The Facepunch Bare-Foot Challenge - Because we didn't evolve with shoes on our feet - General

Hello facepunch. This is a challenge to walk barefoot - read before you dismiss it, it may have great benefits! [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Shoes_sport-right.png/220px-Shoes_sport-right.png[/img][highlight]->[/highlight][img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Healthy_feet.JPG/300px-Healthy_feet.JPG[/img] I've recently been on a quest to find the perfect footwear for myself, something that really suits my foot and offers the stability I want. I have used running shoes and although they offer a lot of cushioning and they make the foot roll very nicely, I hate the fact that you can very easily hurt your ankle in them, as the shoe can easily "roll" because it is high up. Skate shoes come closest to what I feel is perfect footwear because they have a flat, grippy sole. It makes them pretty good general purpose parkour / walking / climbing shoes. However. My search for the perfect footwear made me wonder, [quote][B]We didn't evolve with shoes on our feet, and because of how evolution works, our feet [I]cannot[/I] be inadequate...[/B][/quote] So I looked up walking barefoot on google, and I asked my dad about it who says he's known a few people who like walking barefoot, and that quite a few top runners have been known to prefer barefoot. So I furthered my research and found this: [url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/6968891/Why-expensive-trainers-could-be-worse-than-useless.html[/url] I highly recommend reading the whole thing, but here are some highlights... [quote]According to a growing body of clinical research, those expensive running shoes you've been relying on may be worse than useless: they could be causing the very injuries they're supposed to prevent.[/quote] [quote]When the Tarahumara aren't barefoot, they wear nothing more cushioned than thin, hard sandals fashioned from discarded tire treads and leather thongs. In place of artificial shock absorption, they rely on an ancient running technique that creates a naturally gentle landing. Unlike the vast majority of modern runners, who come down heavily on their foam-covered heels and roll forward off their toes, the Tarahumara land lightly on their forefeet and bend their knees, as you would if you jumped from a chair. [/quote] [quote]So if shoes aren't the solution, could they be the problem? That's what Dr Daniel Lieberman, the head of the evolutionary anthropology department at Harvard, began to wonder. Humans, after all, are the only creatures that voluntarily cover their feet, and we're also the only creatures known to suffer from corns, bunions, hammer-toes and heel pain. [/quote] [quote][B]Last spring, Lieberman recruited Harvard students for an experiment: he had them kick off their sneakers and run every day in either bare feet or wearing a thin, rubber foot-glove called the Vibram Fivefingers. The results were remarkable. Once their shoes were taken away, the students instinctively stopped clumping down on their heels. Instead, they began landing lightly on the balls of their feet, keeping their feet beneath their hips and bending at the knees and ankles. Without knowing it, they were mirroring the Tarahumara. [/B][/quote] [quote]No one needed to feed those numbers to Abebe Bikila, the two-time Olympic champion, or Zola Budd, who held the 5,000 metre world record and competed for Britain in the 1984 Los Angeles Games: both preferred running in bare feet.[/quote] [quote]As described in the classic military text The Soldier's Foot and the Military Shoe, all new recruits are taught to land lightly on the balls of their feet. They keep their feet under their hips, swinging their legs in a quick, light shuffle to a beat of 180 strides per minute – which, not surprisingly, exactly matches the ancient running rhythm of the Tarahumara.[/quote] Apon reading this article, I went for my first barefoot walk around the block, and it was pretty cool being able to feel what was under my feet. It was like aquiring another sense. [B]So what's the challenge?[/B] [release][highlight]The challenge is to try walking / running barefoot for a week or two.[/highlight] [B]- Go for a short walk at least once per-day, barefoot. (maybe half a mile to start)[/B] [B]- If you are really dedicated, go 100% barefoot for the next 2 weeks.[/B] [B]- Careful where you tread, and remember your feet will need time to harden up before you try jumping on piles of lego barefoot.[/B] [B]- If you are obese, this could be painful for you.[/B] [/release] Video about barefoot stuff: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jrnj-7YKZE[/media]

I have flat feet what can I do?

great until you step on glass and your day is ruined

Interesting concept. I've always wondered if walking like we do nowadays (landing hard on the heel) is bad for us. It seems like we naturally [i]should[/i] land on the fronts of our feet, as it would absorb more shock. Then again, I know little about anatomy. My driveway is 1/2 mile of loose rock. It hurts!

[QUOTE=Twipsters;23803867]I have flat feet what can I do?[/QUOTE] Going barefoot may just repair your natural arch. A lot of people are flat footed because they depend too much on the arch support of modern shoes. I'm not an expert though, so maybe it could just hurt, but I highly doubt it would be a problem.

You need to walk around barefoot for a long time until you build up the calluses required to avoid it hurting At which point your feet look horrid

i want vibram fivefingers so bad for parkour. i might do this.

