Hi friends,

Our feet are our only source of contact with the ground. The shoes we have on our feet can greatly influence the mechanics of the foot and how the brain receives input from the foot.

Maximalist shoes—think shoes that are big and cushiony—have become popular over the past few years.

When you wear maximalist shoes, you essentially put a foam pad under your foot. This makes them extremely comfortable to wear which is why many people enjoy wearing them. However, they decrease proprioception (the brain’s ability to detect where the joints and muscles are in space) and can alter how your muscles fire and coordinate with each other in the foot.

Also, wearing maximalist shoes limits the strength needed in your feet to support your arches and body. The human body is great at conserving energy and resources in areas that aren’t being used, so if you don’t stress the muscles of the feet, they will become weak and may eventually lead to injury.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have minimalist shoes, which are defined as providing “minimal interference with the natural movement of the foot, because of its high flexibility, low heel to toe drop, weight and stack height, and the absence of motion control and stability devices.“

Another aspect that many minimalist shoes have is a wide toe box—the front of the shoe that houses the toes. This is important because it lets your toes splay and grip the ground.

Narrow toe boxes started in medieval Europe around the 12th century and have continued since. If you look at the tip of a pair of high heels or dress shoes, you’ll often find that it is pointed and squishes the toes.

Should you buy minimalist shoes?

I think they have their place. I enjoy minimalist shoes when lifting weights and find that I’m more stable and feel stronger, especially when doing leg exercises like squatting, deadlifting, and lunging.

But humans were not designed to walk and run on concrete. I do not run in minimalist shoes because I find it too harsh on my feet and legs. The Nike Pegasus Trail 4 has been a solid running shoe for me over the past year. It has enough cushion to help absorb some of the impact with each step, but not too much that it affects my proprioception significantly in my feet. Also, it is one of the few Nike shoes that has a slightly wider toe box.

The bottom line: find a shoe with a wide toe box that allows your toes to splay. If you decide to try a minimalist shoe, ease into it. Try wearing them for 30 minutes a day, and then build up your tolerance to them.

You should also strengthen your feet. When you take the cushion out of your shoes, your foot muscles need to be strong to absorb the ground reactive forces with each step you take. Here is a free resource you can use to start strengthening your feet.

Until next week,

Kevin