I was recently fascinated by a podcast episode I listened to from The Art of Manliness. The episode was titled “Built to Walk – How Modern Shoes and Weak Feet Are Holding You Back.”
In the episode, podcast host Brett McKay interviewed Dr. Milica McDowell, a physical therapist and co-author of the book Walk. They talked about a number of different topics, but the core of the conversation centered around the power of walking. Walking is one of the most powerful and accessible health tools available. It takes no special equipment and provides many physical, mental and emotional benefits.
However, the pair took issue with some aspects of modern footwear, and it echoes the sentiment that we’ve been championing for years now. Modern footwear is more padded and protective, giving an allure of comfort and safety, but these overly cushioned shoes may actually be increasing our risk of injury in some ways.
Modern Shoes And Injury Risk
As I’ve stated on this blog in the past, we aren’t born with shoes on our feet. Our ancestors thrived without protective shoes, and while that’s not to say that we should ditch all forms of footwear, there are unique benefits to going barefoot or wearing minimalist shoes. Muscles have to work harder to handle stress and and keep us balanced. Over time, our muscles get better at performing these tasks, and your feet and ankles as a whole are more functional because of it.
When overly padded shoes and bulky orthotic inserts enter the picture, these structures absorb some of this healthy stress. Your feet aren’t privy to these beneficial stress patterns, and over time they can become reliant on these products or weaken due to this protection. I thought the podcast pair explained this issue well.
This notion is something that we have said over and over and over to patients in the past. Orthotics and overly padded shoes can serve a purpose in the grand scheme of things, but they can also create more problems than they solve through foot muscle weakness. Foot intrinsic muscle strength is key to treating most foot and ankle conditions, and it helps provide a strong foundation for the rest of your body.
This plays in with another topic we talk about with a lot of patients – You’re going to need to put in the work if you hope to see the results. There’s no magic pill that will heal your ankle or a protective shoe that’s going to grow muscles in your feet. It’s exercise, walking, physical therapy and other active modalities that will help you become the strongest and most functional version of yourself. You’ll get out what you put in, so don’t look for the easy way out.
Dr. Silverman will be accepting patients again in the coming months, so keep tabs on his contact us page to learn how you can set up an appointment with him beginning in late August.