Foot support confusion

[Kaisa]

Hola from Españya.

Thanks for all the advice for my previous inquiries. I hope you can help me again.

What are your thoughts on training without shoes? I ask because I just went to a corrective exercise course over the weekend and one of the recommendations was to have people be without shoes as much as possible to strengthen the muscles in their feet.

The instructor made a point about how our feet have gotten really weak as we use shoes as "crutches" and the muscles atrophy. Thus many people have excessive pronation, flat feet, etc. His opinion was that instead of orthotics to help with the symptoms, we should work on the cause and get peoples feet working optimally again.

That makes sense to me but I am not so sure about training without shoes. It would make more sense to me to do some corrective exercises for the feet before doing weight bearing/loaded exercises that the feet can't handle without the articial support. And I am not sure if most foot issues can be corrected with exercises.

He recommended that people wear flat shoes and be barefoot as much as possible to retrain the feet. Wouldn't that just perpetuate the issues? How does the body know to adapt in a good way instead of just compensating more? I can see how specific exercises and mobility work etc can help because you are focused on good movements. Just walking around my apartment I think my foot compensations would stay the same or get worse.

Help me clear up the confusion in my head. I see his point but it doesn't come together all the way for me.

I would love to hear your opinions on this topic.

Thank you!

Salut i felicitat,
Kaisa

[bryanc]

It really depends on what kind of training you're talking about.

[Kaisa]

In the course he was referring to the entire training session so including resistance training with load (deadlifts, squats, lunges, etc.).

[UConnJulie]

It also depends upon the foot "deformity" ... i.e. rearfoot varus versus forefoot valgus, is the hallux plantarflexed, if so is it rigid, etc.

Some foot deformities do not do well barefoot. An orthotic helps the person "ground" much better ...

But some people do much better barefoot ...

I agree that in general people's intrinsic foot muscles have gotten weak ... especially women who wear high heeled shoes a majority of the time ... and the exercises to correct it are difficult to do and to explain and take a lot of practice. I'm not convinced that just walking barefoot or working out barefoot would fix it.

That said, IMO, there is nothing better for your feet muscles than barefoot walking in sand ...