The 17 Best Barefoot Shoes for Running or Walking (2024)

How to get started with barefoot shoes

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You’ve probably worn padded shoes most of your life. Don’t expect to throw them on and be able to cover the same distance—whether walking or running—in barefoot shoes. To a certain extent, you have to relearn how to run and walk. You will have to make a conscious effort and it can be very difficult. You’re not just learning, you’re also drop out of school Some habits are ingrained. It’s important to go slow. Very, very, absurdly slow.

How you approach barefoot shoes depends on what you’re looking to do. By chance I started jogging again, which went well for me Have take it slow (I’m terrible). If you’re currently an ultramarathon runner and want to try barefoot shoes, you’ll be hard-pressed to resist. If you’re somewhere between those extremes, it can be difficult not to overdo it. Focus on the discipline you normally use to gain distance Are not make distance.

If you don’t know where to start, take a look Graham Tuttle’s YouTube channelespecially exercises to strengthen his legs. These will help you develop foot and ankle strength that you’re lacking if you’ve been wearing cushioned shoes for years, and help reduce muscle soreness when you start running barefoot. Tuttle also offers some Paid program aims to give you a more personalized guide (I haven’t tried any of these). Another YouTube channel that I found useful is MovNat channelIt’s not specific to bare feet, but there’s a lot of useful barefoot advice presented throughout. And if you haven’t read Christopher McDougall, both Born to run And Born hero are interesting reads related to bare feet. Indeed, Born to run arguably did more to popularize barefoot running than anything else since the advent of cushioned shoes in the early 1970s.

It’s also important to say that barefoot shoes are not a zero-sum game. For over a year, I wore running shoes barefoot, regular shoes for other tasks, and the rest of the time I wore sandals sandals. It’s not all or nothing. If you go for a run barefoot and then throw on your favorite Converse right after, that’s okay. It is equally important to know that everyone is different. It took me six months to completely switch to barefoot shoes. But that’s just me. It could take you two months or two years. Go at your own pace and don’t worry about other people’s experiences.