10 ms·

I entirely agree with you, excepting for your comment about shoes. In most circumstances, the best way to avoid foot problems is not to "buy better footware/ort

I entirely agree with you, excepting for your comment about shoes. In most circumstances, the best way to avoid foot problems is not to "buy better footware/orthotics" but rather to strengthen your feet. If you are skeptical, look into the "minimalist" running movement. There is quite a bit of research which suggests that the human foot is itself a better support system than any external aid. The problem is that, living as most people do, their foot muscles have atrophied. I stand barefoot on hardwood all day long.

staticshock 16y ago
How have you strengthened your feet?
- jnorthrop 16y ago
  If you wear shoes without arch support and have flexible soles (or go barefoot) your feet with strengthen themselves by having to work just to keep you upright.
  - patricklynch 16y ago
    Absolutely agree. I made the switch to more minimalist footwear shortly after reading a relevant article two years ago.[1] If it were socially acceptable to wear Vibram fivefingers where I work, that's what I'd do. Since that's not really an option, I wear Puma sneakers (the 'replicat' line doesn't have a huge heel cushion) without an insert. And then at home I work standing up, barefoot. If you're looking for new footwear options, a few places are now selling, ironically, 'barefoot' sneakers. [2, 3] [1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-painful-truth-trainers-Are-expensive-running-shoes-waste-money.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-... [2] http://www.vivobarefoot.com/ http://www.vivobarefoot.com/ [3] http://www.merrell.com/US/en/Barefoot http://www.merrell.com/US/en/Barefoot
- unignorant 16y ago
  I agree with jnorthrop. Although if you want to be a bit more hardcore about it, you might try a few (short) barefoot runs each week. In this latter case, however, be careful. It's easy to do "to much too soon."
jnorthrop 16y ago
I agree, I stand all day as well. My choice of footwear is a pair of Vivo Barefoot shoes (http://www.vivobarefoot.com http://www.vivobarefoot.com). On a side note for my standup desk I built a plywood and 2x4 surface that sits on top of my desk -- it looks a lot like a coffee table on the desk. The materials were all of $15. Edit: Here is a pic of my desk http://imgur.com/1woBL http://imgur.com/1woBL
georgieporgie 16y ago
I'm skeptical of this in the long term (10+ years). A good number of people simply have flawed feet, resulting in pronation, supination, and any number of other pain-inducing mechanical oddities.
toast76 16y ago
I can certainly attest to the "strengthening" argument. I had been working standing for about 6 months after a back injury. No matter what I did it hurt for the first month or so, but eventually I got used to it. I just got home from 3 months working in Sydney at a sitting desk, and now I'm back almost to square one. It's amazing how quickly you lose conditioning just by not standing all day. As with anything, movement is the important part, not the standing part. And 100% do not wear shoes if you're working standing. Your body is smarter than shoe designers. In time your body get's back to working they way it was designed (or evolved) to work.

staticshock 16y ago

How have you strengthened your feet?

jnorthrop 16y ago
If you wear shoes without arch support and have flexible soles (or go barefoot) your feet with strengthen themselves by having to work just to keep you upright.
- patricklynch 16y ago
  Absolutely agree. I made the switch to more minimalist footwear shortly after reading a relevant article two years ago.[1] If it were socially acceptable to wear Vibram fivefingers where I work, that's what I'd do. Since that's not really an option, I wear Puma sneakers (the 'replicat' line doesn't have a huge heel cushion) without an insert. And then at home I work standing up, barefoot. If you're looking for new footwear options, a few places are now selling, ironically, 'barefoot' sneakers. [2, 3] [1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-painful-truth-trainers-Are-expensive-running-shoes-waste-money.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-... [2] http://www.vivobarefoot.com/ http://www.vivobarefoot.com/ [3] http://www.merrell.com/US/en/Barefoot http://www.merrell.com/US/en/Barefoot
unignorant 16y ago
I agree with jnorthrop. Although if you want to be a bit more hardcore about it, you might try a few (short) barefoot runs each week. In this latter case, however, be careful. It's easy to do "to much too soon."

jnorthrop 16y ago

I agree, I stand all day as well. My choice of footwear is a pair of Vivo Barefoot shoes (http://www.vivobarefoot.com http://www.vivobarefoot.com). On a side note for my standup desk I built a plywood and 2x4 surface that sits on top of my desk -- it looks a lot like a coffee table on the desk. The materials were all of $15. Edit: Here is a pic of my desk http://imgur.com/1woBL http://imgur.com/1woBL

georgieporgie 16y ago

I'm skeptical of this in the long term (10+ years). A good number of people simply have flawed feet, resulting in pronation, supination, and any number of other pain-inducing mechanical oddities.

toast76 16y ago

I can certainly attest to the "strengthening" argument. I had been working standing for about 6 months after a back injury. No matter what I did it hurt for the first month or so, but eventually I got used to it. I just got home from 3 months working in Sydney at a sitting desk, and now I'm back almost to square one. It's amazing how quickly you lose conditioning just by not standing all day. As with anything, movement is the important part, not the standing part. And 100% do not wear shoes if you're working standing. Your body is smarter than shoe designers. In time your body get's back to working they way it was designed (or evolved) to work.