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zombienudist t1_ixvmmby wrote

Reply to comment by splitsleeve in Boots that will last by GrilledCatEggs

That’s because you need to strengthen your feet. We tend to over cushion our feet and that leads to issues. Add in age, excess weight and our feet take a beating. Cushion is great but it can lead to bad habits in stride that can create further issues. Runners see this when they try and transition to minimal running shoes and the figure out the heel striking they do with a big cushioned shoe they can’t do with in a minimal one. So it changes the way you stride and you are better for that as it shows you the things you can’t do or are only getting away with because you are bubble wrapping your feet.

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splitsleeve t1_ixvzdd8 wrote

Interesting.

How would one go about doing so?

For some context, I work 50+ hours/week in boots on concrete, and am barefoot the fast majority of the time otherwise.

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zombienudist t1_ixw3erb wrote

Being barefoot doesn’t mean your feet are under load. So people are usually barefoot when at home or just hanging around. So minimal steps at minimal intensity. Our feet evolved to work with minimal covering so cushion does not need to be there. On the flip side cushion tends to allow for bad habits when walking and running as the cushion protects but long term those habits can be bad.

There are many ways to strengthen your feet. But the more time you can spend doing things with intensity in minimal shoes or barefoot can increase foot strength. So getting minimal running shoes and working out in them or running short distances in them and slowly increasing it. But i really think foot health is neglected. I largely wear nothing with cushion and spend much of my days on my feet at 47. Also am a runner and do that in minimal shoes with little to no foot pain. I wouldn’t do a marathon in them but I routinely do 10-15kms at a time in them without issue or foot pain.

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