In Defense of Shoes

Shoes are not necessarily good for us and when my daughter was born I was determined to have her run barefoot through life. But then reality reared its ugly head. My wife and I live in a city in the northeast—littered streets and cold winters soon put a damper on my fantasies. What to do? Pliable shoes with space for the toes to move are of paramount concern. So are having different shoes to wear so our feet don’t get used to always walking in the same sole. The more options for change and adaptation the better.
Shoes can have a profoundly negative effect on our posture and gait. Mobility in the foot is necessary for adapting to terrain and for allowing the arches to work. Stiff shoes can really restrain our feet from finding this movement; pointed shoes prevent the toes from spreading as they need to; high heels thrust our pelvis forward; high tops restrain the ankle and can affect corresponding joints such as the hip and knee; flip flops force the toes to grip in order to keep them on your foot.
We are also realists at the FitzGordon Method so when a model who wears five inch heels in order to make a living comes to us for help, we don’t tell her to change professions— we coach her in simple ways that can help the foot perform the tasks we ask of them. (For that model by the way, the prescription is an endless series of exercises from this chapter and massage so help restore foot after such intense work)
To repeat- my approach to shoes is simple. Have lots of them. I look for comfortable shoes that have space for them to spread as much as possible with each step. I try to switch them often.

New York Times Article

The blog has been out of commision for a while but I wanted to put up a link to an article about the walking program in this weeks New York Times.

Learning How To Walk (Chewing Gum Not Included)

A Path to Better Health