Barefoot Summer

The nice weather this past weekend had me hanging out barefoot in the yard. Join me this summer in prioritizing time without shoes and socks. Let your feet, and all the connective tissue, bones and musculature, work like they’re supposed to without sensory depravation chambers (shoes) lashed to them.

If you want to log some barefoot time, here are a couple tips. Despite seeming so simple, if you have’t been exposed to this for a long time, tread cautiously and build up over time. I wear minimalist shoes year round and am extremely particular of what I’ll put on my feet. That being said, I still only spent 10-15 minutes completely barefoot outside yesterday.

During daily life I always walk on hard, flat surfaces, like at the gym. There’s no variety, different textures or really too much of anything going on for my feet. When I’m hanging around barefoot, I’ll try to walk or even just stand on crushed stone, brick pavers, grass, gravel, big rocks and asphalt. All these different textures are unique stimuli and exposure for my feet that they don’t get most of the year.

If you want to be barefoot because you think it’ll be helpful for the rest of your body, you should already be considering what shoes you’re wearing as your daily driver. If you’re wearing ultra supportive, maximalist cushioning, and you want to be barefoot more, I would start with wearing a more stripped down daily shoe to get your heel closer to the ground, and start getting some feedback from your feet.

Don’t forget to roll out your feet with a ball. You can manipulate just the right pressure with a hard ball to those arches to help your feel start feeling like the powerful springs they are. You can stretch your toes with your hands as well.

Strengthen your feet, and make your body become more robust by logging plenty of barefoot time this summer.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain