The perfect shoe is 
perfect for feet

VIVOBAREFOOT SHOES ARE THIN, WIDE AND FLEXIBLE

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THE HUMAN FOOT IS AN
EVOLUTIONARY MASTERPIECE

The Natural foot is wide (fan shaped), flexible (with three dynamic arches) 
and sensory (with thousands of nerve endings).

Sensory, Stable and Strong

The Natural foot is wide, flexible and sensory

 
Evolution of the Foot

The human foot has evolved from a specialisation in endurance walking and running for hundreds of generations.

 

FEATURES OF A HEALTHY FOOT

The 1st and 2nd toe bones are the same length.  The Big Toe bone is straight and used as the bodies anchor and pivot (it is 4 x the thickness and density of the other toes).  A flexible strong Talus that ‘unlocks’ the foot for compliance. (shock absorption) and ‘locks’ the foot for stiffness (rigid lever).

childs foot

A child’s foot is mostly cartilage until the teenage years

 

 

The bones are not set and will be  easily deformed by non-foot-shaped shoes in early life.
More than 95% of children are born with perfect feet and don’t need any orthotics or support. Keeping kids in rigid or supportive shoes has been
shown to slow brain development and start a lifetime of bad movement habits that result in unskilful, unenjoyable movement for life.

 

SHOES SHOULD LET YOUR
FEET DO THEIR THING

Vivobarefoot aims to make the perfect shoe… perfect for feet

SHOES SHOULD LET YOUR
FEET DO THEIR THING

All indigenous shoe making was simple barefoot shoe making

Shoes are part of our evolutionary heritagE

The first shoes worn by humans were sandals created by Africans more than 40,000 years ago. Made from thick antelope skin, they were used to protect early humans from desert thorns while they were persistent hunting (running down antelopes to the point of exhaustion on the hard baked African Savannah). Bushman living in the Kalahari still make and use these sandals for persistent hunting today.

All indigenous shoe making was simple barefoot shoe making. Thin soled, wide and flexible to allow the foot to do its thing. From African sandals, to Apache leather moccasins to the Reindeer boots made by the Saami in Lapland (that are the lightest and warmest boots humans have ever invented!).

Shoes protect us from cuts and cold – that’s it!

Modern shoes try to manipulate the natural foot and movement techniques with variations of two main “technologies”; Motion Control  and Shock Absorption. 

Trying to use your feet in an unnatural way will logically lead to injuries which is exactly what modern shoes do. It is also why, even after 60 years, there is no evidence that underfoot technologies reduce injuries at all. In fact, there is little understanding of these injuries. We are more likely to injure ourselves on soft surfaces than hard surfaces – whatever type of shoe you are wearing, soft surfaces reduce elastic recoil and create excessive muscle activity, which is the major source of injuries.

SHOES cause foot problems

 

Changes in software (the way we move) and hardware (the shape of our bodies and feet) are evident when comparing habitually shod populations to habitually barefoot populations. The habitually shod foot has weaker intrinsic muscles and ligaments with less plantar fascia. When the arch collapses the muscles and tendons provide less elastic recoil – possibly leading to injuries.

Common problems in shod populations are Morton’s Foot (where the big toe has receded behind the second toe)
and Bunions (where the big toe joint is deformed). 30% of people are born with Morton’s foot, many will develop it through their life because of poor shoe design.

THE BEST ANTI AGEING 
PROGRAM: MOVE MORE

Movement is a skill 

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MOVE MORE

Re-learning natural movement: walk before you can run

Different Forces Different Shapes

Humans, like other animals, create different shapes (kinematics) as the speeds and hence the forces (kinetics) change. Humans naturally display three forms of locomotion: walking, running and sprinting. Each form has a distinct biomechanical characteristic in terms of posture and the loading of the bodies structure. Sensory feedback from the feet \9Aensory loop) informs the brain of the forces encountered and triggers a change to the most appropriate form of locomotion.

Take away this feedback (by wearing padded ‘normal’ shaped shoes) and the brain finds it harder to make appropriate shapes (which is why so many people move so awkwardly (whether it’s walking or running).This disconnect created by padded shoes will lead to a person striking the ground harder (brain in search of information) and with an over stride whether walking or running.

Movement is a skill

The foundation of movement skill is proprioception. Take away that and unskilful injurious movements result. Running (and walking) is a macro skill made up of a series of micro skills (the motor skill milestones). A baby needs to learn how to sit before they can crawl, stand, walk and ultimately run. It is the same with re-learning natural movement: walk before you can run! Skilful running as Vivobarefoot guides is fundamentally based 3 things:

– Posture (upright)
– Rhythm (very quick leg cadence around  170 to 185 steps per minute)
– Relaxation (movement is a subconscious skill that should be in your animal brain – relax and enjoy!)

Foot strike is irrelevant, a bad coaching cue and if posture, rhythm and relaxation are right then foot strike will take care of itself.

THEORY 1

Barefoot running will transform you from an injured,
over-striding jogger to a skilful, forefoot striking Tarahumara.

