See, before I landed a really awesome job that politely insinuated that shoes were required on campus, I spent three years completely barefoot. I worked at an office that didn't care so much about my feet so long as I had good phone etiquette, and all of my movement disciplines at the time encouraged my footloose and fancy free behavior. I walked barefoot all winter. Sometimes even in snow. Definitely in frost. Often. And it was pretty awesome.
Walking barefoot for so long had so many benefits that I don't know if I will be able to list them all off the top of my head. It helped to alleviate a bunch of weird back and knee pain that I had had for forever. Throughout my teen years, I was definitely a fan of massive, leather, goth stomping boots. (Ahem. I still am.) Which is fine, but boots that lace up to your knees keep your ankle in a really stiff, supported position and don't really allow the ankle to build up strength or mobility. This is where you see a lot of people that claim that they really need the ankle support to walk anywhere - they've spent a life time having those ankles artificially supported, and have not built up the ankle's ability to support itself.
This kind of stuff really comes in handy when I am trekking around in the mountains. The Sierra Nevada mountain range that we have here in California is a truly special and beautiful place, but that beauty goes hand in hand with uneven and unpredictable ground. It ain't no flat pavement! It is so easy to be distracted by the incredible scenery that the Sierras have to offer and misstep only to roll your ankle. I can think of several occasions that those missteps would have resulted in a really unfortunate injury in the middle of nowhere, but thanks to my barefoot training, my feet and ankles were strong enough to roll with the punches without a problem.
I also built up really, really thick callouses on the soles of my feet. I know you may be thinking "oh gosh, surely not! Surely that is what pumice stones are for!" But I implore you to embrace the callous! Thick callouses are what are going to enable you to walk over thick gravel without a problem, walk on pavement in 100 degree weather, and walk through frost. And small amounts of snow. Oh gosh, please don't walk away from this blog thinking that you can walk through three feet of snow for five miles without getting frostbite because that is simply not true. At all. Don't do that.
But thick callouses will help get you through a snowy parking lot to your car. That could happen. That could be you.
Now before you burn your shoes in a fiery rage, please use common sense and good critical thinking skills. Barefooting is generally not a great idea in areas with higher population densities, because as it turns out, there are people out there who will pee in public with reckless abandon. RECKLESS ABANDON PEOPLE. I'm lucky enough to live in the suburbs, but when I venture into more populated areas I for sure take shoes. There are plenty of great minimalist options out there. I am personally a huge fan of the Merrell trailgloves. Those are my go-to shoes when I feel so inclined to wear them.
Also, please refrain from super-hardcore-ultra barefooting all the time right away. If you have been wearing shoes with huge soles all of your life, then take it slow. Give all of those muscles that your body uses to stabilize your movement a chance to learn how to stabilize on a bigger level. And let the soles of your feet build up their toughness. That part is really, really important. I remember about six months into the barefooting experience, I decided that I was going to walk from my apartment in Rocklin to a produce shop in Newcastle, which was about nine miles away. So eighteen miles round trip, right? No problem! I do those distances for breakfast! No big deal here! Except I had never done that kind of distance barefoot. And the road from Rocklin to Newcastle is mainly concrete, aside from those vast expanses of freaking gravel. And it was a really warm day in April. But I was determined! And I was going to win! And at the expense of my feet, and while I may have limped the last mile, I made it to Newcastle Produce! And I savored my victory over a tasty, tasty lunch.
The return trip did not work out so well. I couldn't wrap my brain around doing another nine miles barefoot, so I put on a pair of Chuck Taylors that I brought in my pack, just in case. But my feet were so tore up that I couldn't deal with having socks on. I made it five miles to Loomis before I had to call my room mate and beg him to come pick me up.
See those bruises? And the ripped away flesh that exposes tender, vulnerable flesh? Which is also bruised? Don't be like me people. Plan better.
And then I ate all of the ice cream. I had to limp through a grocery store to get it, but at that point I totally deserved it.
So please everyone, be careful with your beginning barefoot training. Exercise the appropriate amount of reasoning skills when planning your barefoot adventures.
These days I don't barefoot as much anymore. The afore mentioned job cut down on the daily barefooting, and a few toe injuries in the dojo while sparring have led me to prefer training in minimalist footwear for higher impact stuff. But while I have moved on from feeling the need to prove to myself and the world what a hardcore barefoot warrior I am, I still take the shoes off when they aren't necessary. And my feet are better for it.
Do you barefoot? What have your experiences been like? Feel free to share them in the comments!
