This is another uncommon find in a supportive shoe (but an unequivocal feature of barefoot shoes), and is very beneficial to your spinal health and overall alignment. But that’s also what makes barefoot shoes so great – a natural toe box shape is a critical feature of them so if you transition to barefoot shoes you can say good bye to cramped feet! Zero Dropīirkenstock sandals are zero drop (heel is at the same elevation as the toe). This is so important for foot function, and unfortunately so uncommon when you go shoe shopping. Toe space Yay for a natural foot shape!īirkenstock shoes have a natural foot shape that allows the toes to spread out. Birkenstock Got A Few Things Rightĭespite the issues I have with Birkenstocks, they still hold a valuable place in the world of rehab and pain management – thanks to a few critical features. For optimal mobility, sandals should have some sort of securing strap so they stay put while you move. Shoes that aren’t secure to your foot affect your gait, resulting in shuffling and toe gripping. My final beef with Birks is that their most popular styles are essentially slides. This stability from the ground up will come back to you in dividends throughout your life. not Birks, allows your toes to bend fully, your arch to flatten and stiffen as designed, and the natural balance system in the body to function. Because if you don’t use your joint mobility you WILL lose it. You might get a little bending and flexing as you walk, but not nearly enough to keep your joints robust to meet the demands of a long and active life. When you slip on a Birkenstock you are essentially putting your foot into a fixed position. What might surprise you is that this also affects your pelvic floor! We cross over our toes with every step, so it’s easy to imagine how that stiff sole can affect your gait. The Birkenstocks (right) are so stiff I have to rock forward to get up on my toes. The flexible barefoot shoes (left) let me move through my range of motion effortlessly. The foot has 33 joints, which allows for endless movement possibilities, all of which connect the feet to the entire posterior chain – ankles, knees, hips, pelvic floor, glutes. Stiff Soles Limit Your Foot Mobilityīesides weakening your foot musculature, the intense arch support and thick sole in a Birkenstock also limits your foot mobility. Hence, arch support might help you today, but it’s not preparing you for tomorrow. Studies have shown that walking around in minimalist shoes naturally strengthens feet. And simply wearing barefoot shoes is one way to fix that. But relying on arch support gives you no chance to use the muscles and nerves in your feet – tissues that, if strong and active, are more than up to the job of supporting you without any assistance. If your feet are deconditioned to support themselves, the arch in Birkenstocks can feel really good. And while it can have therapeutic benefits for people in the short term, using arch support can actually make your feet weaker! We CAN regain foot strength, mobility, and stability with time and practice. The first paradigm shift we need to embrace is that human feet are designed to work without external support. So why don’t we try to improve the function of our feet, instead of just bracing them in arch support forever? The arch support in Birkenstocks doesn’t let your own muscles do the work Our feet are made of the same stuff as the rest of our body – muscles, ligaments, tendons, fascia. If you came to a physical therapist with a hurt shoulder you might be prescribed a temporary brace, but you would also be advised to mobilize and strengthen the area because if you brace the shoulder forever it will stop working.Īnd yet if you present with foot pain at the podiatrist’s office you’re likely to be prescribed a pair of orthotics, stiff shoes and an annual appointment to replace them – over and over for the rest of your life. Currently there is a big disconnect between the way we think about feet and the way we think about the rest of the body.
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