What shoes should I wear?
Everyone’s feet are different (shapes) and our body’s (alignment) are different due to the events and incidents throughout our lives.
We then start having issues, chin splints, plantar faciitis (more on that in our blog linked), fibromas in our feet, lower back pain, SI joint and more.
Honestly, the best is always NONE, NADA, barefoot. When we are born we are born (most of us) in alignment and PERFECT. We are to walk/balance on the three points of our feet, not the ball and heel which leaves us balancing on the middle of our feet. If we are on the tripod of our feet, we can pivot and perform at our peak. That’s why we have toes, for balance, if we aren’t using the right and left side of the ball of our foot then our toes aren’t being used or our foot to it’s full potential.
Over time, our body changes, and even the shoes our parents put us in when young will shift our hips and in conjunction our spinal alignment. We listen to the advertisements saying that the arch supports are helpful. They are, they are most helpful in keeping us in misalignment so they will feel comfy at first.
When I finally was educated on that I got Five Finger Vibrams and that was a huge game changer over time for my spine health. I was skeptic, I saw the reports about injuries with Vibrams and more. It’s important to move slowly to Vibrams if you are being really active in your shoes or if you are feeling really out of alignment. You should also add to it, chiropractic and a great form of craniosacral therapy, medical massage/bodywork and/or visceral manipulation (what you can find available to you in your area).
I had gone to fleet feet a couple weeks before the education and was told I desperately needed ASICS (which are a high arch) for both feet but my right was much higher and I may need an insert. I had scoliosis and pain in my right SI joint. I’d been wearing high arch shoes for a while and would have issues walking without shoes on without them and I LOVE to be barefoot. I think, instinctively, I was feeling that I was bound, imbalanced and limiting.
I was given Vibrams to “try”, by a group of wonderful men, paratroopers that I had been lucky enough to be doing medical bodywork on. I was told to run my normal run and change shoes and add a mile. I was so excited to notice the amazing energy I gained by having increased use of my smaller muscles and greater movement and not the linear movement that the “standard” (arch support and linear edges of the other shoes). My hips felt great and even days after I wasn’t stiff etc. I have been wearing them ever since, I used to wear them when I was working (later changed to bare foot/light slippers when working only from my own office), I have run over 70 obstacle course races, weight trained, treadmill running, road and other trail running.
Give them a try, they don’t carry many in the stores anymore. I recommend ordering a few (in different styles and sizes) through REI and have them sent to the store. Try them out/on while in the store, walk and jog around to see the best fit for yourself. They allow you to return the ones that don’t fit, right then and there.
Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.
In Health and Wellness,
-Michelle S Krause LMT
National and MD State Licensed
President of the Holistic Chamber of Commerce Severna Park/Baltimore
https://www.vitalfitnessholisticcenter.com
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