In Practice Running barefoot and only changing your foot strike will only make you an over-striding forefoot runner.

Start slow with lots of small steps, upright posture (head over hips over feet) and relax (there’s no rush!). Running technique (like every other sports technique) becomes a deeply embedded habit which is virtually impossible to change without coaching.

Pain (running without shoes on a hard surface) will modify movement (heel strike to forefoot Strike) but rarely creates skilful movement!.

THEORY 2

Barefoot running technique will cure all my chronic running injuries

In Practice: The effectiveness of running technique on reducing chronic running injuries is directly influenced by the structural stability of the foot. The forces encountered whilst running do not ‘magically’ disappear when you change your technique.

Skilful, forefoot running reduces joint torques at the knee, hip and lower back but increases them at the foot and ankle joints. If you are going to run like a natural/habitual barefoot runner, you need to possess feet like a natural/habitual barefoot runner - strong, flexible and stable. Practice toe-ga and squatting to. accelerate your foot & ankle health.

THEORY 3

Barefoot running technique will make me a more ‘efficient’ runner

In Practice: Changing technique is never a ‘quick fix’ in any sport. Initially, you will be running outside your comfort zone mentally and physically which normally translates to a greater perceived effort, higher heart rates, shorter distances and slower times until you have fully adapted to the new technique.

‘Economy’ and ‘Efficiency’ are often used interchangeably in the media and in the academic literature but they mean very different things: ‘Economy’ refers to the metabolic cost (energy) of getting from A to B. ‘Efficiency’ refers to how much of the metabolic cost was productive - for example speed/time of getting from A to B. Changing your running technique will influence both Economy and Efficiency (but not necessarily for the better at first!).

 

 

BORN TO WALK (AND RUN)

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BORN To walk (and run)

Endurance Running Hypothesis

From an evolutionary perspective, we know that humans have been running long distances for over 2 million years and the adaptations to our anatomy and physiology stimulated by endurance running are what separate us from our closest primate cousins.

Humans are the only upright, bipedal, running primates. Humans are particularly suited (evolved) as endurance runners with a unique ability to sweat (stay cool), have large hip muscles, short parallel toes, straight legs and long tendons compared to other primates. Early humans were persistent hunters, running down animals by tracking them over long distances and for most of the day until they collapsed from exhaustion. Not only have humans evolved to run long distances, most of that running was done barefoot on hard, rough surfaces before modern humans invented footwear such as sandals or moccasins in the Upper Palaeolithic period about 40,000 years ago.

Present day human beings have evolved from 6,666 generations of hunter gatherers, 366 generations of farmers, 7 generations of industrialised city dwellers and 4 generations of sedentary modern humans

Diseases of Civilisation

’Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” (Dobzhansky, 1972) We can use the application of evolutionary biology to understand health and disease: humans evolved to live as simple hunter-gatherers in small tribal bands, natural light & food, bacteria and movement.

A very different way of life and environment than that faced by contemporary humans. This change makes present humans vulnerable to a number of health problems, termed “diseases of civilisation”.

Gravity

Human beings are born with a typical primate spine which is ‘C’ shaped. As humans learn to sit, stand and walk (software) under gravity, the spine begins to straighten and eventually become ‘S’ shaped (hardware). With unusually big heads balancing on uniquely long spines humans are susceptible to bad posture (lumbar flexion moments) and skeletal misalignment.

Modern human beings spend a large proportion of the day in a seated posture and, instead of regular healthy movement, do short bursts of high intensity unnatural ’exercise’. Regular low intensity natural movement on two feet (under gravity) is the best anti-ageing programme known to humans.

FAQ’s

Q. Don’t I need arch support?.
A. Strong healthy feet have dynamic  arches – giving support makes arches lazy. Use it or lose it!

Q. Why do I need to be able to squat?
A. To maintain strength and flexibility in your ankles and feet. Learn to squat (bum on heels) with feet on the ground – before you attempt barefoot running.

Q. Does it really make a difference?
A. Is transition worth it and is it easy?  19% to 79% of runners get injured every year.At least double the injury rates of forefoot strikers. You were designed to run long distances into your late sixties.

 

Q. What’s the difference between Vivobarefoot and vibram five fingers?
A. Natural dynamic foot movement  and maximum proprioception.

Q. What about protection?
A. Vivobarefoot shoes have a patented ultra-thin puncture resistant sole

Q. Why can’t I just forefoot run in my normal shoes?
A. You can – just harder! Less proprioception – less skill. See FRA’s

Q. I run on hardcore terrain/extreme trail running I need some protection.
A. It’s all about proprioception and technique.

FRA’s

FREQUENTLY REPEATED ANSWERS

A. The body has all the shock absorbing and motion control technology you’ll ever need (just ask any animal)

A. All injury and pain is due to lack of skill in using this technology.

A. Provide the brain with accurate sensory feedback and it will take care of you (As long as you have healthy feet, flexible ankles and don’t try to run too fast too soon!).

BAREFOOT JOURNEY

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