From the Bottom Up | Essentials of Foot Health

Flipper. Frog Boy. The Merman.

I’ve heard it all - thanks to my slightly odd choice of footwear…

“You’re the guy who runs in the weird shoes, right?”

Sometimes I thank my lucky stars I was bullied at primary school, as I’m grateful to be in a position where I am immune to all of it - and when it comes to wearing barefoot shoes, the benefits I have experienced far outweigh the occasional turning head or witticism.

There is method to the madness…

Truth is, your feet are the body’s Unsung Heroes.

They do the heavy lifting—literally—yet they rarely get the credit they deserve. Each one is an engineering marvel, made up of 26 bones, 33 joints, and over 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

All of that hardware is designed to absorb impact, stabilise you, and propel you forward with grace and efficiency.

And yet… most of us treat our feet like afterthoughts. We’ll obsess over the latest carbon-plated running shoe, train our ass into oblivion, or buy fancy recovery tools for our quads—while our poor feet, the foundation of all human movement, are stuffed into the narrow leather prisons or floppy trainers we call ‘shoes’.

If you think about it, every step you take is only as strong as the platform beneath it.

Neglect your feet, and the whole chain—ankles, knees, hips, and even your spine—will eventually pay the price.

So, in an effort to educate you heathens, and in part provide a sound defense case for the FiveFingers, I am going to give you everything you need to know about the Dogs - and how YOU can start your journey to stronger, healthier feet…

The Plight of the Modern Shoe

Modern shoes are basically stylish straightjackets for your feet. Why you ask? The average shoe has:

Narrow toe boxes that force your toes to clump together like nervous penguins.
Cramped midfoot support that locks your natural pronation/supination (the foot’s way of absorbing shock).
Elevated heels that shift you onto your toes, shorten your calves, and set you up for Achilles issues further down the line.

It’s no wonder that bunions, plantar fasciitis, and Achilles tendinopathy are so common.

The sad irony? Most people buy more supportive shoes to fix these problems, which only reinforces the cycle.

Shoes should be tools that enhance your natural function—not casts that immobilise it. Right now, a lot of us are living in the orthopaedic equivalent of stilettos, and our feet are crying out for help.

What is Foot Health?

In order to explain exactly why modern shoes are a bit crap for our feet, we need to identify exactly what I mean by ‘Foot Health’.

And it’s got ‘nowt to do with how they smell. Although if they do, get it fixed - nasty business.

Foot Health comes down to three key pillars:

Strength – Your feet are packed with tiny muscles that should work like stabilisers on a tripod. Strong feet = stable, efficient movement. Weak feet = collapse, wobble, and unnecessary strain elsewhere.
Mobility – Stiff ankles or rigid arches mean poor shock absorption. Good mobility allows your foot to adapt to uneven ground and distribute force smoothly.
Alignment – Think of this as posture for your feet. If your toes are bunched up or your arch collapses, your whole kinetic chain is affected. Alignment starts with a stable “tripod” base (heel, big toe, little toe).

When these three elements are in sync, your feet become like high-performance suspension: strong, springy, and shock-absorbing.

I am the living example of this - having run faster and further than ever before since transitioning to barefoot shoes. Even if it has meant that every race I get the inevitable “Cor, you’re brave running in those - don’t your feet hurt?!”.

But fear not - for all our shoey sins can be reverse. Here’s how…

Alignment Reset - The Toe Spacer

Enter the humble toe spacer—probably the least sexy piece of fitness kit you’ll ever own, but one of the most effective.

The Toe Spacer from Spacer Mobility looks not too dissimilar to that which you may use when letting your toenails dry (which, had I nail to paint, would be a regular pastime of course…)

The silicone loops gently nudge your toes back into their natural alignment, undoing years of squashing from the Plimsolls and Winklepickers.

Think of it like a back brace, but for the toes; exonerating your feet from a 25 to life stretch in the aforementioned leather prisons.

The benefits? Better circulation, reduced pressure on bunions, improved balance, and a noticeable increase in comfort when you move; realigning your feet is a no-brainer across the board, far transcending running performance alone.

I use my SM Spacers while cooking dinner, doing mobility drills, or even just lounging around with a brew after finishing work. The key lies REGULAR, CONSISTENT practice - much the same as general mobility work.

Think of them as braces for your toes—only far cheaper and much less awkward if the Tinder date ends in success.

Could even be a USP to stick on the profile, who knows what people are into these days….

Get the Puppies Out

Here’s where things get really fun: take your shoes off.

Walking or running barefoot (or in barefoot-style shoes that make you look a little less hippy, like Vivobarefoots) gives your feet a chance to wake up.

Every nerve ending in your sole lights up like a Christmas tree, your intrinsic muscles engage, and your gait naturally shifts to a softer, more efficient landing.

Effectively, your feet become the shock absorbers your paying thousands of pounds for in the form of sparkly new kicks courtesy of Messrs Hoka, Adidas and the like.

But beyond the biomechanics, barefooting has a surprising psychological impact.

Ever noticed how grounding it feels to walk barefoot on grass, sand, or even a cold kitchen floor? That’s no accident. The sensory input provides a meditative, calming effect. It slows you down, reconnects you with your environment, and can even reduce stress.

Some call it “grounding,” but I tend to just call it common sense—and there’s no denying that peeling off the layers between you and the earth makes you feel more human.

Runners especially report feeling lighter, more connected, and less distracted when barefoot - again, personally attested to by myself.

So yes—sometimes the best thing you can do for your mental health is to let the dogs out!

Foot Health: Playing the Long Game

Here’s the catch: if you’ve been in padded trainers or stiff dress shoes your whole life, you can’t just switch overnight to barefoot marathons.

That’s a recipe for sore calves and angry Achilles tendons. Hatrick - guilty as charged! Transitioning to barefoot during COVID, I jumped straight in at the deep and ended up shit creek with screaming shins and nasty blisters on the feet.

Instead, treat barefooting like strength training: gradual progression is key.

Start with short walks barefoot around the house or garden.
Progress to barefoot strength drills, yoga flows, or mobility exercises.
Then introduce short runs in barefoot shoes, slowly building mileage as your feet adapt.

Along the way, include targeted strength work:

Toe curls/extensions – fire up those tiny stabiliser muscles.
Calf raises (barefoot, on different surfaces) – load the Achilles gradually.
Single-leg balance on an unstable surface – boost proprioception.

And never forget the Tripod Foot concept: balance evenly through your heel, the base of your big toe, and the base of your little toe.

This “tripod” creates rock-solid stability, especially for us runners who need efficient force transfer.

Building bulletproof feet isn’t glamorous, but it’s the best insurance policy against injuries that derail training - and having seen multiple injuries deriving from either weakness in the feet/ankles, and inappropriate footwear, I can guarantee you’ll thank me later!

The Final Word

If there’s one takeaway here, it’s this: your feet matter—a lot.

They’re not just lumps at the end of your legs, they’re your foundation. Strong, mobile, well-aligned feet mean better movement, fewer injuries, and a longer, healthier athletic life.

So give them some love. Get out of your restrictive shoes, spend time barefoot, use tools like toe spacers, and start sprinkling foot-strengthening exercises into your training.

It might not look flashy on Instagram, but in the long run (pun intended), it’s the small, unsexy habits that pay off the biggest dividends.

And if you’re curious, there’s a whole barefoot running community out there ready to welcome you.

We’re a little quirky, sure (case in point)—but we’ve got strong arches, happy toes, and we’ll probably outrun you in a pair of sandals!