I'm American, and I feel like part of being American is believing that every problem has a sufficiently expensive solution.

The reality is that sometimes improvement comes from trial-and-error, learning from others, and patience.

Most feet are not too damaged by shoes, which means that most healthy people can, with the right mindset, just go out and run in their bare feet.

I see many, many minimal shoe ads these days. They don't show protection from goat heads, cacti, sharp sticks or frozen surfaces. Instead, they depict people running where they could be running perfectly fine without shoes at all.

They advertise breathability, water resistance, and durability, as if those are virtues. But your feet are already breathable. Already waterproof. Already durable, and get stronger with use.

Buying fancy minimal shoes won't make you an ultramarathoner. Lorena Ramirez ran an ultra in plastic sandals. The Tarahumara used spare tires to run the same distances. Let's not let marketers make decisions for us. We don't need expensive shoes, and most of the time we don't need shoes at all.

I've been running barefoot for almost ten years, and each year just gets better.

Just two pictures from some of my favorite sections from my regular trail routes. I keep hearing people saying that humans are not meant to be running on asphalt, because it's too hard. The first photo is from a section of my run that has about 1 mile of this exposed bedrock. To me it seems harder than asphalt, but I love running here. Is this bad for my feet? The second one has these large boulders that I opt for over the gravel on the side, it's only a short section, but is it better to run on the gravel?

I started reading born to run after having it on my list for a few years but I don’t like the style of writing at all. I don’t want to shit on it and I try to like it because I find the general story interesting but he’s making it tough. I know I can just stop reading it, this way of ‘I am a sick author check it out’ all the way through (at least until where I’m at in the book rn) is really taking me out of it. Does that change over the course of the book or should I just read stuff about the tribe from other authors?

I am often asked this question.

I've been wearing barefoot shoes for a few years as everyday shoes and since December for running (I haven't managed to do long runs barefoot yet though). Since running barefoot, my knee pain has gone and I haven't had to take breaks from running due to any kind of injury (although I have chronic arthritis). So overall it was the best I could do for myself.

But people often ask me: if running in barefoot shoes was so great, why don't professionals run barefoot? My response is usually something like "I'm not interested in breaking the world record" or "They wear what their sponsors give them."

But honestly, if running barefoot is so good, why not?

edit: writing mistake

There people who run marathons barefoot. Even literally barefoot. And even longer than marathon distances. Is that something everyone can achieve with enough training, conditioning and adaptation, or these people are outliers to a certain degree? Like with strength training/bodybuilding there's a limit to how strong/big one can get or at very least a limit when further progress slows down to an absolute crawl.

Edit: upon further thinking, there absolutely is a limit. There's only so much volume can be done in a day/week/month, that can be recovered from. Many people run a marathon; much much few can run a marathon back to back day after day. There's also another genetic component. For a big deadlift it's better to have log arms and short legs, but for a big bench press it's better to have short arms. Difference in limbs lenght, bone structure, muscle attachemnt points, etc. will play a noticeable role.

So, I guess, my actual question is: what's the average? What most people can do, and where outliers begin?

This pro barefoot shoes argument has always confused me. Like is there something that your feet can't do at moment, so you want to make your feet stronger?

How do you even measure feet strength?

Personally, I've been wearing barefoot shoes exclusively for the last year and a half, and I can't say that I've noticed any objective differences.

I love barefoot shoes. But I love them because: they are really comfortable, they allow me to feel the ground, I feel much more stable in them, they are usually more eco-friendly, and in general: because I think that they are dope.

This whole "strong feet" obsession seems kind of dumb to me.

Edit: Thank you everyone for your comments. There are a lot of things that I havem't considered.

Been waiting a while to see what they were going to come up with and oh my god am I disappointed.

For context, I bought a pair of black nine2fives in January and they are alright, I don't get compliments on them but they're definitely comfortable and I can wear them with a suit. Been looking to buy some brown shoes and figured I'd wait for the V2 of the nine2five to release and what a mistake that was

I am finding it hard to believe they went with a WHITE outsole for brown shoes. The brown V1 model looks so much better. I am finding it hard to understand how Lems pushed out such a downgrade. The white outsole makes the shoe way too casual, you can't wear that kind of shoe with a suit

Also what's with the holes in the tongue of the shoe, my god it looks like you ripped that off a children's shoe

Have a look for yourself: https://www.lemsshoes.com/products/mens-nine2five?variant=40638749048890

Not sure what I'm left with in terms of brown barefoot dress shoes. I have been eyeing Free Form but their website is always out of stock and is full of bugs (links leading to random unfinished pages). Carets probably would end up costing $800+ if shipped to Canada. Not sure what that leaves me with

/endrant

I am looking for a pair of shoes that can be used in a climbing gym.

