I attribute to the combo of wearing barefoot shoes + staying more barefoot + daily feet yoga & exercise the disappearance of all my lower body injuries. As an endurance runner, I used to have ALL the pains and injuries in the list (stress fractures, knee pain, hip pain, plantar fasciitis, etc). Doctor told me to have surgery and put insoles. Enough to say that I didn't get any surgery, stopped paying hundreds of dollars for custom insoles...and been running thousands of miles without A SINGLE SIGN OF PAIN. Take care of your feet folks, it's liberating.
How long do you think that it took for your injuries/niggles to dissipate after you switched to barefoot shoes? I'm running ultras, but have developed PF and it's definitely affecting my training. Just trying to get a realistic timeline from someone who's gone through it.
@@caralho5237 In my experience, their need to sell orthotics and knee surgeries surpasses the simple "squat more, take care of your feet, and your pains'll be gone"
@@akshaybhatt3378 Uh, that'd take hours :-). Let me take the Pareto approach, then. If I had to list down the 20% habits that made the 80% difference, here they are: - DEEP RESTING SQUAT POSITION as much as possible throughout the day (when I wake up, before I run, after I run, every 30-60 mins when I am sitting at work, before going to bed, while texting, while waiting for the bus...you got the point!) - FEET STRENGTH EXERCISES DAILY (you can find them online as "toe-yoga"): I personally do these every time I brush my teeth or clean the dishes. It really takes that little effort. - FEET STRETCHES DAILY: sitting on the toes (butt on the heels), and sitting on the ankles. I do these for one or two mins while I read at night. And of course, barefoot shoes ONLY (except when I am running). That's it. These solved my knee/ankle/feet pain at the beginning. Anything else I added on top was moment-specific. In any case, without the three above any stretching routine for "pain relief" I ever did was completely ineffective Hope this helps!
I've been running on a treadmill in socks for the last couple of years. Works wonders, as an alternative to trail run. I get great muscles work in my feet and calves. May sound weird but after the soreness disappear I start to really enjoy walking, as if with all new strength in the lower body I can walk twice as hard.
One day I really wanted my barefeet to adapt to my pasture. Started off walking sucks but then I pushed through and started running, it helped but once I quit I could feel all the pricks in my feet
Be careful of sesamoiditis doing this, it's a real bitch to recover from. Barefoot running is excellent but our feet were never meant to slam on a very hard and flat surface for long periods.
@@MH-jc3uj The best thing you can do is avoid barefoot running on concrete/road/treadmills. Even compacted dirt has enough give that you will likely be ok, but grass/sand/loose dirt are better options. Start slow and be patient. Take time to learn about proper running AND walking form (they are different, don't listen to anyone that says you shouldn't heel strike when walking). Improper gait/form will quickly lead to compensations and injuries in the knees and hips that you will have to put a lot of work into correcting later in life. Your feet are intricate structures so it's worth the time and effort to do focused mobility and strengthening just for the feet. Most people have very poor neuromuscular control of their entire foot. It's not all that much work as The Bioneer is making out to be. YogaToes provide a great stretch at the end of the day (I find regular toe spacers to be a waste of money and time) and only need to be done for ~20 minutes. Wearing toe socks instead of standard socks eliminates the scrunching that standard socks do to your toes. As for day to day footwear, minimalist shoes are a little overhyped. Zero drop and wide toe box are more important. Having thin but not "minimalist" thin soles is a smart idea if you spend most of your time on your feet walking on unnatural surfaces (concrete, tile flooring, etc.). Minimalist shoes are still great for natural surfaces where there's a higher risk of piercing/cutting your foot on something.
@@jasonbrooks609 my favourite ones are: - spread your toes along the floor as wide as you can and curl them in and up as if you're trying to pick up something off the floor -the foot-shortening exercise mentioned in this video, where you place your foot on the floor and contract your arch -going into a deep squat but with your heels elevated and doing calf raises in that elevated heel position -balancing on on leg with eyes closed -different exercise with pointing your feet and individually your toes using a theraband (rly hard to explain in written format but if you Google ballet foot exercises you'll find loads) Hope this helps :)))
@@RitikRai-kc4oc I also use ankle exercises which also work with the feet with a theraband as well as some anke exercises shown by Saturnomovement (TH-cam)
Wow, thanks. I was bare foot everyday when I moved to the Caymans in 1967. Could walk on the Iron Shore. Now 57 years later I’m barefoot again. Still a bit sensitive but getting tougher. I have a collection of elegant shoes that I will likely never wear again. Nice to see my toes gradually spreading out.
Powermove Breakdancing deserves a Bioneer episode. BBoy Nana, BBoy Pocket, BBoy Junior etc. If there is any athlete on the planet that is superfunctional, it is Gymnasts and Powermove Breakdancers. Strength, coordination, mobility, body control, tendon strength. Powermove Breakdancers give us a glimpse into the human body’s physical potential. (As well as contortionists, tumblers, acrobats etc.) These all could make for fun videos
The timing of this video is crazy because I've been spending this month experimenting with foot/toe exercises. Always been fascinated with the ignored muscles of the body (hands/fingers, scapular muscles, arm/leg rotators, facial muscles, etc.) but I was never able to get around to the feet and toes until lately. I found a lot of exercises that are very effective, giving the muscles a pump and even soreness the next day. The one foot muscle I actually did start focusing on earlier is the tibs, and over the last year they've improved both visually and functionally. For those the exercise that has helped the most is just finding any object that is either bolted into the ground or heavy enough to seem so, and if it has areas I can slip my feet into snugly (large gates are good for this, and so are certain machines at the gym), then I just slip my feet under them and lean back a bit as the negative motion then forward as the actual lift, all while holding onto something with my hands since your tibs are relatively weak, but I try to use them for the lift as much as they can. Now my shins have vascularity and are strong enough to hold my bodyweight upside down on monkey bars, neither traits they had a year ago.
Just sharing my personal experience with barefoot: I used it for 10 years, but my feet muscles really started activating once I did foot physiotherapy a year ago. Sometime those muscles are just to atrophied to start working with minimalist shoes, they may need a kick-start!
