This month we’ll be discussing all things foot health.
Anyone who is coached by me will tell you I'm forever looking at their feet if I see something causing pain or issues upstream within the body.
Our feet are our foundations, our roots if you will. They will adapt to the environment, our surroundings, and the stimulus they are exposed to.
When was the last time you walked barefoot? If recently or all the time great. Now if you are walking Barefoot regularly, how many different surfaces are you exposing your feet too?
How does the body feel after walking barefoot? Do you tend to get pain either through your heels, arch of the foot, knees, hips, lower back, toes, or ankles? After a day at the beach or a holiday stroll in shoes that aren’t your everyday shoes, does something in the same area feel sore? Are you currently in heavily padded shoes or prescribed orthotics?
I too was told I needed extra arch support too, my feet rolled inwards and I was constantly having hip and lower back pain. In my 20’s!
I was exposed to Barefoot training 5 years ago when first attending Jungle Brothers (yes where I am now a coach) and through my Animal Flow community.
It blew my mind that one thing that I had been told my whole life may have been able to have a solution yet I was kept in the dark. Delving deep into foot mechanics, barefoot bodyweight training such as Animal Flow and strength training barefoot felt unusual and really clunky at the start.
Yet slowly over time learning how to strengthen my foot just like any other muscle I wanted to improve in my body, helped unleash so much more strength potential further up the stream.
I invite you to watch a short 9min doco on why shoes evolved the way they have, how it could be detrimental to us and that there is hope to reverse the effects we were exposed to.
This month I’ll be sharing my story of unleashing strength potential starting from the ground up, how our whole posture can be helped and learning what story your foot is telling you.
I’d love to know what you think after the watch below.
Until next week!
Nikki
Stay curious and remember
"We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing" - George Bernard Shaw