Podiatrist · Specialist in Biomechanics · Founder of VOLKAN
"No one is born knowing how to walk. And that is one of the best pieces of news for those who want to move better again."
The first great challenge of our life
Think of a baby when it tries to stand up for the first time.
It falls.
It tries again.
It takes a step.
It loses its balance.
It gets back up.
And it repeats that process hundreds of times.
No one teaches it exactly where to place each foot.
There is no manual.
Its brain learns by observing the result of each attempt.
Each fall is information.
Each small success is too.
Little by little, the nervous system discovers what the best strategy is to maintain balance and move forward.
Walking does not appear suddenly.
It is built.
The brain learns by doing
There is a very important idea that we rarely explain.
The brain does not learn just because someone gives it information.
It learns, above all, because it lives experiences.
Each step modifies the connections between neurons.
Each different terrain provides new data.
Each small imbalance forces the nervous system to find solutions.
Learning to walk is, in fact, a continuous process of trial, error, and adaptation.
And it never ends.
What we learn... we can also unlearn
As the years go by, injuries appear.
Pain.
Surgeries.
Fractures.
Immobilizations.
Stress.
Fear of getting injured again.
And the brain does exactly the same thing it did when we were babies.
Learns.
Only now it learns different strategies.
Sometimes we start to load one leg more.
Or we avoid putting weight on a part of the foot.
Or we walk more stiffly.
At the beginning, those strategies can be useful.
The problem arises when they persist even after they are no longer necessary.
The body keeps moving.
But it does so using an old program.
Plasticity: the great ally of movement
One of the most fascinating characteristics of the nervous system is its ability to change.
We call this plasticity.
It does not mean that the brain can do everything.
It means that it retains the ability to reorganize itself when it receives the appropriate stimuli.
That explains why a person can improve their balance at seventy years old.
Why an athlete can perfect their technique.
Or why someone can regain a more efficient way of walking after an injury.
Movement is also trained.
And the brain learns throughout life.
What doing this have to do with barefoot?
A lot.
Changing footwear is not just about modifying the way they support the feet.
It also means providing the nervous system with different information.
The foot perceives more.
The muscles participate differently.
The toes start to collaborate again.
The brain receives new stimuli.
And it needs time to interpret them and build more efficient strategies.
That’s why adapting to barefoot is not just muscular.
It is also a motor learning process.
The body needs to practice.
Explore.
Make mistakes.
And try again.
Exactly like it did when it learned to walk.
What I see every day in consultation
Many people come in convinced that "they have always walked this way".
As if that phrase meant there is no possibility of change.
However, after a few weeks of work, they discover that their equilibrium improves.
That they use their toes better.
That they support their foot differently.
That they feel more stable.
Not because we have changed their bones.
But because the nervous system has learned a different strategy.
And few things are as rewarding as seeing someone regain confidence in their own movement.
What you can do starting today
Start to observe how you walk.
Not to continuously correct you.
But to discover.
Try different paths.
Walk on grass.
On sand.
On earth.
On surfaces with different textures, as long as it is safe to do so.
Each experience provides information.
And the brain learns precisely because of that variety.
Movement needs challenges, not monotony.
🔬 In a sentence
Each step teaches something to the brain. The quality of that learning influences the way we will move tomorrow.
The most important idea
Movement is not set in stone.
It is a living skill.
The nervous system constantly modifies it based on the information it receives and the experiences we live.
That’s why it’s never too late to improve the way you walk.
As long as there is the capacity to learn, there is the capacity to change.
A question to reflect on
Think about how you walk today.
Is it really the only way your body can move... or is it simply the strategy your brain has learned so far?
In the next article…
We have been discussing the brain as the great organizer of movement for several chapters.
But we still haven’t talked about one of the most forgotten senses.
And, probably, one of the most important.
Proprioception.
How does your brain know where your foot is if you are not looking at it?
How can you walk in the dark without losing your balance?
And why can an injury make an ankle stop feeling "secure" even though it no longer hurts?
In the next chapter we will discover that there is a sense that almost nobody talks about, but which determines the quality of every step we take.