I have gone All-In with 'barefoot' shoes for more than a year. Standard factory-built shoes went to the recycle bin. It's not surprising that shoe manufacturers refuse to reveal the lasts that they build shoes on. Even sock makers use lasts that are non-anatomical but designed to look fashionable. While the human foot looks something like this -- 🔽, shoe manufactures turn out footwear built like this -- 🔼. Good luck to each of you on your journey. This video is full of excellent information.
Whenever i have foot, ankle or calf issues, part of my rehab is to walk around my neighbourhood barefoot. I also do barefoot skipping for 5 minutes at the start of every workout. I can take or leave barefoot deadlifts but barbell squats was an eye opener.
Feet feel like hands you never used; When you train to spread your toes and use your feet muscles again it feels like you unlocked another pair of hands 😄
I actually saved and downloaded this video as soon as i saw the thumbnail. I consider myself a pretty muscular guy, but as I journey into my 30s, this is the topic that's concerned me the most as I attempt to hold onto my athleticism.
I've been sitting in a deep squat position for 5 minutes before watching this video while messing about on my phone😊. Increasing my ankle & hip flexibility feels amazing 😮
One foot on balance disc: Stand for time, hold chambered kicks front and side for time, hip extension with two dumbbells. Walk a climbing rope on the floor to work the transverse arch. Get a five gallon bucket half full of pea gravel, put foot in, invert, evert, flex, extend foot and toes. Pull and push sled in barefoot shoes on loose gravel.
I've been touting the benefits of barefoot shoes for years. I haven't worn anything else (except ski boots and the occasional pair of borrowed slippers) in over 10 years now. Been doing regular yoga for 5 years. Those two factors combined helped me build up an arch for the first time in my life, as I've suffered from terrible flat feet my whole life into my early 20s, complete with resulting knee and back pain which are also a thing of the past. This year I finally felt confident and strong enough to start running. Right now I won't go for more than one run per week because I notice that my foot muscles, tendons and ligaments have to work hard to recover and catch up, but I don't feel like I'm destroying my body anymore (which was the case whenever I was forced to run as a kid or teen). I've come so far and yet it still feels like my feet could be capable of so much more. I'm excited to see where I'm at in another 10 years. Vivobarefoot is one of my favorite brands aswell, alongside Wildling. Gonna have to check if your discount code works on the Austrian store aswell, I'm in need of a new pair or two!
I've watched the video and read the article multiple times, and it's nice it provided a genuine answer. When looking at FRC or Maxalding, it can be so tempting try and isolate every muscle and joint to improve it. But I've learnt it's a needless struggle. The body has wisdom, and we often simply need to use our body as a body. We need to not get in its way.
Good video on intrinsic of the foot. In addition are the nerve endings, joints, and fascia connections. The foot is literally our body and brains foundation. So not only strengthening and increasing the mobility function of the foot is important. It's also important to understand the connections to the frontal, lateral and spiral fascia lines, especially for gait. Short Foot exercise taught by Dr. Emily is her number one exercise for the foot for that reason. TFC has an excellent tool for foot mobility and strengthening as well, the Solemate. Thank you for the awareness you bring to the importance of the foot. For me, barefoot shoes and going barefoot has been life changing. Knee pain, back pain, mobility issues all gone from going barefoot!
Most people dont follow through with the natural healing or workouts that our bodies are designed for because it takes months to see results. I have switched to barefoot shoes and it has been a game changer. It took about 3-4 months to see a difference but within that time Ive had no knee or back pain and I actually have a lil arch now! I am looking to strengthen my feet further so I can see more of these great results but small changes are a great way to start feeling better.
Thanks Adam! My feet are pretty mangled from past shoes etc. and I think this may be why I struggle to run (I always get issues with my knees plus other weird pains). Hopefully I can begin strengthening them and improving my situation from the ground up, so to speak 🤓🙏
Instead of going your local gym go to your local climbing gym, it's 100% acceptable to go barefoot in them and you get the added benefit of climbing walls!
during 10 months of intensive TKD training in S Korea, 1972, I developed a lemon sized lump of muscle on the top, outside edge of each foot,, from curling my toes to protect them during ball of the foot kicks. I hadn't noticed it at all, until somebody pointed it out to me.
I've been mostly bearfoot for the last 10 years. At first it was just the calluses that showed change. Now my feet feel different from other people's internally. Thank you for explaining those changes.
For as long as I can remember my left toe pinky has been slightly numb and dysfunctional. I could only move the tip of it slightly downwards but I couldn't bend it at the larger joint and I couldn't contract the muscle that pulls my pinky outwards, so is basically a useless toe. after essentially doing physical therapy in which I would continuously trying to contract that muscle for weeks if not months I have gone from no reaction at all to slight consistent deliberate movement. As dumb as it is, this is kind of always been a goal of mine, so I'm glad that I can see some progress
See, what you said in this video wouldn't help me because my toe wouldn't move in general. I had to teach my toe to be able to move before I can expect it to start functioning normally. Once I improve the full range of motion ideally my brain will start using it
@@rileyninja9733 met the next door neighbor and she could do circles with her pinky toe no problem. She said it took her a few months of trying before she was able to do it. Me 7 yrs later; just about able on occasion, Cheers!
If you can't afford the expensive shoes, Whitin makes some decent ones for significantly cheaper. It's not the high performance elite shoe, but for everyday wear, they're pretty good.
Thanks for another great one Adam, Vivo's are amazing indeed! I'd like to point out the revivo-initiative where they focus on refurbishing, selling second hand (feet?) etc!
One of the main things I learned when I injured my knee was that everything below my knee was weak as floppy pancakes. Playing catch-up now with foot and calf muscles.
I never wear shoes at home, but with just a flat floor, I'm not sure I'm exercising the muscles much. I also switched to a standing desk, so standing about 8 hours while at the computer. Not tried the barefoot shoes yet though.
Things I do for feet health - Use a foot massage machine twice daily, bathe feet for 15 mins in 1 tblss of bicarb, 4 tblsp white vinegar, 1 bowl of hot water, then massage with coconut oil. Leg swings are great, front, sides and back, as the standing foot gets a work out. Walk, run and climb... There's so many things to do, also, a small pointy wooden massage implement is great for getting in the nooks and crannies. Have spacers, need to start using them more.
