Walking Barefoot: Good or Bad? (& What to Do Instead)

I don't have any health issues (except allergies 🤧). For me, there was no transition period at all. I started going barefoot from one day to the next after a lot of information. Living barefoot felt so natural to me that I gave away my traditional shoes six months later. The only problem was finding really nice shoes for my wardrobe (gym, city walks, business, evening wear). Two years later my dear husband followed my barefoot lifestyle. He also started from day one and never went back. His severe neck and back pain (spinal disc herniation), which he had for many years, has now almost completely disappeared. He is living barefoot for a year and a half now.

Never thought about cushioning. I have walked barefoot for over 50 years at home. Both inside and out. I must have developed cushioning. The first 2 things I do when getting home is lose the shoes and lose the bra. 😊Walking on hot pavements will burn your feet. Even dogs feet will burn if they are walked on hot roads and pavements.

I’ve always had a problem finding comfortable shoes but as soon as I bought a pair of Vivobarefoot shoes from their shop, admittedly they have a thermo insole and are all terrain, I could stop wearing them as I felt such freedom in my whole body. My feet are so wide I can only wear the men’s, not so flattering. I recommend that brand and they have a trial period. I can now bend my toes. It’s also hard to walk in other boots now as they are not so flexible. I am 74 years old!

Thank you very much. Your point about walking on very hard modern surfaces is a good one.

Excellent explanation on this subject, thank you. I bought your book a while ago, definitely worth the money and a good reference too.

I'm on my sixth month of barefoot. Here are my findings. Very strong feet, ankles, calves and overall kinetic chain. The muscle on the arch becomes robust. Walking over horizontal thin ridges hurts at first, but after around a month you don't even think about it. Calf muscles grow as they are used more, the flatter your feet are to the ground. I fractured my C5 neck vertabrae back in 2008, causing all sorts of stiffness, pain, depleted range of movement and many a night tossing and turning. This has improved so much it's almost back to before it was injured. The pain from my neck down my shoulder was a constant toll on my life every day for around sixteen years, and now it's vanished! Vastly improved balance and reaction times. This shocked me a lot. After around three months my spacial awareness was sound and the small muscles in your feet and ankles start firing faster, to constantly correct balance. Using these small muscles over and over will tire your feet to start with, but they improve fast and eventually become an auto response. The feedback loop to your brain is used much more. The soles of your feet become tougher, like soft leather. This takes a while to build up, as at the start you will get the odd piece of glass or thorn in them. Just pull it out and keep focused. Eventually, glass and similar sharp objects become more tolerable, less painful, and then the latter stages will allow you to completely walk on these. They may stick into you, but they don't reach to the live skin level. Walking on hot surfaces becomes more tolerable (I burnt my feet on dark smooth slate once on one of the hottest days of the year last summer, painful) Improved sleep at night. I can't explain this to be honest, but you will nod off faster. It's really good for racing thoughts, because maybe concentrating in the day on your walking I think takes the mind away from worry and stress. This also has a sedative effect, resulting in a calmer mind and being less reactive or hostile even. Emotions are more balanced. Toenail fungus and athlete's foot diminish as the feet aren't trapped in a sweaty shoe, providing pathogens with a nice comfortable home. If you suffer from either of these like I did, I would suggest dry weather only, with the exception of the sea and sand. The minerals really helps fight it. There's something else I cannot really explain either. You develop a sixth sense of other people's movement and emotions. Maybe it's because you don't want to be trodden on with a high heel or something, so you will learn to react. Also, blind corners become instinctive in the sense you will know if someone is coming round the corner, so you will let them pass. You can get a really good judgement on how a person is feeling, even if you've just met them for the first time. It's one of our core instincts that I feel have been lost over the decades. Finally, from a scientific standpoint there is unequivocal evidence of the body dumping positive electrons back into the negatively charged earth when barefoot. This has the effect of blood cells flowing freely through our arteries and repelling each other, rather than clumping together and forming mini clots. This has been proven to heal people with certain conditions, and there is some evidence it can reduce blood pressure long term. I highly recommend people research this and see for yourselves, it's truly remarkable and a huge game changer.

Excellent info. and good visuals.

I had a problem with ankle rolling. Even wearing heavy hiking boots with an ankle brace I'd still roll my ankle. Since adopting these minimalist shoes, that doesn't happen anymore. I can't believe it. What's happening is the foot/body/brain somehow senses my foot is in the proper position to bear weight before transferring my weight with each step. I've never rolled my ankle while wearing these. Despite doing long hikes in the woods, over rocks, roots, gullies, slopes, ice, snow, and constantly changing surfaces, I've never injured myself.

I started wearing barefoot shoes because I developed plantar fasciitis. Barefoot shoes are RECOMMENDED for plantar fasciitis because the weight is distributed to the entire foot rather then striking the ground with your heel

Thank you for the discussion with the pros and cons, and thanks a lot for the suggested exercise!

Very good points my friend!

I have vestiblur disorder and was advised by my neurological physiotherapist that it’s better for my balance issues to help me feel grounded.

That's good balanced advice, thank you.

Our ancestors walked on all kinds of ground. Hard and soft, rough and smooth, flat and steep, cold and hot, wet and dry, grippy and slippery. We are capable of finding walking styles that will allow us to walk on almost all those surfaces, we have the potential, but we need daily training in short, increasing units to get there. The best age in life to learn this is as a young child, so the best decision for parents is not even getting their children used to shoes. But it's possible to get yourself used at any age, you just need to be more cautious and systematic, the older you are when you start. There are some hard limitations: Frost, some extremely hot surfaces, broken glass, thorns or other things that hurt us when we step on them. That's also why the most important thing when walking barefoot is to watch where you step, it's also an exercise in concentration. The video mentions the cushioned fat pads under the soles, it seems like these also get built up in regular exercise. I also observed that my arches became higher (so don't believe the nonsense of "collapsing arches without support"). I'm walking barefoot constantly for numerous years.

Amazing exercise for strengthening the feet..thank you for sharing

I've been wearing a pair of Xero minimalist Trail Runners for 2 years. Got 'em at REI. I wear them as daily kick around sneakers and for hikes of 2 - 4 miles. 1st day, my shins and lower legs were pretty sore. Within a few days. I adapted so well that I removed the inner cushion liner. Making them nearly the same as barefoot. These have no heel, no support, and are maybe a couple of millimeters thick? Basically the same as ballet slippers despite looking like normal sneakers.

Such an information and interesting video thank you God bless!

I used vibram 5 fingers for around 2009. I have extra wide hobbit type feet. The vibram was very comfortable and natural, as I run with a forefoot strike. I don’t wear them anymore but I walk with a weight vest 30-90 minutes every morning barefoot. I also do all of my strength training barefoot. I only wear socks in colder weather when I have shoes on. My feet don’t feel right with socks on. I’m 53 now, and, don’t have any lower back, hip, knee or ankle issues.

Thanks another interesting and informative video.

As ever Will a really well explained video and practical help. At the end of your video you stated that 89% haven't subscribed. May I offer an observation? Here goes... On another channel I subscribe to the presenter said he had spoken to people through the comments section and many thought that subscribing meant paying to follow him. As he put it YouTube use the wrong language. He just mentioned that to clarify to folks who are not YouTube savy that subscribing involves no financial commitment. May be it will help?