Podiatrist · Specialist in Biomechanics · Founder of VOLKAN
"A healthy foot is not the one that remains rigid. It is the one that knows when to be flexible and when to be firm."
The greatest mistake in imagining a foot
If I asked ten people to draw a foot resting on the ground, probably all would do something similar.
A foot still.
Flat.
As if it were a base on which the body rests.
But the foot in reality never remains still.
Each step transforms it.
And that is one of the wonders of biomechanics.
As we walk, the foot continuously changes function.
In just a second it goes from being a great shock absorber to becoming a powerful lever that propels the entire body forward.
And it does this thousands of times each day.
First it needs to adapt
When the heel makes contact with the ground, the job of the foot is not to push.
Its first mission is another.
To adapt.
It must absorb some of the impact.
To adjust to the small irregularities of the terrain.
To distribute the loads.
And to allow the rest of the body to continue moving forward with stability.
To achieve this it needs some mobility.
An overly rigid foot will have more difficulties performing this function.
Then it needs to become a lever
As the body moves forward, everything changes.
The weight shifts to the forefoot.
The toes begin to engage.
The muscles increase their activity.
And the foot stops behaving like a cushion to transform into a much firmer structure.
Now it no longer needs to be flexible.
It needs to transmit force.
Every step is a perfect balance between mobility and stability.
It is not a contradiction.
It is an adaptation.
The key is to change in time.
Many times we think a foot is good because it is very flexible.
Or because it is very stable.
The reality is much more interesting.
What matters is not how much it moves.
What matters is when it moves.
An effective foot knows how to adapt when the terrain demands it.
And it also knows how to stabilize when it’s time to propel the body.
That change occurs automatically.
Without us having to think about it.
And that ability is much more important than any label like "flat foot" or "high arch."
What does this have to do with barefoot?
Here comes an idea that often surprises.
The goal of barefoot footwear is not to make the foot work harder.
It is to allow it to perform these two functions with the least possible interference.
To adapt when it needs to adapt.
To stabilize when it needs to stabilize.
A shoe that is too rigid can hinder part of that mobility.
One that is excessively unstable will not favor an efficient push.
That's why we don't talk about "good" or "bad" shoes.
We talk about how much they respect the function that the foot must perform in each step.
What I see every day in consultation
Patients often arrive convinced that they have a foot that is "too pronated" or "too rigid."
After exploring their walking pattern, I often discover that the problem is not in the amount of movement.
It’s in the timing of when it occurs.
There are feet that remain flexible when they should start to stabilize.
And others that try to be rigid from the very first moment of contact.
Understanding that difference completely changes the treatment.
Because it stops being solely about how much a foot moves.
It starts to matter how and when it does.
What you can do starting today
The next time you walk, observe something very simple.
Listen to your steps.
Are they soft?
Are they heavy?
Do you notice that you push with your toes at the end of each step?
There’s no need to analyze every movement.
Just regain your curiosity.
Many times, understanding the body starts by paying attention to things we have been doing our whole lives without thinking about them.
🔬 In a sentence
An e efficient foot does not remain the same throughout the step. It changes continuously to respond to what movement needs.
The most important idea
Biomechanics does not seek a rigid foot or a flexible foot.
It seeks a foot capable of alternating both functions at the right moment.
Because walking is not about maintaining a perfect posture.
It is about continuously adapting.
And the foot is one of the best examples of that extraordinary capacity of the human body.
A question to reflect on
When you think about your feet...
Do you imagine them as a fixed structure or as a mechanism that changes constantly while you walk?
In the next article…
Surely you have heard these phrases before:
"You pronate too much."
"You need to correct pronation."
"Your stride is pronated."
But…
Is pronation really a problem… or one of the most important functions of the foot?
In the next article we will dismantle one of the biggest myths of modern biomechanics.