You should talk about recovery more, like how to increase/boost recovery by doing something because recovery is the actual builder of muscle, tendons and more! We humans are not designed to just stay static during our rest days and being static laying on bed won't help recovery neither, so please talk about us on what do you do during recovery day to increase/boost recovery
So incredibly grateful for your content, and this foot video couldn’t have better timing! I’m about to run my first longer distance (for my standards), namely 12km Mud Masters with plenty obstacles, after which I am going to really hone in on foot training!
Guy, I have already done these kind of training and I can tell you a few things. Because the tripod on the bottom of my feet is wider I can squat heavier. Planter fasciitis isn’t a situation because the vein in my foot is no longer compressed and my hammer toe is gone. My leg presses are up to 820lb and my squats are 640lb and I thank toe spacers, barefoot shoes and toe exercises. Controlling the big toe separately from the rest of my toes is essential for strength. It prevents the knee in action you commonly see in squats and it’s essentially disappeared from my life.
Thanks for talking about this (again?), I needed the reminder to get a new pair of vivobarefoots, been wearing them for years and they’ve finally started to develop holes. I love them but they aren’t half expensive 😂 Cheers!
So...I noticed that in your video the leaves have fallen off of the trees. I assume that it may be chilly there. I wonder if you found what I have found, that, humans can use skin and muscle to heat themselves. Have you ever done a video on conditioning your body to tolerate temperature changes through physical activity? I had read that the Roman soldiers didn't freeze because their bodies and skin were conditioned to tolerate the cold. Anyway, I love your videos. Thank you for sharing.
I applaud you for drawing attention to the problem of feet training, however long distance running and barefoot trail running or even flat track running breaks too many blood vessel with every strike.
9:01 You can also make a habit to engage the anterior tibialis more than you usually would with each step you take as you walk, whenever you're going some place by foot; just a brief moment of more tension. This will probably change a bit how you walk but I find it doesn't make it harder to place your feet well - maybe actually easier (albeit that could just be due to walking more consciously anyway). Whether you're wearing normal shoes with a thick heel over which you just role with each step probably also matters.
@@norbertnagy5514gotta ask it out for dinner first 😝 The mental cue I use for tibialis anterior is trying to touch my knee with the toes on that foot. If you just flex that even occasionally while walking, you'll notice a difference. I don't know it's practical to do a full flex every step, but even just building mind muscle connection is good.
@@norbertnagy5514 Just pull your feet up more than you usually would while walking. Have you tried once to only walk on your heels without the balls of your feet touching the ground? This exercise should help you feel your tibialis.
@@michaelsorensen7567 I actually find some practicality in flexing the feet more: raising your feet like this also makes your heel protrude more, so as you hit the ground there's more room in the ankle joint to soften the impact of the heel strike. People worry about knee pain when walking on hard surfaces without the padding of an elevated heel but this feels like it also does the trick.
@@xCorvus7x I've got mixed feelings. Marching band in high school was decidedly heel first and toes to the sky, but if you're doing anything faster than walking imo it's better to lead with the ball of the foot so you have the arch of the foot to attenuate shock to your ankle and knee. I think mostly just paying attention to walking improves it more than habitually doing whatever
the disclaimer about your feet was the funniest thing I've heard in a long time lol it killed me! but seriously I used to have terrible foot pains - just achy tired feet ALL the time. I have spent most work days on my feet ALL day for most of my working life and yeah achy feet were really souring my normally sunny disposition. A few years ago I started squatting and deadlifting with just my socks on (I train at my home gym) and the past year or so I train in socks my entire workout (including skipping, farmer carry's etc). My feet ache SO MUCH less than they used to. it's counterintuitive isn't it? I thought oh I have achy feet I better get cushion insoles for my sneakers and work boots and i did that for years but that didn't help at all (I realize now that just made it worse) I haven't made the change to minimal shoes yet but I def want to very soon.
Something I like to do is going barefoot (toe socks or vibram shoes might work fine) on the treadmill and forcing g my toes as wide as possible, then really digging into the ground like you're grabbing a bunch of sand with your foot, then as your step finishes really push off with your toes. Also when just standing around barefoot or in sock, spread your toes and lean forward, putting all your weight on toes and putting as much force as you can into your toes to keep yourself from falling forward.
I have been wearing barefoot shoes exclusively for the last 5 years. No insoles, just a piece of rubber between the ground and myself. Anytime I workout, home gym, I am barefoot and use more range of motion in my feet in most expercises.
Have you covered Every Minute, On the Minute (EMOM) workouts yet? If not, I'd at least like to hear about what EMOM might have to offer, if it indeed has anything to offer at all. Good way to make low resistance stuff like basic calisthenics more demanding in a short amount of time.
I have had bunions for a long time. I have seen improvement with a few things. 1. Standing while using a toe spreading spring. 2. Using zero drop shoes sometimes. 3. Streaching toes with a half circle foam roller.
Would you consider doing another personal gym tour type video? I need some inspiration to make my space get me more in the headspace of Bioneer style training
@@michaelsorensen7567 I do a lot of my training outside but I have a garage gym that I have to use sometimes for convenience/winter. I don’t usually bring my dumbbells/barbell out to the park. Rings are one thing but some stuff makes sense in the gym. He uses the gym a lot too.
@@matttcameron_ long as it's balanced then 😁 what kinds of equipment do you have? I've got a basic inclinable bench, and some adjustable dumbbells, and that's pretty much it so far
@@michaelsorensen7567 I have basically the same but I have a simple squat rack w/ pull-up bar and the same sandbag/kettlebell thing that he has used on his channel before.
Can you please make a similar video for wrist too🙏🏽🙏🏽. I have carpal tunnel and recently adopted gymnastics wrist strengthening routine and it seems to help. I would love to see what you think are the best exercises for wrist strengthening and stability
Wow. Last night I started doing toe exercises and realized I had little idea of what I was doing. 😂 Great timing! My feet are wide enough that it's really hard to find comfortable shoes. I ended up buying the widest pair that I could find and removing the soles. They're sooooo much better. However, I can't usually do this with my daughter's shoes. She's almost two and all of the shoes we find for her size seem pretty thick. If anyone reads this and knows of any good shoe brands for toddlers, please let me know!
i think barefoot shoes plus some more functional shoes that are more padded but not heal rais and all that, just more padded flexible barefoot esque shoes like lems are really good as an option.. i personaly think, if u workout a ton barefoot, its helpfull to get that cushion and relax.. so a mix is what i belive to be best.. if u always do to little, always barefoot may work, but if u tend to go really on the cusp of what u can do, it can be helpfull to have another pair of shoes that has more sole
Between training your hands, neck, and feet. I think this is just as important as training everything apart of the human body. You just gotta figure out the excercises and make the time for it.
