How to Switch to Barefoot Shoes: 1 Month Progress
If you are reading this, I assume that you are interested in barefoot shoes, but aren’t quite sure about what lies ahead. I hope to distill my progression with barefoot shoes so you can learn from my wins and shortcomings.
Like you, I learned about the horrible problems wearing shoes does to your feet and the amazing benefits of barefoot shoes, bringing you back to evolutionary basics. This is a documented look at my journey transitioning to barefoot shoes from a lifelong sneaker head.
How to start with barefoot shoes
If you normally wear house shoes walking around your house, then start by walking around your house barefoot (if you really need to, wear socks). I began walking around my house barefoot, but not all the time. Even for me I had to slow down this process. I normally wear house shoes because my feet hurt when walking around too long barefoot on hardwood floor (this is going to be a long journey).
Then I started wearing a pair of Whitin barefoot shoes while walking around outside to increase the strength of my feet, but the soles of this shoe were too thin and my feet really began to hurt. I would notice the most pain in my heel.
My main problem
During this phase I was excited and began wearing my barefoot shoes everywhere. As a student, I would regularly walk to class and even started barefoot running wearing Whitin barefoot shoes. My calves would burn after runs and my heels would bruise from walking all day.
I wasn’t changing my gait and continued slamming my heel first on each down step, this led me to taking more frequent breaks wearing barefoot shoes to deal with heel pain and pray that it didn’t last. I tried to switch to barefoot shoes around 3 years ago, but I couldn’t get over the constant heel pain when walking. With the knowledge I have now, I know I was jumping in WAY too quickly.
Change your walk
Learn from me, my mistakes when I first began were not taking time to ease into the transition. Only wear these shoes for 1 hour, or 2 hours a day. Be aware that you WILL have to change your gait to avoid heel striking. Start by landing on the balls of your feet, this will be the easiest on your feet, but your calves will begin to feel it at the end of the day. Slowly transition to landing on your midfoot, this is the end goal for your progression.
Barefoot starter shoes
I would strongly recommend starting out with a pair of barefoot shoes that have 3 attributes: Wide toe box, Zero drop, and 9/10mm thick sole so your foot doesn’t get overwhelmed. Lems Shoes will be your go to brand for starter shoes. They make affordable shoes with each of the starter attributes I mentioned above: wide toe box, zero drop and a thicker sole. After using these, Whitin shoes on Amazon are cheap barefoot shoes that have a minimal sole you can switch to. But Vivo barefoot and Xero are much better alternatives if you are willing to take the plunge.
The progress you’ll see
I am a little over 1 month in and today I walked around the city in my favorite pair of (nonbarefoot) boots I haven’t worn since last year, however this time when wearing them it felt different.
My feet hurt when walking in them and my knees almost immediately began to hurt while wearing them, specifically the inside of my knees (left side of the right and right side of the left). I found this very strange, but I take it as a great sign that my feet are getting used to the transition into barefoot shoes. I believe the reason my knees hurt was due to the high elevated heel on these boots, my legs are getting used to zero drop and this constant heel cap put unnecessary stress on my knees.
Walking around in the evening in my regular barefoot shoes has proved this, my knees no longer hurt and neither did my feet. At least not the knee pain from a heel to toe drop. I only had a small amount of discomfort at the end of the evening because my atrophied feet are still building back their evolutionary strength.
Continue to follow my progress and learn the right way to switch to barefoot shoes by following this Blog!