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LiberalElite

(14,691 posts)
Sun May 18, 2014, 12:55 PM May 2014

You Walk Wrong

Although this is from New York Magazine and references New Yorkers (and the D train) a couple of times, it's really for all shoe wearers:

http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/

Walking is easy. It’s so easy that no one ever has to teach you how to do it. It’s so easy, in fact, that we often pair it with other easy activities—talking, chewing gum—and suggest that if you can’t do both simultaneously, you’re some sort of insensate clod. So you probably think you’ve got this walking thing pretty much nailed. As you stroll around the city, worrying about the economy, or the environment, or your next month’s rent, you might assume that the one thing you don’t need to worry about is the way in which you’re strolling around the city.

Well, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you: You walk wrong.

Look, it’s not your fault. It’s your shoes. Shoes are bad. I don’t just mean stiletto heels, or cowboy boots, or tottering espadrilles, or any of the other fairly obvious foot-torture devices into which we wincingly jam our feet. I mean all shoes. Shoes hurt your feet. They change how you walk. In fact, your feet—your poor, tender, abused, ignored, maligned, misunderstood feet—are getting trounced in a war that’s been raging for roughly a thousand years: the battle of shoes versus feet.

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You Walk Wrong (Original Post) LiberalElite May 2014 OP
As a barefooter who wears newbalance after plantar fasciitis, interesting yet contradictory article uppityperson May 2014 #1
New Balance is the only brand my feet will tolerate mainer May 2014 #9
i have been almost barefoot all year IN WISCONSIN for over decade, but a lifelong barefoot in summer pansypoo53219 May 2014 #2
Walking barefoot on nice ground is SheilaT May 2014 #3
You can't walk forever. Cartoonist May 2014 #4
Great article! Squinch May 2014 #5
Nah, for serious walking you need shoes. bemildred May 2014 #6
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe May 2014 #7
earthing RAAVAN May 2014 #8

uppityperson

(115,681 posts)
1. As a barefooter who wears newbalance after plantar fasciitis, interesting yet contradictory article
Sun May 18, 2014, 01:36 PM
May 2014

My feet are wide from 50+yrs of a lot of barefoot and minimalist shoe wearing. I got plantar fasciitis from doing so and running and now wear New Balance sneakers and sandals.

I noticed the contradictions of wearing shoes with raised toes to have them rock is bad because it prevents your toes from touching the ground when you step on to your foot, yet walking barefoot when you step off your foot, the foot rocks forward like that shoe pattern mimics.

I also am skeptical of people claiming experthood in walking and wanting others to pay to learn to do it. It depends on who and what, and I am sure there are some who have adequately studied anatomy and kinesthesiology, but also it seems the "newest latest cool thing".

But it is an interesting article, I need to read it more in depth later than the skimming I gave it. Thank you for posting it.

mainer

(12,031 posts)
9. New Balance is the only brand my feet will tolerate
Wed May 21, 2014, 10:50 AM
May 2014

They feature a wide toe box. i don't know why other athletic shoe companies don't understand how important this is. I gave up on Nikes and Reeboks a long time ago.

Naot is the other shoe brand that my feet love, again because of the wide toe box.

pansypoo53219

(21,004 posts)
2. i have been almost barefoot all year IN WISCONSIN for over decade, but a lifelong barefoot in summer
Sun May 18, 2014, 01:59 PM
May 2014

my feet have not gotten wider, but skinnier + LESS issues than when i wore shoes. saves me a lot of money too. my carbon footprint is a bit smaller too.

 

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)
3. Walking barefoot on nice ground is
Sun May 18, 2014, 03:07 PM
May 2014

probably a good thing. But not in snow. Or on concrete. Or on a surface where sharp things are.

Humans have been putting stuff on their feet to walk for a very, very long time now. It's not such a bad thing.

Cartoonist

(7,323 posts)
4. You can't walk forever.
Sun May 18, 2014, 03:47 PM
May 2014

Shoe technology has progressed so far in the last century that humans are living longer.
There are sharp objects out there!

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
6. Nah, for serious walking you need shoes.
Sun May 18, 2014, 05:01 PM
May 2014

A mile or two OK, but for a fifty mile backpack, you need shoes, you need protection for your feet, and good shoes mean I can walk farther, not less. There is a reason migrating animals have hooves, not feet.

That said, going around barefoot when you can is a good thing too.

 

RAAVAN

(31 posts)
8. earthing
Wed May 21, 2014, 08:14 AM
May 2014

Walking barefoot on sand, and grass are a number of health advantages such as such as increasing antioxidants and improving sleep. Going barefoot also known as 'Earthing'. But I can't walk barefoot. It is painful for me.

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