I can’t understand why it has such a bad rap! The lore and story are just as fascinating, the atmosphere is amazing, the emergent gameplay is good fun - even with the scaled back elements, resource management is really well balanced too I think. And the crazy physics only add to the fun! Load times between smaller areas are annoying, but I played Deus Ex on PS2 (emulated) so that wasn’t much of an issue for me!
@@TheBioneer I think it was largely an overreaction to the scaling down you mentioned. Maybe people’s perception of a shift in tone as well. I wouldn’t put it at the top of the Deus Ex games, but I still love it all the same
I started going consciously barefoot when I was only about 18. (In my country it's relatively acceptable to be barefoot in regular settings luckily.) At 37 I'm so glad I did, and still do! Everybody should go barefoot as often as you can. edit: oh yes I have spent a lot of time digging glass out of my foot with my pocket knife!! Luckily not so much in my relatively-clean city, I am aware that many urban places on this earth are totally dangerous if you have bare feet!
I've been doing toe spacers (I use bandanas bc I'm cheap like that lol) for most awake hours of most days for the last year or so. Been wearing wide toe box barefoot style shoes for over 3 years, as well as toe socks. I do a few foot exercises every day, and I use a small rubber ball to dig into the muscles, loosen up tensions and work into inflammation. And I ice them. I've ehlers danlos and find these a necessity, lest I get a rather scary build up of inflammation leading me back to an instance where the doctor gives me an air cast and a cane again. Anywho, I must away and tend to my fascia 😅😂
Does anyone know if there is a noticeable difference in the quality of "foot gains" you'll get from wearing actual "toe shoes" compared to these more traditional looking "barefoot shoes"?
If only rocks and bits of glass were the only things I needed to worry about trail running here. Got snakes, spiders, huge bitey ants…to name just a few. But there’s a few good barefoot trail shoes I’ve found that make it doable.
I have been wearing barefoot shoes for 20 months. I have been feeling my regular socks restrictive on my small toes. Would toe socks be better or does anyone have any other advice? Thanks.
Speaking of the biomechanics of anterior tibialis!! 8:30 I have an extra bone in my feet that the tibialis anterior tendon connects to - the accessory bone could typically be removed by surgery but mine has stress-fractured and fused itself to the proper navicular bone. It was tremendously painful for years, honestly worse than my broke vertebrae, and I always drifted to certain shoe styles to minimize my pain- one of them unexpectedly being high heels. Like crazy high heels. I was HAPPY after 5 hours of wearing 3+ inch heels because my feet felt great. Anyways! I do weighted tib raises with my legs propped up and a 5lb kettlebell and it’s single handedly… footedly? strengthened my arches and helped my knee pain. 2 sets a week has been enough to help me! Edit to add: my toddler also trains me pretty ruthlessly 😂
I have the toughest feet in the world and i can prove it. I skate board bare foot and can brake by skidding my foot on the road with no problems. No pain.
Please tell me this is sponsored by barefoot shoes. I've got extra wide reasonably thin running shoes but could do better. I think thin sole shoes like moccasins are what our feet were made for, and having something to protect our feet enough from sharp stuff and concrete's wear is best. Running or walking on sand is awesome for feet strengthening, or even walking on smooth rocks.
Any advice for rehabbing plantar fasciitis as it’s stopped me running for the last six months? I’d been running in altras for a year prior to developing it, lots of trails too, but think the increase in mileage was too much.
Can someone provide the link for the foot training channel mentioned? According to the transcript its "stea Iny yang" but that appears to be incorrect and its also not linked in the article.
I attribute to the combo of wearing barefoot shoes + staying more barefoot + daily feet yoga & exercise the disappearance of all my lower body injuries. As an endurance runner, I used to have ALL the pains and injuries in the list (stress fractures, knee pain, hip pain, plantar fasciitis, etc). Doctor told me to have surgery and put insoles. Enough to say that I didn't get any surgery, stopped paying hundreds of dollars for custom insoles...and been running thousands of miles without A SINGLE SIGN OF PAIN. Take care of your feet folks, it's liberating.
How long do you think that it took for your injuries/niggles to dissipate after you switched to barefoot shoes? I'm running ultras, but have developed PF and it's definitely affecting my training. Just trying to get a realistic timeline from someone who's gone through it.
Can you give the full elaboration of the exercises, yoga and other stuff you did ?
We evolved to do precisely that: Run barefoot for long distances. Its weird that doctors dont give that the importance that it should
@@caralho5237 In my experience, their need to sell orthotics and knee surgeries surpasses the simple "squat more, take care of your feet, and your pains'll be gone"
@@akshaybhatt3378 Uh, that'd take hours :-).
Let me take the Pareto approach, then. If I had to list down the 20% habits that made the 80% difference, here they are:
- DEEP RESTING SQUAT POSITION as much as possible throughout the day (when I wake up, before I run, after I run, every 30-60 mins when I am sitting at work, before going to bed, while texting, while waiting for the bus...you got the point!)
- FEET STRENGTH EXERCISES DAILY (you can find them online as "toe-yoga"): I personally do these every time I brush my teeth or clean the dishes. It really takes that little effort.
- FEET STRETCHES DAILY: sitting on the toes (butt on the heels), and sitting on the ankles. I do these for one or two mins while I read at night.
And of course, barefoot shoes ONLY (except when I am running).
That's it. These solved my knee/ankle/feet pain at the beginning. Anything else I added on top was moment-specific. In any case, without the three above any stretching routine for "pain relief" I ever did was completely ineffective
Hope this helps!
I've been running on a treadmill in socks for the last couple of years. Works wonders, as an alternative to trail run. I get great muscles work in my feet and calves. May sound weird but after the soreness disappear I start to really enjoy walking, as if with all new strength in the lower body I can walk twice as hard.
