On this blog, we talk a lot about barefoot shoes, but we’ve never touched on the basics of these shoes. If you’re thinking of trying barefoot shoes, you probably have all sorts of questions, and that’s what we want to discuss today. For instance, what makes a barefoot shoe a barefoot shoe?
Here are the defining traits of a barefoot shoe:
- Incredibly thin sole
- Zero-drop heel
- Wide toe box
- Limited heel cushioning
- Reduced arch support
This article will be your barefoot shoes 101 guide. You’ll learn what makes a barefoot shoe, what walking in barefoot shoes feels like, and why wearing these shoes is such a good idea. By the time you’re done reading, you should be ready to buy your first pair of barefoot shoes!
The Characteristics of Barefoot Shoes
Barefoot shoes, while often called minimalist shoes, are their own type of footwear. It used to be that you could easily tell a pair of barefoot shoes apart from your everyday sneakers or loafers because styles like Vibram FiveFingers were so hard to miss.
That said, barefoot shoes have come a long way, as have Vibram shoes. Today’s barefoot shoes look just like every style of shoe you can think of, from boots to sandals, winter boots to athletic shoes, and even formal footwear.
What similarities do all these shoes share? Here are the common threads between the styles of barefoot shoes.
Thin Sole
Barefoot shoes have earned that name because they’re supposed to be the closest you can get to going barefoot without stripping your shoes. That means the sole of a barefoot shoe has to be incredibly thin.
Just how thin? Well, that’s up to the manufacturer, but somewhere between 2 to 3 millimeters, maybe 4 millimeters. This streamlined sole means there’s less material between you and the shoe so you can feel the sensations of the earth under your feet, also known as groundfeel.
From the hardness of stone to the soft, firmness of sand and the slipperiness of grass after a rain, your barefoot shoes let your feet differentiate between textures while still enjoying the benefit of foot protection.
Yet a thin sole means nothing if it’s rigid. That’s why barefoot shoe soles are soft and flexible. If you wanted to, you could roll the sole up into a spiral. Sometimes you can even do that with the shoe itself!
Zero-Drop Heel
The second important trademark of barefoot shoes is a zero-drop heel. This simply means that the height of the heel is akin to that of the ball of your foot. Altra Shoes, one of many barefoot shoe brands on the market today, coined the term zero-drop.
The point of a zero-drop heel is that it’s yet another way of lending barefoot shoes that barefoot feel. If you weren’t wearing shoes and you stood on level ground, the ball of your foot and your heel would both be one height.
When you wear regular shoes, even athletic shoes, the higher heel on this footwear can change how you stand because your heel and the ball of your foot are different heights. By bringing the two parts of your foot back down to the same level, you may find it easier to perform in athletic endeavors.
Wide Toe Box
When you try on a pair of shoes, it’s one of the worst feelings when the shoe fits in the heel but the narrow toe box squishes your toes. That’s never an issue with barefoot shoes. This style of footwear, be it barefoot loafers or sneakers, features a wide toe box.
What’s the point of this, you ask? To allow your toes to move freely, of course. Your toes should be able to splay if that’s what an activity calls for, yet a tapered toe box does not give you room for that. Instead, your toes are forced into one position, which can be painful.
Whether you wear your barefoot shoes with socks or without, the spaciousness afforded to you by the wide toe box really makes a difference. Not only will you feel more comfortable, but your feet will be unencumbered.
Limited Heel Cushioning
The heel is a crucial part of walking, as it’s what most of us strike with first when we take a stride. That’s why barefoot shoes will often feature some degree of cushioning around the heel, but not to the extent of what you’d find in your everyday sneakers.
This mild cushioning allows the entirety of your foot to feel the ground below you, not only the midfoot and forefoot. If you truly want the authentic barefoot experience, then shop for barefoot shoes with no heel cushioning. This way, nothing separates you and the ground besides a few millimeters of sole.
Reduced Arch Support
The arch of your foot actually comprises three arches, the anterior transverse arch, the lateral longitudinal arch, and the medial longitudinal arch. Since it’s such a large portion of the foot, many people who want to transition to barefoot shoes get nervous when they hear that this style of footwear has little to no arch support.
Surely, you need arch support, especially if you’re partaking in athletic endeavors in barefoot shoes, right? Yet you’d be surprised!
Even if you have flat feet or you’ve been diagnosed with high arches, barefoot shoes can still help. How? Well, let’s answer that question with a question. If you wear orthotics for a high arch problem, what is the goal? To improve foot arch strength, right?
Barefoot shoes, in encouraging a more natural walking style, can achieve the same objective.
What Do Wearing Barefoot Shoes Feel Like?
Do you remember the days of childhood when you were carefree? If you wanted to traipse through your backyard barefoot, you did it. You loved the coolness of the earth on your feet and the softness of the grass.
That’s what wearing barefoot shoes is like. Those same sensations can return to you in adulthood.
Admittedly, it’s going to be a bit strange wearing a pair of barefoot shoes at first. You’ll feel like you’ve forgotten your shoes. Your walking stance and posture will also be different, something we’ll talk about more in the next section.
Yet once you take the time to adjust, you may discover what millions of others have and what we on this blog especially believe in. That is, wearing barefoot shoes is much more preferable to non-barefoot styles.
If you wear your regular sneakers or boots again, your feet will feel completely suffocated. You’ll miss the groundfeel and you may even experience aches and pains due to the elevated heel height and the narrower toe box.
Reasons to Try Barefoot Shoes
Are you still not totally convinced? While nothing beats trying a pair of barefoot shoes for yourself, these benefits might motivate you to do that.
Feel the World as It Should Be
Throughout the body are sensory receptors, which are nerve endings that allow us to feel the sensations of the world around us. Our internal organs have sensory receptors, as do our blood vessels, joints, muscles, and of course, our skin. Each of your feet has upwards of 7,000 nerve endings.
Yet we touch with our hands and relegate our feet mostly to getting us around. We rarely cover our hands but never let our feet go bare unless it’s summertime. This is interesting considering that the hands have only 3,000 touch receptors each.
When you wear barefoot shoes, you’re giving your feet the same freedom your hands have. That’s the way it should be!
Lightweight When It Counts
Barefoot shoes, since they use minimal materials, usually weigh several ounces per shoe. If you’re a runner or any other type of athlete who’s concerned with speed, you’ll want to be as aerodynamic as possible. With the lightweight quality of barefoot shoes, you might just be able to run a little faster.
You’ll also conserve your energy more. Since barefoot shoes weigh less than athletic shoes, your legs don’t have to use as much power to raise your foot for each stride. That extra bit of energy can be what it takes to push you to the finish line!
Better Proprioception
Proprioception or kinanesthesia is our ability to understand our body’s positioning relative to our movement. It’s a body and brain connection that some refer to as our sixth sense. Beyond the appealing groundfeel that barefoot shoes provide, you can better experience an improved sense of proprioception as well.
Changes Walking and Running Gait
Remember how we said that most people walk via striking their heels? This can lead to painful feet and medical conditions such as plantar fasciitis. When you stand more naturally in barefoot shoes, the way you walk might change as you start striking with your forefoot or midfoot.
Although there’s no definitive proof, some experts believe that midfoot and forefoot walking may be less impactful on the feet for fewer aches and pains.
Conclusion
You’ve learned about many great barefoot shoe brands on this blog, and now you understand the basics of barefoot shoes as well. We hope this post has encouraged you to try barefoot shoes. As we said before, nothing beats wearing them, and once you see how beneficial a pair of barefoot shoes can be, we think you’ll be hooked!