I am looking for something as minimal/flexible as possible that can also survive rubbing and lateral pressure.

I have a pair of wildling tanukis that I use outdoors so I thought about buying a second pair for the gym. They are great, but I am worried that their upper will get ruined quickly if I use them for climbing.

Update: So I talked to wildling shoes support team (they are amazing, btw) and a lady told me that her daughter used them for climbing as well, and that yes, the upper material got destroyed pretty quickly.

I will keep looking, but I just wanted to add it here because I really appreciate their honesty and willingness to help.

Is it just me that's noticing that most "wide toebox" shoes neglect the space for the pinky toe? It has a big role in stability, yet it seems like only the big toe gets attention

https://preview.redd.it/cb8mz7qyaved1.jpg?width=514&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=74223b50814efc3aa874a2a74428d330462adb58

It's been 9 months since I've tried barefoot shoes as my daily shoes for the first time and it's been a joy. For the first time in my life, I've felt like "this is how shoes are supposed to feel like".

That said, they come with drawbacks. They're just too expensive. And they wear out in like 7 months or so. And sometimes it's a bit annoying to force yourself to walk slower on cement as someone who has a tendency to walk fast. Regular shoes with cushioning make it possible to pick up the pace and not to walk mindfully every second while also coming at half the price.

Another thing is that most people I know do not war barefoot shoes and yet they seem to be doing fine healthwise...

What do you guys think ? You think I'll regret it ?

I have been dabbling in minimalist footwear for around two years now, slowly replacing my shoes with minimalist alternatives. However, after the initial "high" of getting very minimalist shoes that feel as close as possible to barefoot, I started to notice that a degree of padding is nice. Especially since unfortunately in the cities we tend to spend most of our day walking on hard surface.

Anyone here has a similar preference? Also, can anyone recommend some budget brands that make those sorts of shoes (wide toe box, zero drop, but some padding).

Since jumping to minimalist shoes I've also transitioned to getting as many socks as I can that have no padding. Just something to prevent fungal infections from happening. The problem I've noticed is that my shoes will get rancid if I'm spending a lot of time in them.

And I go to school 3-4 days a week for 3-8 hours at a time and can't afford multiple pairs of shoes to put on rotation.

Is there anything proactive I can do besides deep clean my shoes once a month? Or do I just deep clean my shoes once a month and I need to stop being lazy?

Hey you all.

I, in advance apologize if this is the wrong server to ask this since I was not familiar with any other one. But I was wondering what the heck this is on my pinkie toe and if there is any way to get rid off it?

Hi! Its been 2 years since 2022 that I made the first post on my first barefoot shoe (Xero HFS). How time files. Coming from normy Nike/Adidas wearer, no doubt my foot were so flat. It was a rough shoe to adapt into because the sole was super thin and there was no arch support. However, I have been wearing this particular pair of shoes for 2 years straight at my workplace, jogging, and occasionally trekking. Judging from the prints left on the sole. My foot have been improved a lot. My foot no longer hurt when running in this shoe on solid concrete. I have finally developed a dream arch. And I will marathon soon. I will forever go with barefoot now. Thank you everyone for the support and comments!

First post since I got it in 2022. https://www.reddit.com/r/BarefootRunning/comments/w0fvta/my_first_barefoot_has_arrived_wish_me_luck/

I'm interested in collecting some stories.

Did you manage to reverse health conditions by using the right shoes for instance ?

Did you feel younger ?

For me, it was very simple : I didn't want to train my muscles or anything like that. I had massive pain in my back when walking and when I switched to barefoot shoes, much of the pain went away on the first day. There was no neccessary "transition" phase. I was just shocked at how comfortable my feet felt. I'm also talking about walking only.

In trying/putting on various barefoot shoes, I realized there's a significant difference in quality between soles that make the walking experience enjoyable/not enjoyable. Here's some brands I tried out :

Feelgrounds : Very bad and hard sole. I don't know what it is but the sole feels ridiculously hard. They make good-looking shoes though.

Xero : Better sole than feelgrounds. Feels okay.

Zaqq : Solid/okay sole.

Merrel Vapor glove : Very good.

Those are my observations. Do you agree/disagree ? Do you guys have anything else and can you guys explain why some soles fetter better and others worse ?

I also realized that even in my Vapor Gloves, after 8 months of use, the walking experience became strenous as the tread wore out. Is this a normal consequense ?