🎯🎯🎯
One day I really wanted my barefeet to adapt to my pasture. Started off walking sucks but then I pushed through and started running, it helped but once I quit I could feel all the pricks in my feet
Be careful of sesamoiditis doing this, it's a real bitch to recover from. Barefoot running is excellent but our feet were never meant to slam on a very hard and flat surface for long periods.
@@admacjo How can one avoid these issues whilst continuing to train with barefeet?
@@MH-jc3uj The best thing you can do is avoid barefoot running on concrete/road/treadmills. Even compacted dirt has enough give that you will likely be ok, but grass/sand/loose dirt are better options. Start slow and be patient. Take time to learn about proper running AND walking form (they are different, don't listen to anyone that says you shouldn't heel strike when walking). Improper gait/form will quickly lead to compensations and injuries in the knees and hips that you will have to put a lot of work into correcting later in life.
Your feet are intricate structures so it's worth the time and effort to do focused mobility and strengthening just for the feet. Most people have very poor neuromuscular control of their entire foot. It's not all that much work as The Bioneer is making out to be. YogaToes provide a great stretch at the end of the day (I find regular toe spacers to be a waste of money and time) and only need to be done for ~20 minutes. Wearing toe socks instead of standard socks eliminates the scrunching that standard socks do to your toes.
As for day to day footwear, minimalist shoes are a little overhyped. Zero drop and wide toe box are more important. Having thin but not "minimalist" thin soles is a smart idea if you spend most of your time on your feet walking on unnatural surfaces (concrete, tile flooring, etc.). Minimalist shoes are still great for natural surfaces where there's a higher risk of piercing/cutting your foot on something.
As a professional ballerina, it's true, we use a lot of foot and ankle strengthening exercises with resistance bands :)
Would like to see in your channel.
Any exercises you’d recommend?
@@jasonbrooks609 my favourite ones are:
- spread your toes along the floor as wide as you can and curl them in and up as if you're trying to pick up something off the floor
-the foot-shortening exercise mentioned in this video, where you place your foot on the floor and contract your arch
-going into a deep squat but with your heels elevated and doing calf raises in that elevated heel position
-balancing on on leg with eyes closed
-different exercise with pointing your feet and individually your toes using a theraband (rly hard to explain in written format but if you Google ballet foot exercises you'll find loads)
Hope this helps :)))
@@Alex-zp1ne Surprisingly, tried all of these before and had great results. Can you tell more please?
@@RitikRai-kc4oc I also use ankle exercises which also work with the feet with a theraband as well as some anke exercises shown by Saturnomovement (TH-cam)
Wow, thanks. I was bare foot everyday when I moved to the Caymans in 1967. Could walk on the Iron Shore. Now 57 years later I’m barefoot again. Still a bit sensitive but getting tougher. I have a collection of elegant shoes that I will likely never wear again. Nice to see my toes gradually spreading out.
Powermove Breakdancing deserves a Bioneer episode. BBoy Nana, BBoy Pocket, BBoy Junior etc. If there is any athlete on the planet that is superfunctional, it is Gymnasts and Powermove Breakdancers. Strength, coordination, mobility, body control, tendon strength. Powermove Breakdancers give us a glimpse into the human body’s physical potential. (As well as contortionists, tumblers, acrobats etc.) These all could make for fun videos
The timing of this video is crazy because I've been spending this month experimenting with foot/toe exercises. Always been fascinated with the ignored muscles of the body (hands/fingers, scapular muscles, arm/leg rotators, facial muscles, etc.) but I was never able to get around to the feet and toes until lately. I found a lot of exercises that are very effective, giving the muscles a pump and even soreness the next day. The one foot muscle I actually did start focusing on earlier is the tibs, and over the last year they've improved both visually and functionally. For those the exercise that has helped the most is just finding any object that is either bolted into the ground or heavy enough to seem so, and if it has areas I can slip my feet into snugly (large gates are good for this, and so are certain machines at the gym), then I just slip my feet under them and lean back a bit as the negative motion then forward as the actual lift, all while holding onto something with my hands since your tibs are relatively weak, but I try to use them for the lift as much as they can. Now my shins have vascularity and are strong enough to hold my bodyweight upside down on monkey bars, neither traits they had a year ago.
I've been doing this a lot lately, same with my finger extensors and they do come with a lot of benefits.
Thanks for being you. Watching your videos over the years has been great.
Just sharing my personal experience with barefoot:
I used it for 10 years, but my feet muscles really started activating once I did foot physiotherapy a year ago.
Sometime those muscles are just to atrophied to start working with minimalist shoes, they may need a kick-start!
Oh my god I needed this. Just had some bone hardware installed through surgery and I need to make a full recovery
Wish you the best. Stay positive and forward thinking
@@AshAndCream thx yo. Ppreciate ya
I have gone All-In with 'barefoot' shoes for more than a year. Standard factory-built shoes went to the recycle bin.
It's not surprising that shoe manufacturers refuse to reveal the lasts that they build shoes on. Even sock makers use lasts that are non-anatomical but designed to look fashionable.
While the human foot looks something like this -- 🔽, shoe manufactures turn out footwear built like this -- 🔼.
Good luck to each of you on your journey. This video is full of excellent information.
What brand of barefoot do you recommend?
I feel like muscular and tendon based health starts from the ground up, literally, thank you so much for making this ❤
Whenever i have foot, ankle or calf issues, part of my rehab is to walk around my neighbourhood barefoot. I also do barefoot skipping for 5 minutes at the start of every workout. I can take or leave barefoot deadlifts but barbell squats was an eye opener.
Good thing I was lazy to bend down since I was a child and picked up everything from the ground (if possible) with my feet.
Good training 😅
Feet feel like hands you never used; When you train to spread your toes and use your feet muscles again it feels like you unlocked another pair of hands 😄
I can open doors with my feet now after all the foot training I’ve done this year 😅
This couldn't be any more spot on. It's really amazing.
dont run, use them to scroll the world
Typing with them is slow going
I actually saved and downloaded this video as soon as i saw the thumbnail. I consider myself a pretty muscular guy, but as I journey into my 30s, this is the topic that's concerned me the most as I attempt to hold onto my athleticism.
I've been sitting in a deep squat position for 5 minutes before watching this video while messing about on my phone😊. Increasing my ankle & hip flexibility feels amazing 😮
One foot on balance disc: Stand for time, hold chambered kicks front and side for time, hip extension with two dumbbells.
Walk a climbing rope on the floor to work the transverse arch.
Get a five gallon bucket half full of pea gravel, put foot in, invert, evert, flex, extend foot and toes.
Pull and push sled in barefoot shoes on loose gravel.
I've been touting the benefits of barefoot shoes for years. I haven't worn anything else (except ski boots and the occasional pair of borrowed slippers) in over 10 years now. Been doing regular yoga for 5 years. Those two factors combined helped me build up an arch for the first time in my life, as I've suffered from terrible flat feet my whole life into my early 20s, complete with resulting knee and back pain which are also a thing of the past. This year I finally felt confident and strong enough to start running. Right now I won't go for more than one run per week because I notice that my foot muscles, tendons and ligaments have to work hard to recover and catch up, but I don't feel like I'm destroying my body anymore (which was the case whenever I was forced to run as a kid or teen). I've come so far and yet it still feels like my feet could be capable of so much more. I'm excited to see where I'm at in another 10 years.
Vivobarefoot is one of my favorite brands aswell, alongside Wildling. Gonna have to check if your discount code works on the Austrian store aswell, I'm in need of a new pair or two!
I've watched the video and read the article multiple times, and it's nice it provided a genuine answer. When looking at FRC or Maxalding, it can be so tempting try and isolate every muscle and joint to improve it. But I've learnt it's a needless struggle. The body has wisdom, and we often simply need to use our body as a body. We need to not get in its way.
Good video on intrinsic of the foot. In addition are the nerve endings, joints, and fascia connections. The foot is literally our body and brains foundation. So not only strengthening and increasing the mobility function of the foot is important. It's also important to understand the connections to the frontal, lateral and spiral fascia lines, especially for gait. Short Foot exercise taught by Dr. Emily is her number one exercise for the foot for that reason. TFC has an excellent tool for foot mobility and strengthening as well, the Solemate. Thank you for the awareness you bring to the importance of the foot. For me, barefoot shoes and going barefoot has been life changing. Knee pain, back pain, mobility issues all gone from going barefoot!
I went barefoot shoes over 10yrs ago. When I first switched, I did do some of the exercises to help rebuild those muscles. Highly recommend
Informative as always glade your covering these small groups.
Most people dont follow through with the natural healing or workouts that our bodies are designed for because it takes months to see results. I have switched to barefoot shoes and it has been a game changer. It took about 3-4 months to see a difference but within that time Ive had no knee or back pain and I actually have a lil arch now! I am looking to strengthen my feet further so I can see more of these great results but small changes are a great way to start feeling better.
Do foot/toe circles, both clockwise and counterclockwise, its a good warmup exercise too
Been using minimalist shoes for over 4 years now and it’s been great
Deus Ex Invisible War is a blast from the past. Had to upgrade a graphics card when that game came out.
Thanks Adam! My feet are pretty mangled from past shoes etc. and I think this may be why I struggle to run (I always get issues with my knees plus other weird pains). Hopefully I can begin strengthening them and improving my situation from the ground up, so to speak 🤓🙏
Instead of going your local gym go to your local climbing gym, it's 100% acceptable to go barefoot in them and you get the added benefit of climbing walls!
during 10 months of intensive TKD training in S Korea, 1972, I developed a lemon sized lump of muscle on the top, outside edge of each foot,, from curling my toes to protect them during ball of the foot kicks. I hadn't noticed it at all, until somebody pointed it out to me.
I've been mostly bearfoot for the last 10 years. At first it was just the calluses that showed change. Now my feet feel different from other people's internally. Thank you for explaining those changes.
For as long as I can remember my left toe pinky has been slightly numb and dysfunctional. I could only move the tip of it slightly downwards but I couldn't bend it at the larger joint and I couldn't contract the muscle that pulls my pinky outwards, so is basically a useless toe. after essentially doing physical therapy in which I would continuously trying to contract that muscle for weeks if not months I have gone from no reaction at all to slight consistent deliberate movement. As dumb as it is, this is kind of always been a goal of mine, so I'm glad that I can see some progress
I hope by the end of my "physical therapy" I can move the larger joint in my pinky toe
See, what you said in this video wouldn't help me because my toe wouldn't move in general. I had to teach my toe to be able to move before I can expect it to start functioning normally. Once I improve the full range of motion ideally my brain will start using it
@@rileyninja9733 met the next door neighbor and she could do circles with her pinky toe no problem. She said it took her a few months of trying before she was able to do it. Me 7 yrs later; just about able on occasion, Cheers!
@@billyfudd818 I could kind of almost do it with my right foot but my left pinky toe it's just barely starting to move
If you can't afford the expensive shoes, Whitin makes some decent ones for significantly cheaper. It's not the high performance elite shoe, but for everyday wear, they're pretty good.
Thanks for another great one Adam, Vivo's are amazing indeed! I'd like to point out the revivo-initiative where they focus on refurbishing, selling second hand (feet?) etc!
One of the main things I learned when I injured my knee was that everything below my knee was weak as floppy pancakes. Playing catch-up now with foot and calf muscles.
I never wear shoes at home, but with just a flat floor, I'm not sure I'm exercising the muscles much. I also switched to a standing desk, so standing about 8 hours while at the computer. Not tried the barefoot shoes yet though.
You are my inspiration!
Thank you! 🇧🇷
Things I do for feet health - Use a foot massage machine twice daily, bathe feet for 15 mins in 1 tblss of bicarb, 4 tblsp white vinegar, 1 bowl of hot water, then massage with coconut oil. Leg swings are great, front, sides and back, as the standing foot gets a work out. Walk, run and climb... There's so many things to do, also, a small pointy wooden massage implement is great for getting in the nooks and crannies. Have spacers, need to start using them more.
hey. what benefits does that bath have for ur feet? texture? smell? or what?
Exactly what I was looking for
You should talk about recovery more, like how to increase/boost recovery by doing something because recovery is the actual builder of muscle, tendons and more! We humans are not designed to just stay static during our rest days and being static laying on bed won't help recovery neither, so please talk about us on what do you do during recovery day to increase/boost recovery
Great content as always.
So incredibly grateful for your content, and this foot video couldn’t have better timing! I’m about to run my first longer distance (for my standards), namely 12km Mud Masters with plenty obstacles, after which I am going to really hone in on foot training!
