Barefoot Or Just Minimal?

Hi all. I'm new to this forum, and thought I'd start with a question that's been bugging me for a while.

I've been loving the barefoot lifestyle for a couple years, whether it's being truly barefoot when/where I can, or minimalist shoes at work. The biggest draw for me is the ergonomic benefit, and my knees/feet being free of pain after years of walking with standard footwear. The science seems pretty clear: we didn't evolve to walk with clunky pieces of rubber and plastic on our feet! I'm wondering though ... the surfaces we walk on today are MUCH harder than back when our bodies evolved to be this way. We've traded dirt, grass, and sand for hardwood floors, cement sidewalks, floor tile in the bathroom, and so on.

Ergonomically speaking, it seems best to wear a shoe with minimal (I'm talking a few millimeters) padding as opposed to totally raw. The padding would account for walking on hard surfaces a majority of the time (at least in my case). What are people's thoughts on this? I feel like this must have been brought up before me.

 

I have always been barefoot where I can be. Even at work I tend to take off my shoes! It is so much more comfortable.

 

Welcome xavier! I personally prefer being completely barefoot. I am relatively new to barefooting, but through my research I have discovered that the main issue I want to fix is the hard heel strike your foot makes on the ground when walking in shoes. The more natural way of walking seems to be toe to heel in my case, since I noticed I have started doing that, and I just can't do that in shoes, regardless of the kind. I have a bad hip and find this makes it hurt less at the end of the day too.

 

And barefoot is more fun.

 

I found my ankle pain has nearly vanished just by loosing the shoes after work.

 

Other then work or winter time, Im complelty barefoot

 

I agree. Don't see the point of wearing anything minimal, it's just annoying. Anyway, welcome to the forum

 

There's really no middle ground for me. For me it's either sneakers/winter boots, or fully bare.

 

Hi Xavier,

I personally believe barefoot is better, even the shoe inteded has only a 3mm heeldrop.
The sensory information you get from the ground (eg rocky, hot/cold, sand etc), makes you land your feet much more naturally and thus correctly.
That "information" will greatly diminish even with the slightest of shoe-sole.