10/14/2022
The paradox of modern athletic footwear…
Footwear has been vital to humans for centuries and played an integral role in both our ancestor’s and now our everyday lives. Anthropological evidence suggests that footwear became more prevalent among humans 40,000 years ago (Franklin et al., 2015).
Although shoes keep our feet protected and safe, a paradox arises: the more protection and support provided by footwear, the less our feet have to work. Therefore, the foot and ankle muscles become weakened and subject to issues over time. Moreover, to a large extent, modern footwear places a greater emphasis on fashion and aesthetics over form and function. Some significant culprits are heels, dress shoes and running shoes with lots of cushioning and narrow toe boxes. In fact, research supports that wearing a heel higher than 5 cm over a 2 year period has significant, adverse effects on the muscle-tendon unit of the ankle (Franklin et al., 2015).
Finally, modern athletic footwear has increased sole thickness, which limits the foot’s ability to maintain its functional properties (Franklin et al., 2015). This is of particular importance to the health of older populations’ feet as over two-thirds of older populations’ feet are wider than the footwear they are wearing, thereby causing their feet to narrow and restrict their ability to provide proper support, which can ultimately result in creating all sorts of foot issues such as bunions, hammer toes, fallen arches and problems with the big toe.
Be on the lookout for a future blog post *hint hint, coming this weekend* which goes in depth on selecting proper gym footwear as well as some of my personal recommendations!
Franklin, S., Grey, M. J., Heneghan, N., Bowen, L., & Li, F. X. (2015). Barefoot vs common footwear: a systematic review of the kinematic, kinetic and muscle activity differences during walking. *Gait & posture*, *42*(3), 230-239.