Guy, I have already done these kind of training and I can tell you a few things. Because the tripod on the bottom of my feet is wider I can squat heavier. Planter fasciitis isn’t a situation because the vein in my foot is no longer compressed and my hammer toe is gone. My leg presses are up to 820lb and my squats are 640lb and I thank toe spacers, barefoot shoes and toe exercises. Controlling the big toe separately from the rest of my toes is essential for strength. It prevents the knee in action you commonly see in squats and it’s essentially disappeared from my life.
This vid was perfect timing for me
Great Presentation: Kudos.
Thanks for the knowledge gives more motivation to correct my flat feet
1:15 you did!
Right😅
It’s a foot video 🤷♂️
I expected feet I guess.
Yep he did 😂
Thanks for talking about this (again?), I needed the reminder to get a new pair of vivobarefoots, been wearing them for years and they’ve finally started to develop holes. I love them but they aren’t half expensive 😂 Cheers!
Maybe you can replace only the bottom,if its seperate from the padding
So...I noticed that in your video the leaves have fallen off of the trees. I assume that it may be chilly there. I wonder if you found what I have found, that, humans can use skin and muscle to heat themselves.
Have you ever done a video on conditioning your body to tolerate temperature changes through physical activity?
I had read that the Roman soldiers didn't freeze because their bodies and skin were conditioned to tolerate the cold.
Anyway, I love your videos. Thank you for sharing.
I applaud you for drawing attention to the problem of feet training, however long distance running and barefoot trail running or even flat track running breaks too many blood vessel with every strike.
I been regularly barefoot running over 10 years and never a problem.
9:01 You can also make a habit to engage the anterior tibialis more than you usually would with each step you take as you walk, whenever you're going some place by foot; just a brief moment of more tension.
This will probably change a bit how you walk but I find it doesn't make it harder to place your feet well - maybe actually easier (albeit that could just be due to walking more consciously anyway).
Whether you're wearing normal shoes with a thick heel over which you just role with each step probably also matters.
How should i engage it?
@@norbertnagy5514gotta ask it out for dinner first 😝
The mental cue I use for tibialis anterior is trying to touch my knee with the toes on that foot. If you just flex that even occasionally while walking, you'll notice a difference. I don't know it's practical to do a full flex every step, but even just building mind muscle connection is good.
@@norbertnagy5514 Just pull your feet up more than you usually would while walking.
Have you tried once to only walk on your heels without the balls of your feet touching the ground?
This exercise should help you feel your tibialis.
@@michaelsorensen7567 I actually find some practicality in flexing the feet more: raising your feet like this also makes your heel protrude more, so as you hit the ground there's more room in the ankle joint to soften the impact of the heel strike.
People worry about knee pain when walking on hard surfaces without the padding of an elevated heel but this feels like it also does the trick.
@@xCorvus7x I've got mixed feelings. Marching band in high school was decidedly heel first and toes to the sky, but if you're doing anything faster than walking imo it's better to lead with the ball of the foot so you have the arch of the foot to attenuate shock to your ankle and knee.
I think mostly just paying attention to walking improves it more than habitually doing whatever
Damn you really never miss with every new video.
the disclaimer about your feet was the funniest thing I've heard in a long time lol it killed me! but seriously I used to have terrible foot pains - just achy tired feet ALL the time. I have spent most work days on my feet ALL day for most of my working life and yeah achy feet were really souring my normally sunny disposition. A few years ago I started squatting and deadlifting with just my socks on (I train at my home gym) and the past year or so I train in socks my entire workout (including skipping, farmer carry's etc). My feet ache SO MUCH less than they used to. it's counterintuitive isn't it? I thought oh I have achy feet I better get cushion insoles for my sneakers and work boots and i did that for years but that didn't help at all (I realize now that just made it worse) I haven't made the change to minimal shoes yet but I def want to very soon.
Something I like to do is going barefoot (toe socks or vibram shoes might work fine) on the treadmill and forcing g my toes as wide as possible, then really digging into the ground like you're grabbing a bunch of sand with your foot, then as your step finishes really push off with your toes. Also when just standing around barefoot or in sock, spread your toes and lean forward, putting all your weight on toes and putting as much force as you can into your toes to keep yourself from falling forward.
I discovered the feet muscles when I started Tai Chi. Suddenly I had soreness in feet and hands!
Excellent content sir
I have been wearing barefoot shoes exclusively for the last 5 years. No insoles, just a piece of rubber between the ground and myself. Anytime I workout, home gym, I am barefoot and use more range of motion in my feet in most expercises.
You’ve flexed your feet while watching this video, haven’t you?
Guilty😅
I'm never not flexing my feet. 😏
Have you covered Every Minute, On the Minute (EMOM) workouts yet? If not, I'd at least like to hear about what EMOM might have to offer, if it indeed has anything to offer at all. Good way to make low resistance stuff like basic calisthenics more demanding in a short amount of time.
I have had bunions for a long time. I have seen improvement with a few things.
1. Standing while using a toe spreading spring.
2. Using zero drop shoes sometimes.
3. Streaching toes with a half circle foam roller.
Also using a shoe with a wide toe box helps.
Would you consider doing another personal gym tour type video? I need some inspiration to make my space get me more in the headspace of Bioneer style training
Half of his videos are about doing things outside, are you sure you want to focus everything in the gym?
@@michaelsorensen7567 I do a lot of my training outside but I have a garage gym that I have to use sometimes for convenience/winter. I don’t usually bring my dumbbells/barbell out to the park. Rings are one thing but some stuff makes sense in the gym. He uses the gym a lot too.
@@matttcameron_ long as it's balanced then 😁 what kinds of equipment do you have? I've got a basic inclinable bench, and some adjustable dumbbells, and that's pretty much it so far
@@michaelsorensen7567 I have basically the same but I have a simple squat rack w/ pull-up bar and the same sandbag/kettlebell thing that he has used on his channel before.
You notice the difference especially in how sore the calves are when new to barefoot running
Thanks for your honesty about your feet. Mine look like a ducks so no judgement here.