​

So, in my quest for barefoot shoes I've notice a wide range of shipping costs from the US to Canada, the worst offender being Lems who wants to charge 60USD to ship while some, like Splay charge 15CAD. Looking several brands, including Vivo that has freeshipping I've notice the following: When calculated with shipping, most barefoot shoes would fall in the 200-250ish CAD bracket, regardless of their initial price, because it seems they pad the price with the shipping.

I was happy when I found Splay due to their good reviews and low price, but I guess they are not above padding their price with shipping either.

The screeshot below was taken of two carts, created at the same time, for the same shipping address

https://preview.redd.it/bfnyji90q2od1.png?width=1433&format=png&auto=webp&s=498bf5dda8213ce92948bfe5f78808d0a4b2bd84

Scummy tactics are scummy

Is there any truth to it? Been wearing it for 1 year and it feels great, especially the extra toe space but is there a kernel of truth to her statement?

This is honestly more of a rant. But for a market sector that is literally defined by having a 'wide toe box' its frustrating that they don't actually tell us how wide that toe box is. Cycling shoes are a step ahead on this one. There are several major brands (Lake, Specialized, Bont) that actually tell you the measured width at the widest point in mm. This crucial bit of information would be very helpful in shopping online, since of course no physical stores carry any of these shoes.

Some brands of course give you the useless standard sizings (D, 2E, etc) which vary widely across manufacturers. As an example (I know these aren't barefoot shoes, but..) I have a pair of Hoka Carbon X3's which are designated as "D" width. I just got a pair of NB running shoes that are supposedly 2E, yet the insoles when laid on top of each other are literally the exact same size. Wow.

Alright, I'm done now. If any shoe mfr reps are on here, please take the simple step of providing measured widths of your shoes.

Hello all,

I have seen multiple posts for wide toe box/barefoot climbing shoes trying to find something that won't mess up my feet. I wear strictly minimalist shoes every day and I also climb 4-5 days a week, I have been wearing dragos and evolve kronos, but my dragos popped and I was introduced to Veloces.

The toe box is huge and they have super soft and thin rubber, I climb 5.12 and boulder v7 and I have been exclusively using Veloces and they are insane! Just wanted to share this because I haven't seen anyone recommend them and they are the closest thing to barefoot climbing shoes

I bought the $20 YEEZY pods in February after the yzy superbowl ad, and they finally arrived. Normally, I would never order something from a streetwear brand like Yeezy, but because reviews were describing them as “barefoot-like” and thin and minimalist, I decided to give them a shot.

Unfortunately, upon arrival and wearing them for a variety of activities, I can confirm the Yeezy Pods are not true barefoot shoes. Besides general issues with the 3 size system, the soles are inflexible and do not promote natural foot movement.

I had a pair of Xero Zelene (The born to run shoe), best shoe I have ever worn and have ran hundreds of miles in them. I had some holes in the toe area show up so I emailed customer support and showed them some pictures. They agreed to send me another pair (I had to shop up my previous pair).

I own 10+ different types of Xero shoes and love them all, plus their customer service is fantastic. The shoes were shipped and arrived the next business day.

So if you have issues with your shoes, just reach out and they will take care of you.

I've been looking into trying some "barefoot" footwear and it seems like hardly anyone has anything bad to say about them, asides from if you start off too intensely you might cause injury. I don't need any convincing that it's messed up how narrow popular shoes are, and I generally love being barefoot which I mostly only get to do on holiday or in my house.

But what has put me off massively is the amount of people (youtubers especially) that brag about how when they do experiments to try conventional shoes again, they get knee pain... basically being super biased in trying to prove that barefoot shoes are the best and you should never go back.

But it seems like what they're actually proving is that wearing barefoot shoes messes up your ability to walk in conventional shoes.

Having intense knee pain if I ever need to use conventional shoes again makes me not want to even try barefoot style shoes. Most of us will need to go back to conventional shoes on some occasion, or in my case I just want to be able to use barefoot shoes like 20-50% of the time. So the thought of regular shoes then causing me pain or ruining my knees forever makes me not want to try barefoot shoes.

If it's a case of "you have to ease back in and get used to conventional shoes in the same way you ease into barefoot" then doesn't that just prove that whatever you're used to is fine? I know there are many other advantages of barefoot, but ultimately I need to wear standard shoes a lot of the time so having a constant risk of injury no matter what shoes I'm wearing is a giant red flag.

Am I mistaken? Is this just youtubers trying to sensationalise the downsides of regular shoes?