How to walk properly? Most natural footwear?

[mmKay]

I need to be standing long hours for a living and I'm tired of having hip, knee, shin and feet pain because of it. When i remove my shoes and walk barefoot or with open toe sandals it's a big relief. 

And that's just work. Sometimes i wanna do something like shop around or w/e and my legs take another beating. 

 

I've practiced conscious walking a lot to feel all the nuances of the complex mechanism but i still haven't drawn any conclusion. As I don't know the exact anatomy yet. Some actual resources on proper walking would be great. 

 

Number two would be shome shoe recomendations, what to look for and what to avoid.

I'm currently playing around with minimalist/barefoot shoes ( extremely thin padding, very flexible, lots of toe space... Etc) .

I've heard about the FiveFingers but haven't tried yet. Also got some Native Shoes recently ( crocs that look like converse, 100% EVA rubber) but had to give them back cause it looks like i have one foot bigger than the other and I'll need to get one size bigger. 

 

It's really difficult to get actual decent shoe recomendations because the market is overflowed with low consciousness/ missleading information by labeling shoes as comfortable or healthy when they're actually bad for you or people are very biased because sponsorship and affiliations.

 

Stuff to consider:

 

• Actually biomechanically healthy. ( first would need some theory or study the mechanism & anatomy of walking deeper by direct experience - books, etc. 
• Style. Somewhat formal would be ideal 
• Price
• Ease of purchase. Online would be ideal but would be a hassle to find actually proper size. 

 

Thanks y'all. 

Edited May 7, 2022 by mmKay

[nistake]

I'm not sure about actual walking, but my massage therapist recommended that I should do certain balance exercises. It helps a ton building leg muscles. Also, it forces your sole to 'even out' on the floor which is crucial for proper walking.

In the beginning, just stand on one leg for 1 minute, then switch. Do that a few times. If you can do that easily, you can do some different hand movements while standing on one leg or whatever you like. Be creative and challange yourself.

This is just one method, but I'm pretty sure your walk will improve relatively quickly if you can do this exercise consistently.

Edited May 6, 2022 by nistake

[Realms of Wonder]

This is a really interesting thread.

 

over the summer I developed a left foot injury, overuse plus badly fitting shoes, which put me on crutches for two weeks, then a boot for a month. Coming out of that I started searching for better shoe-ware, and came across ‘barefoot shoes.’ Similar to what you mentioned above, minimalist, giving your foot room to grow strong again, and really FEEL the surface you’re standing/walking on.

 

There are a ton of great brands, I am biased however, towards the Xero shoes.

https://xeroshoes.com/shop/activity/performance/prio-men/?attribute_style=Lunar&attribute_mens-size=12&gc_id=832845591&xeroshoesmain1446_mqcoeg=832845591.42830719375.196232454934.g&oexgads=xeroshoesprim1446&gclid=CjwKCAjwjtOTBhAvEiwASG4bCDyD8XvleueRRtwt4lUO9jBKa9_cOD_Oi0sxDYLW-lRQ-JpLshSJQhoCi_EQAvD_BwE

I’m not affiliated in any way, but I’d still highly recommend. My pain only returns after/during work, when I wear non-slip crocs

 

The only downside to the Xero shoes is that the sole (after some heavy use, trail-running, wearing them nonstop and so on) starts to detach from the shoe. I bought some shoe goo, and replied it myself and they work perfectly.

 

I still have more research to do as well, thanks for bringing this up! 

[mmKay]

This guy is the real deal. 40 marathons with no problem. Just got his book " Chi walking "

Here is a formula for excellent hollistic  walking. 

1. Posture

2. Upper body. 

3. Lower body. 

 

So simple yet so mind blowing. I'll need to try it out for a week and report the results. It may have the potential of healing my life long hip and shin pain. 

Edited May 7, 2022 by mmKay

[mmKay]

 

Unicycle analogy is pure gold. ( watch lower body vid above first.) 

