My Foot Function

Healthy Feet = Strong Roots 🌱

Imagine a tree growing freely in nature—its roots spread wide, providing stability, strength, and resilience. Now, picture a tree confined in a small pot—its roots restricted, limiting its growth and weakening its foundation.

Our feet are no different! As children, we start with naturally wide, strong feet, but years of restrictive footwear can alter their shape, weaken muscles, and affect overall function.

Just like a tree needs space to grow strong roots, our feet need freedom to maintain their natural strength and structure.

🔸 Choose footwear that respects natural foot shape.
🔸 Train your feet for strength and mobility.
🔸 Let your toes spread and move freely.

Give your feet the freedom they deserve—because strong feet create a strong foundation for movement!

Are you wearing the right shoe size?
(oldie but still very relevant)☺️

As important as selecting the shoe is, sizing it correctly is equally important!

As the illustration shows, we come across 2 common sizing mistakes on a daily basis, hopefully this post will help you to make the right choice.

Common mistake 1: sizing up!

This mistake is made when we try to create more space within conventional shoes. As the overall space within the shoe is restricted people tend to size up to accommodate.

The problem comes when an individual must size up so much that he/she now has shoes that are far too big, resulting in compensations in walking/running.

The errors in these types of shows still remain, more often than not there will be a shoe spring, restricted toe box, overall stiffness & more.

Common mistake 2: Too small

This problem occurs when buying minimal footwear for the first time or simply wearing them for too long.

Buying for the first time:
When switching from conventional shoes to functional / minimal shoes you will get the send that THEY ARE HUGE, because of this people often lean towards the sensation they are used to (snug, tight, almost squeezed).

Growing out of your shoes:
Switching shows will result, in most cases, in your feet expanding. This can happen in a matter of months which unfortunately means you’ll have grown out of your brand new (expensive) shoes quickly. Our nature is to wear them, to get our moneys worth.. but this will simply slow your progress! Check your shows regularly to make sure they fit well.

Our whole team have gone up 2 full sizes on average since transitioning! 🫨

The Sweet Spot:
1-2cm / 0.8inch from the tip of the toe to the edge of the shoe. This allows for the foot to expand throughout the day.

You cannot go wrong with the shoe bed test, a test to determine if the shoe is the right size & shape for you! Haven’t seen this test, comment below & we will be sure to repost it! 😊

Footwear matter

This is a comparison we saw, each day during our study in Sri Lanka. When footwear is compulsory, the feet suffer, and boy do they suffer!

Asking the tea workers “do your feet ever hurt” & getting a strange look in return, foot pain was not common.

Among the police & many other communities (future posts), when asking the very same question, we saw foot issues exactly like we face in the west, among shoe wearing populations.

One of the most interesting stories we will begin to share, is that of occupation & how it affects the lives of the people of Sri Lanka.

These 3d images were taken with our partner at Volumental where we can assess the dimensions of the feet and so much more. Stay tuned for more stories from this study as we begin to prepare for publication.

Thank you to our study partners WYDE FOOTWEAR® who helped each step of the way to make this study a reality & another big thanks to the brands who sponsored this study, allowing it to take place!

Sponsors: Feelgrounds Barefoot Shoes AVANCUS® Pyopp Barefoot Footwear PaperKrane | Feet First, Fun Always 🌈👣 RHIZAL MAGICAL SHOES Barefoot Shoes FLEETERS - GET CLOSER

Study updates coming very soon.

At the northernmost reaches of Namibia, we spent several days learning from the Himba.

We took a deep dive into their health, the way they live, move and socialise and came away with far more than we expected.

Beautiful people, strong and healthy, and another powerful reinforcement of so much of what we believe about foot function and natural movement.

We left with fuller hearts, new perspectives, and one certainty: we’ll be back. Dr. Ludidi 🇿🇦

How you stand all day is kind of important.

We can measure this through plantar pressure.. and in our case a plantar pressure plate.

Let’s keep this simple:

Warmer colours = higher pressure
Vertical/horizontal axis = posture
Small X = Peak pressure point

We’re looking for even weight distribution between left and right, this would show in cooler colours throughout the foot, minimal orange and red.

Left image was our starting point, we can see a lot of weight through the heel & centrally to the forefoot (a problem area for her).

