A Shot of Fitness Walk a mile in your own feet.

Nike, Converse, Reebok, ASICS, and ADIDAS. Shoes come in all different sizes, shapes, colors, styles, and prices. As we watch the evolution of the shoe, we can see that it has followed the same path as other products from the common sense to the gimmicky.

First there was the sandal. Then there was the leather shoe. And at last, the rubber sole. US Rubber (The big tire companies) created the first comfortable sneaker in 1892 called Keds. Keds were mass produced in the early 1900s and were soon manufactured for basketball players by Converse. If you know your shoe history, you probably know that Chuck Taylor began endorsing Converse shoes in 1923 which are now lovingly called "Chuck Taylors" or "Chucks" by millions of devoted shoe fans. Soon a German man named Adolf "Adi" Dassler took shoes to the global market creating his own brand called ADIDAS (cleverly named after himself). His brother Rudi started Puma (one of my personal favorites). In the 50s, sneakers became fashionable with movies like Rebel without a Cause. Fast forward to 1984 and the first batch of Air Jordans, and the modern colorful, laceless, air-pumped, zig-zagged, butt-lifting sneaker generation begins. Competition becomes so intense that shoe manufacturers have to find the next best thing to make a buck. This competition created the running shoe and the monsters that spawned from it.

The next big thing. It's American, is it not? HDTV, Xbox 360; SUVs with HDTVs and Xbox 360s. This approach exists throughout all corners of our markets, but sometimes one has to stop and wonder if the next big thing is right for them. Shoes are one of those big things. Historically, humans have lived centuries without compression gel in their soles, zig-zags under their heels, or ridiculous gimmicks pumping them up. The basics of footwear were to protect the foot from damage from sharp objects or hot or cold surfaces. But for the sake of money, shoes keep evolving. The modern shoe company has created running shoes that let the human body open its stride, land stiff-legged, and drop its entire weight on fragile hip, knee, and ankle joints without feeling the immediate consequence of pain it would get from performing the same action barefoot. Today's shoe has become a cast. Look inside of your shoe right now and see what's inside. Go ahead. I'll wait. Hey, have you seen the Walking Dead? Pretty cool, right? Yeah, I know! Zombies are awesome. It was about time we got some good zombie TV shows going on. Oh, you're done checking? What did you see? Some cushioning material, maybe the name of the shoe company, perhaps some cool interior designing going on, and what else? Did you see your arch support? I bet you did.

You may or may not have worn a cast before, but chances are that you know someone who has. After a few months, the doctor takes it off, and you finally get a good look at the limb (in this case, let's say an arm) that's been locked away 24/7. When you compare it to the other arm you can see a big difference. Ol' cast-y arm has atrophied! It's weaker and in need of some TLC. Let's imagine for a moment that you put a cast on your arm every day for 16 hours at a time, and you have done this since you picked up your first toy as a child. Now you wear it when you try to play sports, make lunch, or do school work. Kind of a pain in the butt, right?


Now imagine that your arm is your foot. Not only that, but the folks that sell you casts keep telling you that the next big cast is even better because its blue or green or black, and it pumps up to get tighter. And now you can run in your cast without feeling it for a few years (but you still get a nagging pain in your lower back for some reason). That cast is your running shoe. The arch "support" puts pressure underneath your arch. "So what? That's supposed to be good for your feet." The way an arch (architecturally) stays up is with downward force (gravity) pressing evenly on all pieces. If pressure is placed upward, the arch can collapse (or in the case, atrophy) making it not "good for your feet."

What is the alternative? My personal preference is to go barefoot whenever possible. The bottom of the foot is full of nerves for a reason. That reason is to send information back to the brain about the environment. When that information is processed, the body (naturally in pre-cast times, methodically in the modern era) changes the gait so that it can walk or run as safely and efficiently as possible to protect the joints. A person with their shoes on my impact the ground at 300% of their body weight on one leg when running. A person going barefoot will soon find out how not to impact that way. That is done when the knee bends and the person lands on the ball of the foot (not the heel) to absorb the weight of the body like a car's suspension. It is a skill to walk and especially run in that fashion, but it is not impossible to learn. The other alternative is to find shoes with little to no arch support. Chucks are usually pretty good with that. Right now my favorite shoes are a pair of Toms. The only problem with them is there is just a little too much support, but the balance is that they are easy to slip on and off so that I can go barefoot any time.

“But what about orthotics?” some of you may say. There may be some cases where orthotics are helpful like with pronated feet, but if you do not have pronated feet or feel foot pain then chances are that you do not need arch support. Of course, you should refer to your doctor about that. If your doctor says that you need support, remember to ask why and ask for alternatives. Doctors are not immune to marketing or gifting (did you know that they get all types of free stuff from pharmaceutical companies like clipboards, food, and vacations?) so be confident and know your options.


Not sure what to think about your shoes? Time to do some research, my friend. Read about the Tarahumara. They are a tribe of people that run for the sake of running (sometimes marathon long runs), and they do it barefoot. The Tarahumaras are interesting people. Some of their elite runners have won extreme marathons in the States wearing nothing more than tire rubber tied to their feet (for protection).


Take some extra time today to set your feet free, and remember what it is like to feel (the ground). Its only natural.

Written by Robert Marshall