[mmKay]

 

Mind blown. I've had this limiting belief that running is not for me biologically. I'm so excited. It's interesting how you can walk and run mindfully but still be doing it absolutely wrong and be clueless.

Only pain and injury give you clues towards what's wrong and then you need to reverse ingenieer the solution. 

Edited May 7, 2022 by mmKay

[mmKay]

what is being said in  Danny Dreyer's videos ties in nicely with what you hear from Mewing and Alexandre Technique. Cool to see how inherently hollistic posture is. 

[Lincisman]

As far as I know, the best thing for your feet is wearing no shoes at all. If you have to wear shoes, I recommend buying those which give you the most barefoot-like experience. 

[ZzzleepingBear]

What I have noticed is that if I walk in very soft shoes, then each step have more micro movments inside the shoe, and it feels a bit more wobbly in the ankles. And minor knee pain can be noticed in a subtle way.

Another thing that crossed my mind a few years ago when out running. Was that if you didn't wear shoes, you naturally would land on the front part of the foot. I had been jogging and landed with the heel down first, as many people tend to do. Landing on the heel also caused some minor ache in the hips after a longer run. So I switched to a front foot landing that had more of a bounce in each step. And my calves got the worst workout session ever. I had extream exercise pain for over a week in my calves, I could barely walk during the first few days. How ever, ever since then, I never get exercise pain in my calves like that if any at all, even after long breaks from running.

I've become more consious about each step while running and walking. And if you get tired feet when out walking, then try to slow down the phase a notch. Foot muscles also get's tired and stressed from walking, so a tempo change can sometimes be the difference bewteen a aching foot or a rested foot. It's not always the shoes or the walking style that is the bad guy.

Another way to view it is if you where to lift 2 tons of stones during a day. If you do it in a very short time, you may en up with hurting your muscles. And if you move the same weight over a longer period of time, you may end up with healthy but tired muscles, instead of exhausted and damaged muscles. Apply the same thinking when moving your body by walking. Softer and slower steps causes less stress on the foot. While fast walking is for shorter walks in general. For standing stil, it's good to change posture inorder to shift the bodyweight around, to take some stress of the limbs.  

 

Edited May 7, 2022 by ZzzleepingBear

[mmKay]

As far as shoes go, for now I see only two options. " Barefoot shoes " Or straight up " Barefoot socks "

[yetineti]

Trust me

https://www.altrarunning.com/

They don’t have to be running shoes.

I wear them inside too, as slippers, despite the look.

Read up on them a bit; their big things are the open toe box and neutral/level base.

Edited May 7, 2022 by mw711

[kamwalker]

I'm actually a foot and ankle doctor. It depends on where your pain is located and what's actually causing it. If the pain is not originating from your feet changing your shoes/inserts may not actually address the underlying issue 

[mmKay]

5 hours ago, kamwalker said:

I'm actually a foot and ankle doctor. It depends on where your pain is located and what's actually causing it. If the pain is not originating from your feet changing your shoes/inserts may not actually address the underlying issue 

I basically walked around 2 km in various inclinations of terrain. This was with some comfy EVA rubber sandals. The next day I had acute "unhealthy* ankle/ arch, shin, hip and glute/ pirineus soreness. 

But after understanding the Chi walking method from the vids above I can see why. 

Mainly I was taking too big strides ( therefore consistently hitting the ground with my heels ( transmiting the impact up the leg trough a kinetic chain) . But also I was failing in all the other posture checkmaeks ( chin not tucked in, sternum not lifted, hips not tilted in paralel to the ground, no bend in the knees, no arm swing and not leading with a tilt forwards of the body) 

 

As far as the shoes go,  the same night I worked in a night club and my feet were killing me. I was wearing Sketchers with memory foam padding. It wears out and makes your foot and ankles rest in obnoxious positions. 

Also my foot arches felt acute pain. From what i understand this is because of the overly soft soles. Because  the arches can't do their job of impacting the steps cause of the foam. 

So I'm still on the lookout for decent shoe options.