Since moving from traditional shoes to walking barefoot or in 'barefoot' shoes, I have been wandering about the other things I have never thought about that might be not great for me. Currently I removed the legs of my dinner table and sit on the floor to eat and I am experimenting with sleeping on the floor instead of my comfy 12 inch mattress. That seems easy enough (I ll try a few more nights on the floor before committing). Removing the couch and sitting on the floor to work will be the next steps. I have also started to carry cumbersome rocks outside instead of two dumbbells or kettlebells of the same weight in each hand at the gym. It feels great! I like the idea of making things a little less comfortable to force me to move more, become stronger and more flexible without adding more time to the gym.
I do as much as I can in life barefoot, and I can even sprint on the concrete barefoot, but when I go to work I make sure I have boots that are a little bit bigger than I need as well as I get boots that are a little bit wider than I need. I may not have the same stability holding my heel inside the boot but my toes can move around and I don't get blisters or anything
For one, I think all shoes should have a zero drop. But between basketball shoes & barefoot sneakers, I think there’s a significant tradeoff, that being traction & forefoot lockdown/stability. No way I can hoop in a pair of Vivos, because my foot would slide all inside the shoe on a hard lateral cut. Air Jordan 1s, in my experience & from my preference, are probably the best option, if you don’t mind the heel-to-toe drop. Xero brand is entering the hoop shoe market though. They made a custom for Denver Nuggets’ Justin Holiday.
I've been running my Xero 360s on outdoor courts for a year and they definitely can get you around. They have good traction and lockdown, I just had to replace my insoles because they got worn down pretty quick.
Look into Uncivilized sneakers, Ben Patrick aka Knees over toes guy had a hand in the development of them. I recently played some basketball in the V1's (not the best for ballin), can't wait for my V2's to come in which made improvements on the prototypes flaws.
This episode is awesome. 🎉 For my kids, I buy the brand Cat and Jack at Target, water shoes. They are similar to what Andrew was talking about, wide, flexible and allow feet to breathe.
Funny that they say their foot grew when they switched to barefoot shoes, i had the opposite happen, my shoe size went down by about 1. I think it was due to my arch strengthening anfd gettin higher.
Myofascial release is just like getting acupuncture therapy or using bamboo rods to slap yourself repeatedly as a form of massage, it is supposed to trigger the nerve and if you are breathing correctly it will relax the muscle. It's not like you are changing the structure like he says, you're just getting the muscle or the area to relax a little bit better by pushing on the nerves that are causing the hyper-flexion of the muscle to begin with
I can relate to the story of not being able to wear traditional shoes after transitioning to barefoot style. I’ve only been in vivos since July 2023, and I can’t wear my old traditional shoes anymore. I’ve had to get rid of almost all of them. Your feet really do change when you let them act naturally.