Running fully barefoot, I feel greater mental clarity. Also seem to step on fewer sharps while running than while walking cautiously
Can you please make a similar video for wrist too🙏🏽🙏🏽. I have carpal tunnel and recently adopted gymnastics wrist strengthening routine and it seems to help. I would love to see what you think are the best exercises for wrist strengthening and stability
Wow. Last night I started doing toe exercises and realized I had little idea of what I was doing. 😂 Great timing!
My feet are wide enough that it's really hard to find comfortable shoes. I ended up buying the widest pair that I could find and removing the soles. They're sooooo much better.
However, I can't usually do this with my daughter's shoes. She's almost two and all of the shoes we find for her size seem pretty thick. If anyone reads this and knows of any good shoe brands for toddlers, please let me know!
You should also check Xero Shoes. Love them!
Excellent!
i think barefoot shoes plus some more functional shoes that are more padded but not heal rais and all that, just more padded flexible barefoot esque shoes like lems are really good as an option.. i personaly think, if u workout a ton barefoot, its helpfull to get that cushion and relax.. so a mix is what i belive to be best.. if u always do to little, always barefoot may work, but if u tend to go really on the cusp of what u can do, it can be helpfull to have another pair of shoes that has more sole
A similar video on the hands/ forearm could be useful
There seems to be a few if i search "the bioneer forearm", but yeah an updated video doesnt hurt
Between training your hands, neck, and feet. I think this is just as important as training everything apart of the human body. You just gotta figure out the excercises and make the time for it.
Invisible War really is awesome
I can’t understand why it has such a bad rap! The lore and story are just as fascinating, the atmosphere is amazing, the emergent gameplay is good fun - even with the scaled back elements, resource management is really well balanced too I think. And the crazy physics only add to the fun! Load times between smaller areas are annoying, but I played Deus Ex on PS2 (emulated) so that wasn’t much of an issue for me!
@@TheBioneer I think it was largely an overreaction to the scaling down you mentioned. Maybe people’s perception of a shift in tone as well. I wouldn’t put it at the top of the Deus Ex games, but I still love it all the same
Barefoot in the sand is my favourite foot exercise .
Great shout!
Doing sled work barefoot is another good way to add resistance to this!
Love the Steam Deck shown in the video.
I started going consciously barefoot when I was only about 18. (In my country it's relatively acceptable to be barefoot in regular settings luckily.) At 37 I'm so glad I did, and still do! Everybody should go barefoot as often as you can.
edit: oh yes I have spent a lot of time digging glass out of my foot with my pocket knife!! Luckily not so much in my relatively-clean city, I am aware that many urban places on this earth are totally dangerous if you have bare feet!
Adding feet-day to my routine.
I was so sad when you didn’t expertly jump through the gap in between the branches at 12:35 🤣
I've been doing toe spacers (I use bandanas bc I'm cheap like that lol) for most awake hours of most days for the last year or so.
Been wearing wide toe box barefoot style shoes for over 3 years, as well as toe socks.
I do a few foot exercises every day, and I use a small rubber ball to dig into the muscles, loosen up tensions and work into inflammation. And I ice them.
I've ehlers danlos and find these a necessity, lest I get a rather scary build up of inflammation leading me back to an instance where the doctor gives me an air cast and a cane again.
Anywho, I must away and tend to my fascia 😅😂
Slav squat is the best toe exercise.
Been doing alot of this stuff cause of really bad balance on one leg.
Whats the better method for strength and endurance. 3 sets of 8-12 reps or 8-12 reps followed by 15 second rest intervals with 20 effective reps total
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Hey Adam; i wanted to ask if there is any plan to release older or upcoming books of yours in physical form :)
Does anyone know if there is a noticeable difference in the quality of "foot gains" you'll get from wearing actual "toe shoes" compared to these more traditional looking "barefoot shoes"?
Do one leg squat variations train feet muscles well?
I would really like to see a video on how to train like Venom Snake from Metal Gear Solid V i would imagine it requires a lot of endurance and cardio
a thinner sole makes a thicker soul
If only rocks and bits of glass were the only things I needed to worry about trail running here. Got snakes, spiders, huge bitey ants…to name just a few. But there’s a few good barefoot trail shoes I’ve found that make it doable.
I have hardwood flooring in my house. Would you recommend doing HIIT exercises on that or should I wear shoes?
Love!
I have been wearing barefoot shoes for 20 months. I have been feeling my regular socks restrictive on my small toes. Would toe socks be better or does anyone have any other advice? Thanks.
Speaking of the biomechanics of anterior tibialis!! 8:30 I have an extra bone in my feet that the tibialis anterior tendon connects to - the accessory bone could typically be removed by surgery but mine has stress-fractured and fused itself to the proper navicular bone. It was tremendously painful for years, honestly worse than my broke vertebrae, and I always drifted to certain shoe styles to minimize my pain- one of them unexpectedly being high heels. Like crazy high heels. I was HAPPY after 5 hours of wearing 3+ inch heels because my feet felt great.
Anyways! I do weighted tib raises with my legs propped up and a 5lb kettlebell and it’s single handedly… footedly? strengthened my arches and helped my knee pain. 2 sets a week has been enough to help me! Edit to add: my toddler also trains me pretty ruthlessly 😂
Feels weird youre waving your toes at me 😂
I have the toughest feet in the world and i can prove it. I skate board bare foot and can brake by skidding my foot on the road with no problems. No pain.
Video proof, Mr. Flintstone?
@@paddor that could be aranged. Follow MashPotatoTower on twitch.
Please tell me this is sponsored by barefoot shoes. I've got extra wide reasonably thin running shoes but could do better. I think thin sole shoes like moccasins are what our feet were made for, and having something to protect our feet enough from sharp stuff and concrete's wear is best.
Running or walking on sand is awesome for feet strengthening, or even walking on smooth rocks.
Any advice for rehabbing plantar fasciitis as it’s stopped me running for the last six months? I’d been running in altras for a year prior to developing it, lots of trails too, but think the increase in mileage was too much.
Ok. Which video did you recommend to see for more exercises for the foot?
Nsima Inyang
Can someone provide the link for the foot training channel mentioned? According to the transcript its "stea Iny yang" but that appears to be incorrect and its also not linked in the article.
Nisima Inyang at Mark Bell’s Power Project
@@kerrynoonan8856 thankyou 🙏🏼 😀
In Germany they would say:
"Die Basis ist die Grundlage aller Fundamente!"