 'old age' is the consequences of a walking gait and footwear that are crippling to natural movement."
Is back and neck pain a cultural phenomenon?
When Westerners first made contact with Indigenous Tribes of the Americas, they noticed that the natives tended to walk on the balls of their feet while European settlers would land on their heel and roll forward on their toe.1.
The technique of walking on the balls of your foot was common amongst the Indigenous. This technique is called "forefoot walking." The technique of landing on the heel and rolling forward, which was common in Europe is called rearfoot, heel-toe, or heelstrike walking.
A brief history of walking styles:
Natural Walking
Footprints from early modern man found in Koobi Fora Kenya clearly demonstrate a forefoot style of walking with short steps and a defined forefoot to rearfoot pattern 2. Forefoot walking is defined as a walking gait where ground contact is made on the ball of the foot, under the big toe and rolls inward. The heel then comes down which loads the achilles tendon and springs forward onto the next step.
Heel-Toe Walking
Heel-Toe walking, or rearfoot walking is only sustainable when wearing shoes with elevated or cushioned heels. Heel-toe walking barefoot is too painful to sustain for significant periods of time. A University of Michican study demonstrated that runners will naturally change to a forefoot strike when they remove their shoes3. Heels on footwear have historically had an industrial purpose to keep horsemen from slipping out of their stirrups. In Elizabethan England, heel-toe walking exploded in popularity with a sudden rise of a new middle class who could then afford horses. Heeled shoes and the associated heel-toe walking style became a symbol that you owned a horse and were of high social class. King Louis IV even made it illegal for non royalty to wear heels on shoes.
The Consequences of Western Heel-Toe Walking
Bad backs, flat feet, plantar fasciitis, knee pain, shin splints, neck pain, IT band pain, headaches, and bone spurs are just some examples of injuries that result from rearfoot, heel-toe, walking style.
Researchers placed a treadmill on a scale, called a "force plate," and measured the total impact forces from runners and walkers throughout forefoot and rearfoot walking gates. The researchers found that for rearfoot walkers and runners, the heel landing, known as the heel strike created an "impact peak" or a spike in pressure on the leg which they believe leads to most orthopedic injuries.4
Why is the heel strike so injurious?
Human knees are not shock absorbers under natural circumstances. Under natural circumtances, human shock absoption and natural springiness comes from the Achilles tendon and ankle complex. The human achilles tendon can bare up to 3,800 newtons of force which translates to 850 pounds.5During the landing phase of a heel-toe walking gait, the force which was designed to be absorbed by the achilles tendon travels up and is redirected to the knee, low back, and up the posterior chain. In a forefoot walking style, the achilles tendon aborbs the impact shock and protects the body from percussive forces.
Is Western Footwear is to blame?
Christopher MacDougal, author of the classic book "Born To Run" noted that the indigenous Tarahumara Indians from Northern Mexico who grew up barefoot had instances of flat feet 30 times less than that of their Westernized counterparts who lived less than 100 miles away and grew up in sports sneakers. You can find more top barefoot books at our Barefoot Book Club.
How can I get started in fixing my walking gait?
The first thing you need to do to fix your walking gait is to recognize that the process will take time. This could be anywhere from 6 months to 4 years and could even take a lifetime. Each foot is made up of 26 bones, 30 joints and more than 100 muscles. Most Westerners have never used these muscles in their life which means that you should start to transition slowly. You can also expect injuries but these should be tolerated because they represent muscles, bones, and ligaments snapping INTO place.
That being said, there are some immediate steps you can take to begin your barefoot journey
1. Barefoot Footwear
Wearing conventional footwear restricts and weakens your feet. Toe boxes that are tighter than our natural foot shape give us Bunions, hammer toes, and overlapping toes. Heels on cushioned running shoes give us back, knee, and neck/head pain. Technologies like shock absorbing foam actually weaken our skeletons and increase the risk of injury. That's why a minimalist style shoe with a wide toe box, a flexible sole, and a zero drop architecture are a necessity when transitioning to a barefoot lifestyle. Barefoot is always best but when you can't be barefoot you can go minimalist.