Fucking rocks and acorns everywhere where I live :byodood:

[QUOTE=Jallen;23803923]Going barefoot may just repair your natural arch. A lot of people are flat footed because they depend too much on the arch support of modern shoes. I'm not an expert though, so maybe it could just hurt, but I highly doubt it would be a problem.[/QUOTE] I was born with super flat feet. My chinese grandmother has the same problem.

[QUOTE=Splurgy_A;23803945]You need to walk around barefoot for a long time until you build up the calluses required to avoid it hurting At which point your feet look horrid[/QUOTE] Calluses build on my hands after a couple of days of heavy lifting. I'm sure adequate calluses will develop very quickly for simple walking.

Thanks but I prefer to avoid getting bitten by stuff on the ground. We didn't evolve with shoes, this is true, but we did start wearing them for a reason. Also I have had flat feet since birth. So boots are the only way to go.

Yeah your feet usually harden up if you spend just a single day walking round your garden.

[QUOTE=GunFox;23804021]Thanks but I prefer to avoid getting bitten by stuff on the ground. We didn't evolve with shoes, this is true, but we did start wearing them for a reason. Also I have had flat feet since birth. So boots are the only way to go.[/QUOTE] Unless you are walking through long grown fields or forest, or you live in a tropical country, you have nothing to fear from things biting you.

[QUOTE=Jallen;23804095]Unless you are walking through long grown fields or forest, or you live in a tropical country, you have nothing to fear from things biting you.[/QUOTE] Where the hell do you live? In Tennessee and pretty much EVERYWHERE in the south, the grass is FILLED with shit that bites. I don't wear shorts outside because there are so many critters.

This will be easy considering I never wear shoes unless I go into a super market or similar (or it's winter). Your feet harden up pretty quickly. I can walk across all sorts of sharp shit without it hurting my feet.

This is my kind of thing I do it all the time. Sign me up OP, start a list of people and put me on it

[QUOTE=GunFox;23804147]Where the hell do you live? In Tennessee and pretty much EVERYWHERE in the south, the grass is FILLED with shit that bites. I don't wear shorts outside because there are so many critters.[/QUOTE] This. I go nowhere without at least sandals on. Barefoot down here is a death wish.

I actually saw a guy marching about without shoes a while ago, was really strange. His feet were all black because he was walking around the bus central and there was a ton of gum and whatnot on the ground as well. I suppose he didn't mind.

[QUOTE=GunFox;23804147]Where the hell do you live? In Tennessee and pretty much EVERYWHERE in the south, the grass is FILLED with shit that bites. I don't wear shorts outside because there are so many critters.[/QUOTE] England :smugdog:

I walk barefoot in and around the house all the time

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;23804239]I actually saw a guy marching about without shoes a while ago, was really strange. His feet were all black because he was walking around the bus central and there was a ton of gum and whatnot on the ground as well. I suppose he didn't mind.[/QUOTE] In a place like London or New York, I would recommend wearing something minimal like five-fingers or a simple skate shoe at least. If you cut your foot there, infection or some shit is inevitable.

[QUOTE=Jallen;23804246]England :smugdog:[/QUOTE] Not everyone lives in citys even [img]http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s52/hemblahem/SmugDowns-1.png[/img]

Ofcouse shoes will affect our posture and stuff, but we initially wore them to protect our feet from glass and bug and other stuff.

[QUOTE=PyromanDan;23804304]Not everyone lives in citys even [img]http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s52/hemblahem/SmugDowns-1.png[/img][/QUOTE] I live in the district of the new forest, in england. It's a national park :downs: [editline]06:47PM[/editline] [QUOTE=W00tbeer1;23804332]Ofcouse shoes will affect our posture and stuff, but we initially wore them to protect our feet from glass and bug and other stuff.[/QUOTE] Which is why when I wear shoes I wear simple skate shoes. It's still a fun challenge.

This will be especially hard for people from countries where you wear shoes all day, except when you sleep

[QUOTE=Splurgy_A;23803945]You need to walk around barefoot for a long time until you build up the calluses required to avoid it hurting At which point your feet look horrid[/QUOTE] My feet look horrid because I wear big boots most of the time, that and I've botch repiared them before so I often get nails which hold the soles on rubbing holes into my feet, but you get used to it. I tend to walk bare foot a lot anyway, used to have someone at my college who did too, like while on site.

I'll do it! :smile:

I live in the mountains and will often hike down to the stream crossings barefoot... nothing extremely bad as happened yet - only a few cuts and broken nails. It's not difficult, but chunky-pieced gravel is still the most annoying thing to walk across.

[quote=Jallen][/quote] My grandma lives there :D

I went out for a walk in the woods barefoot, one time. The mud felt great, but make sure you have thick-skinned feet or at least some kind of protection, because it hurts like shit if you step on something you're not supposed to. (i.e nettles, splinters, sharp rocks, glass.) Also, some people can run better barefoot, but you kind of have to "evolve" to make it your running style. You can't expect a runner who does well in shoes to suddenly increase in performance when they take off their shoes, though it does help sometimes and it feels nice to run barefoot. I like this thread.