Right image now shows how we are able to make subtle changes to improve how she distributes the weight throughout her foot. These adjustments are small corrections made in feet & hip position mainly to keep things simple ☺️

Before:

A large portion of the weight in the heels which was her default. Left metatarsal area under pressure & a difference from her left/right foot distance from the centre of gravity.

Very common habits we see in people.

Three minutes later with the ability to now see the screen and a few subtle adjustments by the coach, we can see how the weight distribution can be improved so much.

These changes will make a HUGE difference to her day-day life. She has been given the exercises and cues to maintain this over time & for it to become second nature.

Your feet are growing throughout the day!

Two things are going on down there & we should make sure those feet have room to move.

STANDING UP → your foot spreads up to ~5% wider & 2.5% longer as the arch of the foot flattens. Sit down → it springs right back. Not damage. That’s a living spring doing its job.

STAYING ON OUR FEET all day → fluid pools and adds ~3% more girth by evening. Bigger around, not longer. It’s why shoes feel roomy at 9am and turn on you by 6pm.

So if your feet are already tight in the morning, you’ll be sure they are even tighter by the end of the day!

Shoes simply should be tight, snug, hugging… instead they should not be loose but offer freedom for your feet.

Let’s talk width (and shape).

Please note, we are not suggesting any of these chosen brands are bad, instead we are talking;

What is right for you (& your feet).

1. Should fit.
Not almost fit, not “better” than my old shoes but actually fit. For you reading this, it will be different for the person who read this before you, and who will read this after.

2. Should allow for progression.
Understand your feet, know where they are now & where you’d like them to be. Do the shoes allow for that? It may be enough space to improve bunion alignment, you may be sizing up due to your feet lowering. The shoe today, should present itself for the feet in the future.

3. Should be comfortable.
Comfort is often something that seems alien to a lot of barefoot enthusiasts.. suggesting one must go through months or even years of pain to see progression in their feet. This couldn’t be more wrong. Pain is the mothership, continue feeding pain, it will be present, allow for comfort & pain will disappear or improve which they allows you to improve foot function & go about day - day life (sounds silly if you cannot relate). 😉

4. Toe box shape (as shown in the image)
Take out the shoe liner, splay your toes a little (no need to be over the top) or wear spacing a when measuring, and see if the foot hands over the outline of the shoe liner / footbed. If yes, the shoes don’t fit your feet & we would suggest considering others ☺️

With there being so many models out there now, please remember that the fit is essential, don’t go for second best, get the shoes that do not restrict your feet, get those that will aid in your rehabilitation.

Bunions = misinformation!

Bunions aren’t fun, but tackling them should be simple. There are certain things that cannot be overlooked & below are the basic principles to improving your bunions shape & pain.

Time & patience:
Bunions do not form over night, & the longer you’ve had them, the longer it will take to reverse/ improve them. We try to focus on function first & in many (majority not minority), shape is improved greatly.

Exercise:
Daily exercise, massage & taking attention to your individual bunions is a must. No bunion (in your opinion) is the same, so getting to know them is ideal.

Tools:
Simple tools / equipment for us are ideal if you can.. because, we see results quicker for individuals using tools daily. Tools such as Toe Spacers, Mini-Bands & massage balls.

Shoes:
Your bunion or/& bunionettes need room to move.. if you have restrictive footwear which also includes sneakers, boots, training shoes etc, you’ll keep that bunion in its preferred place.

Switching footwear is essential.

See this video we’ve attached, where by the shoes are “made for bunions”, we would argue that these shoes will never allow a bunion to improve & ONLY worsen them over time. Ouch!

You can learn everything you need to know plus have the tools included in our Bunion Bundle, head over to our website then click on Bundles within our shop menu.

Parents, this one’s for us! ☺️

Footwear matters more in our younger years than our adult life.. actually our study revealed in 2023 that if you had worn the right shoes, or no shoes before the age of 10, your feet are almost bulletproof for adult life.

A shoe should not squeeze the toes, should not heave a heel - toe drop, should never have a toe lift (upwards turn of the forefoot) & should allow the feet to function as intended.

Supermarket / sports stores will do harm to your kids feet, instead get shoes that fit their little feet correctly.