Addicted to Shoes! Are we better off without them??
Think about your guilty pleasure. It’s okay, I won’t tell anybody. You say to yourself, “I’m doing it because I want to and I can stop anytime.”
Then reality hits you. The possibility of forever living without it turns out to be more than you can handle.
The habit is not simply a thing you do for fun anymore. You may purposely adjust your life around the thing that is possibly hurting you.
Now, your days are occupied juggling between thinking about quitting and reassuring yourself this is the last time you are ever going to do it.
The struggle is all too real. The best thing to do is in fact to never do it in the first place!
This is the love hate-relationship between us and our shoes. Buying too much shoes is an addiction worth worrying. But, did you know that wearing shoes itself is a bad habit?
Well, at least this applies to awkward stilettos and heavily cusshioned running shoes…
Humans wear shoes for good reasons. The world’s oldest leather shoe was found within a cave high in the Armenian mountains. Researchers figured out its age to be around 5,500 years old. It has a simple design but it served the purpose of protecting wearer’s feet from sharp rocks and unbearable temperture.
The progress of technology means that every basic tools would be polished into modern versions that would look like alien technology to our ancestors (imagine showing the original iPhone to a housewife in the 1800's.)
But does modern technology always equal improved well-being?
A pain in the foot
From the humble beginning of being a cowhide fitted around the feet, to the footwear with maximalist padding, shoes became so much more than a protective wear.
Any girl will give an honest story about the pain of wearing uncomfortable shoes for fashion. The price of beauty has even come to the attention of medical professionals.
“It’s not unusual for people who spend a lot of time in high heels to have lower back, neck and shoulder pain because the shoes disrupts the natural form of the body,” says Dr. Sajid A. Surve, an osteopathy expert in University of North Texas Health Science Center (Osteopathic.org.)
However, many don’t realize that most shoes also have equally terrible effects on our feet, and overall health.
Although the oldest shoe was dated 5,500 years old, experts concluded that humans have been using some kind of footwear since 40,000 years ago.
They use an ingenious method of studying the toe bone remains of ancient humans. Scientists found differences between the specimens excavated: there are big and strong little toe bones, and tinier and weaker little toe bones.
This is linked to how our feet change shape with the use of shoes.
Since we are little, our parents put on our toes tiny shoes to make us look as cute as we can be. Little did they know our feet would grow and be mold into the shape of the shoes we constantly wear. Hence, the deformity.
Rarely do our bare feet grip the earth or brush against the blades of grass. Nor even be challenged by gritty surfaces to flex their muscles. Instead, they are a kept inside beautiful chrysalis of contemporary shoes — a struggle between nature and modernity right under our soles.
Consequently, more and more people experience pain and discomfort. This is because their feet lack the proper strength to support demanding activities like walking long distances or running.
The unfortunate thing is, today’s trend just means that shoe companies are going to produce even more cushioned shoes that are advertised to alleviate the pain.
Talk about pseudoscience…
Back to the roots
Let’s return to the Armenian cave where we found the oldest shoe in the world. “The terrain is very rugged, and there are many sharp stones and prickly bushes,” said University of California archaeologist Gregory Areshian (National Geographic website.)
So it is clear that the ancient moccasin was used as protective gear. But, it is nowhere as padded or restrictive as its modern incarnation.
More than anything, it is a leather sock that gives wearer’s toes extra wiggle room.
It is flexible enough so that the muscles in the feet are actively supporting the locomotion, and toes are able to spread out for gripping and maintaining balance. This is the biomechanics that our ancestors used, but are forgotten.
In a well-protected shoes, we can get away with improper running form, and stomping our heels as we run. While running in minimalist shoes, we are taught to be more disciplined and trained to build stronger feet.
So try running barefoot — better yet, jogging barefoot. And don’t go too fast! Your feet are not familiar with the ground just yet.
Notice that you can’t stomp as hard; Notice that your toes are clenched up together; Notice that the slightest mistake can hurt; Notice how tender the soles of your feet are; Notice all of the active muscles you never knew were there before.
Now, try to search for that sweet spot where nothing aches and you have an effortless cadence. If you’ve found it, congratulations! You are running just how you are meant to run.
In a tech-oriented world where progress give the illusion of improvement, it is sometime beneficial to reap the benefits of the past.
Hell, if it ain’t broken why cushion it?
If you are a minimalist runner, please recommend and I want to hear your response!
If you are a maximalist runner, please roast me but hit that recommend button first before you do! :)
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Hi Darius Foroux, Anand Sharma, and Pranav Balasubramanian! I hope you enjoyed this piece.
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