See our favorite
barefoot shoe brands
2. Toe Spacers
Conventional shoes have a toe box that is rounded or comes to a point. The restrictive toe boxes in modern shoes actually shapes your feet into an unnatural position leading to bunions, overlapping toes, and hammer toes. When we are born our big toe and pinky toe are the widest part of our foot so improving foot shape is always a primary goal of transitioning to a barefoot lifestyle.
Toe spacers can help shape your toes when you don't yet have the ability to control your toes independently. Over time toe spacers have been shown to increase range of motion of your toes. Having good range of motion of your big toe and pinky toe can stabilize your knee and support lateral (side to side) movement.
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toe spacers
3. Rock Mat
Your feet have 300,000 nerve endings in your feet. Your feet have the natural capability to trigger reflexes that can help you negotiate the world. When we are in stiff soled shoes we shut off this system which can lead to loss of balance. Rock mats stimulate your feet and target these reflexes so you can train your body to be naturally stable.
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rock mats
4. Toe Socks
When you are born, your big toe and pinky toe are the widest parts of your feet. By wearing constrictive socks and shoes, your toes lose the ability to function along their full range of motion. Toe socks are a fun, and stylish way to free your toes and look good doing it.
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toe socks
How do You Walk Barefoot?
How do you walk barefoot? Take a deep dive into barefoot walking technique.
From touchdown to toe off, humans are fantastic walkers. While humans are unimpressive in the animal kingdom in the sprints, the fastest human beings can run 14 miles per hour over 26 miles which is a feat unmatched by any other animal.
Human beings are the best long distance runners on the planet. This is aided by our large glute muscles, our uncanny ability to sweat as opposed to pant, and our large lung capacity. So what happened? We adopted an unnatural walking technique which hindered our ability to move naturally. This article describes how to restore natural movement and walk with barefoot technique.
How Can I Get Started With a Barefoot Lifestyle?
What Westerners call 'old age' is the consequences of a walking gait and footwear that are crippling to natural movement.
When Westerners first made contact with Indigenous Tribes of the Americas, they noticed that the natives tended to walk on the balls of their feet while European settlers would land on their heel and roll forward on their toe.
Having spent most of our lives in stiff soled shoes, Westerners have lost their ability to walk with a natural gait.
This article shows you practical steps to get started walking barefoot.
What Can I Expect When I Start Going Barefoot?
Getting started going barefoot can be an intimidating experience. From injuries to new sensations and even the occasional odd look from a passerby, embarking on a barefoot journey can seem like alot.
Read our guide on what to expect from your barefoot journey from the honeymoon period, to the pain cave, to stronger feet and a pain free life.
Get the best tips from those who have done it before in this article
How can I Find the Right Shoe?
How do you get started with a barefoot lifestyle? The first step is to take off your shoes. But what about when the situation calls for footwear? Then following these rules can keep you moving naturally with barefoot inspired footwear!
Western stiff soled footwear restricts our toes and acts as a coffin for our feet. Unable to flex and bend and move, our feet get weak and we eventually lose the ability to walk "unasissted" by cushioned running shoes.
Whether you are a sandals on the beach, or boots in the forest person, these guidelines can help you crush your barefoot goals and look great doing it!
Footnotes:
1 The Versatility of Human Locomotion.
1 Indian Traits(1865).
2 Smithsonian Human Origin.
3 Lieberman et al. Foot strike patterns and collision force in habitual versus shod runners. Nature, 2010; 463 (7280), 531–535..
4 BAREFOOT RUNNING PRODUCES CHANGES IN FOOT STRIKE PATTERN AND BILATERAL ASYMMETRIES ONLY AS AN ACUTE EFFECT.
5 The Achilles tendon: fundamental properties and mechanisms governing healing
5 Comparison of the Dynamic Plantar Pressure Distribution and Static Medial Foot Geometry between Malawian and Dutch Adults
