Podiatrist · Specialist in Biomechanics · Founder of VOLKAN
"The goal of barefoot was never for the shoe to do less. The goal has always been for the body to be able to do more again."
"So… is barefoot good or bad?"
It’s probably the question I get asked the most.
And I understand why.
If you search for information online, you will find completely opposite opinions.
Some claim that barefoot is the solution to almost all foot problems.
Others assert that it is a dangerous trend.
It’s interesting.
Because when two positions are so extreme, usually both are leaving out an important part of reality.
Biomechanics rarely works with absolutes.
And barefoot doesn’t either.
Before answering, it’s worth asking another question.
In consultation, I almost never answer directly.
I prefer to ask first.
—What do you understand by barefoot?
The answers are usually very different.
Some people believe it means always walking barefoot.
Others think it consists solely of using shoes with a very thin sole.
There are also those who relate it to a philosophy of life.
In reality, none of those definitions fully explain what it is.
From a biomechanical point of view, barefoot is a type of footwear designed to interfere as little as possible with the natural functioning of the foot.
Nothing more.
And nothing less.
The protagonist has never been the shoe.
This is perhaps the most important concept of the entire chapter.
Many people believe that barefoot aims to show that conventional footwear is the problem.
I do not share that idea.
The true protagonist has never been the shoe.
It has always been the organism.
Barefoot footwear does not create new muscles.
It does not create equilibrium.
It does not automatically improve running technique.
It does not eliminate pain.
The only thing it does is allow certain functions of the foot to participate with greater freedom in movement.
Then it will be the organism that decides what to do with that opportunity.
Less interference requires more participation.
Imagine that a person has been using an elevator to go home for years.
One day he decides to use the stairs.
The stairs do not create strength in his legs.
They simply offer him the opportunity to use a capacity that he had been participating less in for a while.
With barefoot it is something similar.
By reducing certain external aids, the organism needs to take on a greater part of the work.
That can favor very interesting adaptation processes.
But it also implies greater responsibility for the tissues.
And that responsibility must be acquired gradually.
Adapting is never immediate.
One of the biggest mistakes is thinking that changing shoes is enough.
It is not.
The body needs time.
The muscles modify their work capacity.
The tendons reorganize their load tolerance.
The nervous system learns new strategies.
The movement patterns evolve.
All of that requires weeks, months, and for some people, even more time.
Barefoot does not work just by putting it on.
It works when the body manages to adapt to the new demands it poses.
Not everyone needs the same thing.
This is probably the most important idea to avoid extremes.
There are people who greatly enjoy using barefoot shoes.
Others only use them at certain times.
Some need a very slow transition.
And others, because of their clinical characteristics or certain pathologies, may benefit more from other types of tools.
That does not make anyone better or worse.
It simply shows that biomechanics is still right.
Each organism needs solutions adapted to its context.
What does this have to do with everything we have learned?
A lot.
In reality, this chapter is not just about barefoot.
It is about adaptation.
About learning.
About proprioception.
About stability.
About trust.
Of variability.
Of movement.
It speaks exactly of the same thing we have been learning since the first chapter.
Because barefoot is not an isolated idea.
It is a logical consequence of understanding how a living organism learns.
It does not intend to replace the body.
It intends to give it more opportunities to participate.
What I see every day in consultation
Over time I have learned that the success of a transition does not depend only on the type of footwear.
It depends much more on how the person understands the process.
Those who expect a miraculous change often get frustrated quickly.
Those who understand that they are training new abilities tend to progress with much more calm.
The most interesting improvements do not appear on the first day.
They appear when the organism stops perceiving barefoot as a novelty and starts to integrate it as another way of relating to the environment.
That moment does not come the same for everyone.
And nothing happens.
What you can do from today
If you are interested in barefoot, forget one question.
"Will it work?"
And start to ask yourself another.
"Is my organism ready to take advantage of what this type of footwear can offer?"
The difference seems small.
But it completely changes the way of approaching the process.
Because it stops looking for a solution in the shoe.
And starts to build abilities in the body.
🔬 In a sentence
The barefoot does not automatically improve movement. It reduces part of the intervention of footwear so that the body can take on a more active role.
The most important idea
Barefoot is not a religion.
It is not a trend.
It is not a universal solution.
It is a biomechanical tool designed to allow for greater participation of the foot and the nervous system in movement.
Like any tool, it has indications, limitations, and needs to be used judiciously.
Its value does not lie in the shoe doing less.
Its true value appears when the body regains abilities that it previously hardly needed to use.
Because the goal was never to walk with less shoe.
The goal has always been to move with more resources.
A question to reflect on
Think of any tool you use in your daily life.
A computer.
A bicycle.
A car.
Do you choose it because it is the best in the world… or because it is the one that best adapts to what you need to do?
Perhaps the same is true for footwear.
In the next article…
We already know what barefoot is.
But there is still a crucial question.
How do you start?
Why do some people make a transition without difficulties while others develop discomfort in a few weeks?
In the next chapter we will discover that the problem is almost never in the footwear.
It is in the speed at which we try to change.
Because the organism accepts almost any challenge…
As long as we give it enough time to adapt.