The woman and man that I’m going to be chatting with in this podcast are doing the stupidest research in the history of human biomechanical research. And what can we learn about natural movement from people who don’t move naturally at all? We’re going to find out both of those things on today’s episode of The MOVEMENT Movement podcast.

I’m Steven Sashen, your host for The MOVEMENT Movement, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them at all the various places you can. If you have something you want to email us, drop an email to [email protected] and again, if you want to be part of the tribe, please subscribe and like and share and review and do all those things that you know how to do, but most importantly, enjoy. Have fun and live life feet first.

Download PDF: Walking in Minimalist Shoes Is Effective for Strengthening Foot Muscles

Comments (12)
  1. I would suggest employing someone who is tech savvy to populate the web – however that is done – with barefoot and minimalist research, blogs, videos, etc. that respond to certain keyword/phrase searches. For example, I stumbled into the world of minimalist and barefoot running when researching how to recover and deal with a debilitating Morton’s Neuroma – which I hadn’t heard of before the diagnosis – and a blown out ankle ligament damaged while trail running in Brooks Cascadias due to too much torqueing in my ankle while cutting around sharp turns. The shoes had to be tied tight to minimize my feet slipping in them on uneven and wet surfaces essentially immobilizing the ankle joint when it needed to be very agile thus setting it up for failure and squeezing the nerve that became the neuroma. Also, the thick soles prevented me from feeling the terrain and responding effectively adding to the demise of my feet and ankles. I’ll add that when my foot was imaged later after running barefoot for a few years, healing fractures were found that I did not feel even while running some tough courses! Very fascinating to hear that come up in the research. The fractures, as suggested, may have been necessary early barefoot running growing pains (stress) addressed by the body’s natural healing and adaptation processes.

  2. You brought up something related to a question i’d asked your customer service team, ice skates!
    i do figure rollerskating, though not nearly as much now because after wearing xeroshoes for just a couple months my roller skates felt awful, squeezing my foot and restricting any movement. i’ve even thought about bolting xeroshoe boots to skate trucks to at least have some room for my toes to move, hahaha!
    i spread the word about your company whenever i can, hopefully people will begin to embrace natural movement so companies like yours will get the funds to branch into sport-specific footwear :^D
    if you guys ever decide to branch into skates PLEASE let me know!!!

  3. Calling this research “the dumbest …” is disrespectful (and dumb). Please think a bit more before you put your foot in your mouth again.

    • Have you LISTENED to (or watched) the podcast? The headline is designed to be provocative in order to get people to listen.

      And if you do listen, you’ll hear that I didn’t call the research dumb, nor were the researchers in any way disrespected.

      I said it’s dumb that those of us who are promoting natural movement need to do research on what is inherently obvious: moving your body is better for you than immobilizing it (other than temporarily in the case of an injury, of course). The researchers agreed.

      • I think you are making an illogical leap in your thinking: the lack of recognition of the benefit of exercising the foot by barefoot walking and running is dumb. The research to prove that such thinking is dumb is not dumb itself. The research is smart and well done. And, apparently, very much needed.

        • You’re basically making my exact point… with one caveat. We agree that Sarah and Wayne’s research is smart and well done. We agree that there are benefits to barefoot walking and running and that it’s “dumb” that this isn’t recognized.

          The place where we’re only a LITTLE bit out of sync is that I’m saying it’s “stupid” that those who understand natural movement need to have research to prove the obvious — moving is better than immobilization — when the big shoe companies are not asked to prove ANY of their claims.

      • By the way you did say “tell me about your stupid research”. I know that you meant it as provocative, but it was too much. And it does not make sense: the research is by no means stupid, nor is the reason for it stupid.

        Perhaps have someone vet your next “funny” idea?

        • I get that YOU didn’t get that I wasn’t remotely serious when I used the words “dumb” or “stupid.” Luckily, Sarah and Wayne understood the CONTEXT of why I used those words. They laughed and they agreed with me that it was dumb and stupid that those of us who support natural movement need to have research to prove that it’s better to use your body than immobilize it.

  4. Love the podcast! During the final piece you talked about the desire to get these “dumb” studies out to a broader audience. I am a layperson who is very concerned with natural health. Have you looked at GreenMedInfo? I have researched a bunch of natural studies there. In fact I am going to look on there now for minimalist footwear/natural movement…
    Perhaps they could be a vehicle?
    Keep up the great work- I listen every week!

  5. Dumb or not, there seems to be something wrong. The above mentioned paper “Walking in Minimalist Shoes Is Effective for Strengthening Foot Muscles” had no recommendation on Researgate! Am I the only one thinking people should be celebrating such a research?

Leave a Reply to Frank Divonzo Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *