Don't Transition to Minimalist/Barefoot Shoes Until You Watch This (Hip Flexor Problems)
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- 👉Minimalist/Barefoot shoes can be very problematic for some people.
👉To walk without compensation, our brain needs appropriate neuro-sensory feedback.
A good article on the subject....
👉lermagazine.com...
Hey there, my name is Neal Hallinan.
The purpose of this channel is to help people understand and resolve chronic muscular and joint pain, primarily through the discipline of Postural Restoration.
As someone who lived with chronic pain for many years of my life, I know how debilitating and isolating it can be. But I also know it can be resolved.
I hold the following credentials:
Postural Restoration Trained (PRT)
Strength and Conditioning Coach (CSCS)
Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT)
Amateur Historian (AH, my own self-designation)
I live and work in the great state of New Jersey, USA.
I offer one-on-one training as well as online consultations via Zoom. The information can be found here:
pritrainer.com...
/ neal_hallinan
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Subscribe to my channel here: / @nealhallinan
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For an example of typical exercises for a beginner program, you can look here:
pritrainer.com...
Please note, this is quite generic and not sufficient for everybody!
There’s a lot of misinformation in this video.
Most people walk around with a lazy gait and land on their heel fairly hard, instead of using the leg muscles as suspension to walk more softly (as people naturally tend to do when walking barefoot). Minimal shoes feel like a lot of work for the calves at first because people suddenly notice that they’re slamming their heel hard, and use the calves more to soften the landing. This actually reduces impact to the hips because the leg muscles are capable of much more suspension than even the thickest padded shoes. You say that walking should use the least amount of muscular effort possible-this is a recipe for overloading the joints. Use the muscles as suspension, protect the joints. It’s mostly bone from heel to knee, if you don’t use your calves as suspension, the calf muscles will get weaker and more impact to the knee joint.
I disagree that barefoot shoes contribute to hip flexor tightness. Having a zero drop shoe makes it easier for me to stretch my hip flexor with each step. Walking often is the best way to counteract the obvious cause of hip flexor tightness in most people- sitting down all day.
One thing we agree on is that natural, uneven surfaces are better for developing ankle mobility. If we are walking around on unnaturally flat surfaces, meaning the problem is that we underuse our pronating/supinating muscles, why would we make this problem even worse by wearing a shoe that stabilizes the ankle? The foot can pronate and supinate much more in a barefoot shoe.
It seems that you have done a ton of mental gymnastics to deny the obvious truths that barefoot shoes, compared to normal shoes:
1. allow for more sensory input through the bottom of the foot
2. allow the foot and ankle to move more freely
3. strengthen the foot and leg muscles more for any given activity
4. encourage natural gait and movement patterns, reducing impact to the knee, hip, spine
5. improve blood flow through the plantar fascia
I’m not saying that nobody’s ever had a bad experience with barefoot shoes. But this is often due to trying to transition too quickly or retaining old (bad) habits such as hard heel striking, not “because humans are asymmetrical”
i like your detailed reply, i totally agree. i use barefoot shoes a lot.
I've been in barefoot shoes for a decade, and have every symptom described in these videos, it's uncanny. I've been a firm believer in barefoot shoes - after all, it makes sense. But this makes more sense. I'll continue going barefoot walking my dog twice a day, and search for a wide toe box with an arch for indoors. My posture declines so quickly in the house, pain ensues. My partner will be delighted to not hear my whinging about the wooden floors and running around on tip toes with a hiked hip after 30 seconds on the flat. The neural adjustment is so quick. Don't let your ego and attachment to beliefs stand in the way. You may not have these issues in barefoot shoes and that's awesome. My body is extremely sensitive to its environment - it immediately adapts. Perhaps you are not hypermobile. My ligaments are loose so it makes perfect sense that muscles tighten even more when the brain can't figure out where the body should be in space. This is an excellent video integrating proprioception, biomechanics and the senses.
Thanks, Neal, for so brilliantly explaining what I mightn't have gotten past as a simple intuition. Delighted and ready to have found your videos.
@@josedgwick9595I did an abrupt transition to barefoot shoes on flat ground that ive used for at least an hour daily for about 2 months. This all contributed to making these patterns worse and tightened me up further and further. In fact it was so bad i had to look up what the possible causes could be , which led me to discovering Neils UA-cam channel
@@NaZaRK3 transition slowly. it took me years.
Quick version: Wear arch & heel supported shoes on flat ground and minimalist shoes on uneven ground
Thanks, I don't speak English and it's really hard for me to understand the videos.
Yeah this guy is terrible at making his point across. I just watched because I needed the info.
Thanks for that!
Thanks! I watched the whole video and was confused about what I should do.
Cool (long) video, I have many questions. Of course, I understand if you don't have time to get to all of them but I appreciate even brief responses. First, as directly pertains to the topic of this video:
1. You briefly touched on the importance of pushing down with the big toe. Is that possible in traditional shoes? (11:35)
2. You say that the calves tensing up for new minimalist shoe wearers may not be a good thing, and that walking should really feel like hardly anything. But if the feeling doesn't persist, could it be that it just reflects the impacts of a transitional phase? (20:45) Also, if this causes the pelvis to tilt forward, does correcting with tension only lead to more and more tension? (15:30)
3. Most traditional shoes have elevated heels. Won't that scramble your sensory feedback somewhat?
4. You say that minimalist shoes cause loss of ground sense, because your heel doesn't sink into anything. But perceptually it feels like an information channel has newly opened up, at least it did to me. Why would there be such an incongruence between perception and reality? (18:10)
And some more general questions:
1. You mention frequently that asymmetry is perfectly natural. But isn't asymmetry still one of the main things you try to correct in your profession? How much asymmetry is acceptable?
2. Isn't how much your brain senses stuff variable and dependent on situation?
3. You drew a cycle that linked sense to processing to action to sense and so on. Why do you centre on the brain, the processing? There is a famous experiment in which the head of a cat was severed and it kept walking for several minutes...
4. You mentioned that many of your minimalist shoe wearing patients had problems... do you get many patients without problems?
Hope you find the time to respond to some of these. Cheers
Wow, great questions
Thank you, Neal, for the profound and insightful wisdom! I always thought something wasn't right many years ago when I first used Vivo barefoot shoes on flat concrete, so I moved over to Altras. My Altras are still zero drops with a wide toe box but much more supportive; I also added some arch support. From my experience, simply moving to zero drop altras corrected my extreme inward pronation where my heel would wear out over time at a severe angle of about 30 degrees, and my back pain resolved by about 80%. I think it's the zero drop and wide-toe box that is important rather than a minimalistic sole and shoe. What's your take on the Zero drop aspect? It appeared to me that raising the heel can also negatively affect correct skeletal alignment due to my experiences. I have EDS.
! I'll never forget when my legendary dentist, Dr Amir, who specialises in jaw asymmetry, tested me at separate times with arch support and a dental appliance, and both brought my pelvis into correct alignment. Your video has helped me make complete sense of 8 years of my progression with improving my skeletal alignment!
I agree with you
I did the same thing. I now wear my vivos on uneven dirt trails and altras on flat pavement.
Going through a similar shoe situation currently now, thank you for this confirmation ! Also, who is your dentist, Dr Amir ? Have a jaw/pelvis misalignment here, as well ❤
What dental appliance helped your pelvis?
I'm a bit confused. Wearing minimal footwear is not the same as wearing "regular shoes". We're taking people who have spent their entire life in regular shoes who have developed habits, good or bad, to suit those shoes. Or perhaps the habits they developed were never addressed mechanically, but instead aided by a product. I overpronate, and I thought I had flat feet. If I went to a podiatrist, would they suggest that I change how I stand, walk, and run, or would they sell me orthotics?
Supportive footwear is great, you put it on and your pain goes away. Before I started wearing Asics stability shoes about 10 years ago, I'd go home from my retail job and my ankles would hurt so much that I could barely walk. Then with the Asics shoes, I could work all day with minimal issues. The problem is, once you take off the shoes, all of your problems still remain. You are bound to that support to be pain free.
I started wearing barefoot shoes almost 4 months ago, but I didn't just put them on and go, because I knew that without the support, my ankles would start to hurt again. So I did a little digging, and changed everything mechanically. My feet were pointed outward when I stood still, so I pointed my feet forward. All of my weight was on the inside of my feet, so I shifted it to the outside of my feet, and wouldn't you know it, I have arches in my feet. The photo you showed of the gentleman's feet that were asymmetrical, his left foot was pointed outward, which is going to flatten out his arch. If he just pointed his left foot forward and balanced himself now that his feet are matching, they would have looked the same. I've worked on fixing the position of my hips, I've switched to a midfoot strike with shorter steps, etc.
I just started a new retail job, so I'm back on my feet all day. I was a bit nervous that my feet wouldn't be ready to take the abuse yet, so I got some Lems shoes that have a little bit more than my other shoes. We're still only dealing with about 10mm under my feet. I took the inserts out because I was having a hard time feeling the pedals in my car. When you're used to being able to use only your big toe to push the pedals, anything extra feels like too much. But anyways, back on my feet all day on hard floors with no support from someone who has overpronated their whole life. I'm not finding good form with no support much different from bad form with support. When I get home, I can take off my shoes and still run around the house, up and down the stairs, and my feet are a bit sore, naturally, but they're fine.
Other things I've noticed is that my achilles tendons aren't tight anymore, my balance is improving, I can run faster and easier with a forefoot/ midfoot strike in minimal shoes than I ever could with a heel strike in supportive shoes, it goes on.
Basically, what I'm getting at with all this, is to question whether the people who have begun wearing minimalist shoes have done the work to correct their gait and their posture, or if they're carrying over the same habits from decades of harmful footwear. It would be similar to giving someone a freeweight bench press, and just telling them to start lifting. You come back to them a month later and their form is terrible, they injured their wrist, and they look no better physically than they did before. Instead of teaching them proper form so they don't hurt themselves and they actually get good results, you move them into a guided bench press so they don't have to worry about balancing the bar, they can just lift. Their form will still be terrible, and they won't be getting the full benefit of a bench press because all of their muscles aren't being utilized. So this person gets really comfortable with the guided bench press, and maybe they can lift 150lbs no problem. Once you put them on a freeweight bench press with the same weight, they'll drop it and possibly hurt themselves because of the issues mentioned above.
To get the full benefits of minimal footwear, you need to put in the work to make sure you're moving properly, you can't rely on the shoes to fix your problems.
This video is actually only gonna help a small section of people. The advice really only makes sense if you assume that "people who have spent almost no time barefoot growing up" is the absolute standard human being and no others exist who are worth mentioning. People who grew up walking barefoot heelstrike, of course they do. People who have been so habituated to zero haptic feedback from their heel by extreme cushioning that they tiptoe to try and keep a similar experience when transitioning are not a big enough group to generalise to every one of your watchers. The idea that barefoot shoes and flat floors lead to avoiding heelstrike is wildly reductivist and says a lot more about what kind of people tend to walk into your practice than the broader picture of humans and minimal shoes. On a final note, as someone who grew up rurally wearing shoes as little as possible, contrary to what you're saying, there are many flat surfaces in nature. Any path walked often enough will turn to beaten earth, which is unrelentingly flat. The trail you showed is just that, a trail, not a path. Even deer and badger trails are flat in many biomes, it all depends on the type of vegetation, soil, and toprock. And when you're barefoot in nature, you naturally am to out your foot on the flattest, hardest bit, cause getting mud or grass in between your toes isn't very nice, and rocks and branches hurt and slow you down - not to mention thorns. There are so many more surfaces out there than you're aware of. Books and professional experience are fantastic but they have their limits. I'd love to see you do a video where you talk to some knowledgeable people in the barefoot community about your conceptions and you compare notes. They could learn a lot from you and despite what you seem to think, you could stand to learn a lot from them too!
Interesting point of view. I seek everything natural and have to barefoot shoes, pri shoes are nothing alike and it seemed stupid to buy them. After I did buy bola shoes as recommended my issues are almost gone. Can't force barefoot into my life 😅
Fantastic comment. I’ve thought the same for a while and i’m in complete agreement with you.
100% agreed. Feel that it's important for one get pampered with experts information BUT always take into consideration background, current living style and medical conditions before deciding what works for you😊
If we naturally oriented to the right, even visually, how does that affect people who have impairment to their right visual field?
I'd also like to add that he's talking all this crap in the big city spectrum, but not talking about the difference amount of steps you take to get into buildings and go up for hospital use. The more you take for walking on and off curves. The unlevel yards and parks people walk in. I do know what he means by walking around indoors all the time on level surfaces, but the minute you step outside you realize it's totally not a level place. And another thing he's not adding is that a good stretching routine will keep you loose. He's just worried that barefoot shoes will lose him a lot of money.
This video describes me to a T! I’m anterior pelvic tilt, left foot flat arch, posture- rear end and gut sticking out, tight IT bands, very small inactivated glutes, calves and hamstrings sore as hell after a 5K run, (and some sciatica to boot). It’s amazing that my girlfriend pointed these things out to me and shortly after I find your videos on the internet. Love you both ❤
This makes sense. I recently started running/walking with minimalist shoes, but I absolutely hate them on the sidewalk/pavement (flat ground), but I absolutely loved them running along a dirt trail (uneven ground).
If you are in pain or don't feel right, do yourself a favor and try your options, you might be surprised what works for you. My wife delt with foot, knee and low back pain daily for most of her life. Took me 2 years to get her to try on a pair of barefoot shoes because she doesn't like the way they look. The second she put them on the look on her face was like a lightbulb turned on. Over a year in and she won't wear anything else, because all of her pain is gone, seriously, it's gone. Are you going to feel like your foot and leg muscles are working harder? Yeah probably, they haven't had to do much in probably 20-30 years, proceed with common sense and patience. Find what works for you and go with it.
Great salesman, what you believe it’s right compared to the rest of the industry is always in between. Both can work.
So interesting! Could you please talk a bit about barefoot shoes and the impact (either positive or negative ) they can have on the neck ?
After a day of climbing trees and walking in nature in logging boots, high heel and steel toe, nothing sets my hips straight and feels better than walking in barefoot shoes, hard pavement doesn't hurt one bit with proper stride and rhythm. It is all about foot to ground and brain connection.
Bullshit. I transitioned to barefoot shoes, and it was the best decision i have ever made. Better posture, more flexibility, better stability, stronger legs. I got rid of all my other type of shoes, and i have no intention of ever going back. The only reason people complain of having problems after wearing barefoot shoes, because their body is not adjusted properly to them. Those problems will eventually go away, as soon as the spine, hips, legs and feet get used to the shoes.
I’m happy that worked for you. The people I help who come in with barefoot/minimalist shoes have been wearing them for a long time. Perhaps they can go back to them after they become stable again. But they need to change in the beginning. Not everyone experiences the same things. Different injury histories, different arch heights, different types of bodies etc..
@@NealHallinan I agree. I apologize, I meant no disrespect. Just that for me at least, when I have transitioned to barefoot shoes, I had pretty much felt the same liberating feeling like when I was a child walking barefoot. So yes, it does work for me. Good video though and certainly a lot of useful information.
Dude, you're a goddamn wizard... All my clients will come to know you!
May God bless you
Interesting commentary on a topic that is very relevant to my personal life. I really do enjoy my barefoot shoes, and wear my Merrell's and Whitin's for everything that I do. I can see that there are pros and cons to supportive or minimalist shoes, but overall I would much rather have started wearing these years ago. With proper stretching and a safe transition plan they can be a huge benefit.
Neil just wanted to thank you for all your videos and for responding to my questions. You have made PRI, which seems very complex, understandable and approachable. I am making great progress with my local PRI person and am grateful to you for your dedication to explain and share your wisdom and personal experience with PRI. I can walk again without pain, due in large part to you. Grateful to and for you.
I’m happy to hear you are making progress!
Hello, brand new to you. Everything you say resonates with me and my chronic neck, back, head shaking issues BUT I have lost so many teeth. All my molars got pulled when I was 12. Braces plus many from bad health. I HAD L4L5 replaced with pig bones. TITANIAM PLATES, rods and screws. Is it too late for me to fix stuff?thank you
You are a legend! So much interconnected information laid out in an understandable and approachable format. I really appreciate what you do. Thank you.
You're quite welcome. I'm glad it's helpful.
11 years ago I had a back procedure. I also had my right hip operated a few months prior, although that procedure did not solve any problems.
When I was well enough to walk, swim and ride a bike, a decided to change my running style to minimalist shoes and barefoot running. It is not the shoes that are important, but the way your feet start contact with the ground.
It took me around a year to run comfortably with minimalist shoes and without shoes (just sometimes). Quite a few times I had to return home from 4/5 km away just walking because my tendons did not allow me to run more.
But the effort paid off. Indeed. Nowadays I am able to run 10k or longer and I always use minimalist shoes. The way the foot takes initial contact with the ground, with the front part making contact firstly, is basic to avoid your hips (socket and etc) to receive that impact repeatedly.
Nicely done. As I mentioned, this video only pertained to walking rather than running bc most people will forefoot strike when running. Walking is not a forefoot striking activity (at least it shouldn’t be).
@@NealHallinan Agree on walking. Disagree on forefoot running, as modern shoes force people to make first contact with their heels, which is terrible for their hips and pelvis. Much less than 50% of the runners run with their front part of the feet. Runners with less experience or power or technique or just strength or stamina make contract with their heels first.
Hello, where did you purchase your minimalist shoes?
I had bought the vibrams. I wore out one pair but when I bought the second I noticed they were not so comfortable anymore. I was ten years younger when I bought the first pair and hiking was a weekend thing on dirt/grass. Now retired I was using them to walk on concrete everyday. I switched to water shoes and added an extra insert but with covid I was walking on rugs in the house and barefoot almost all day long. Putting on shoes to shop every few weeks. Now post covid and back to walking on concrete I am looking at investing in a good solid pair of hiking boots. I am in my 60s and find I need more sole between me and the ground. I still love walking barefoot in my house and in my yard. I have always taken off my shoes the minute I had a chance. However pounding on concrete day after day requires more cushion for me
That's a very fair and sensible observation.
very thankfully, walking barefoot in the house, and wearing totally flat shoes my feet can spread out in has helped me TREMENDOUSLY
They sell wide toe box shoes with heel support. Altras, Crocs, etc.
Also Vivobarefoot, Topo Athletic, and Xero shoes.
There are a few sandal companies that allow toe splay.
i use barefoot shoes for 2 years. Since i walk with them my feet feel better, stronger. Barefoot have very thin soles so i feel many things on flat surfaces (edges, cracks) it is not that flat. What your video (thinking) does not take in consideration is CONSCIOUSNESS - mind-body connection.
After using barefoot i did practice conscious walking and changed the way i walk. No longer heal strike but front toes strike so that i use the natural feet hydraulic suspension !! plus i did practice conscious breathing + RELAX as i walk / run with barefoot and everything in my body improved - posture, strengh, balance !!!
i feel a loss of balance when i get back in normal shoes. Put any martial arts master into normal run shoes / business shoes and he would lose a lot of balance, stability !! and martial arts fights are on FLAT ground and they stay barefoot ! WHY ?! because barefoot is natural, better for balance, stability, movement.
Of course for people who spent most life in normal shoes, they have to gradually transition to barefoot. you need to strenghten your feet. the feet have over 100 muscles, tendons so if you have not used them they are weak!!
when i bought my barefoot shoes i could run a 6km with them max but after few months of conscious training (breath, relax while walk, run) my foot got stronger and now i can run barefoot 18 km and my feet feel very good.
Switched to minimalist shoes a year ago…..
INSTANT plantar fasciitis. INSTANTLY.
My plantar my Achilles my ankles
I’ve been wearing barefoot shoes for the last few years and experience all of this🤦♂️. What kind of shoes should I get instead?
After multiple surgeries on my right side i feel stuck on my left foot. My right leg is just along for the ride and doesnt like baring much weight. It feels like my right foot is stepping in mud best i can describe it. Left foot is solid. Even though im right handed. I feel like im still apated to crutches 10yrs later.
Respect to you Neal who empirically made his way to this knowledge. Learning that it's about sensory deprivation been a big game changer. Can you give some information regarding hand balms ? Got the feeling if throttle grips on motor bikes or computer mouses were on the left, it would be more upper back friendly.
Care to provide evidence for any of your claims??
I regret not watching your videos before I bought my 4th pair of minimal shoes. Through whole year I was trying to figure out my left hip pain, until I met your Channel. 2 weeks after transition into my old shoes hip pain was gone!
You didn't learn how to walk properly. I love being barefoot, but it took time and effort to learn the proper stride.
Hmm my memory was that Ian McGilchrist does not say that the right and left hemispheres map onto, attend or determine attributes of the ‘opposite side’ of the body and that early in the book he specifically draws attention to a belief they do as a common misconception.
I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by "attend or determine" the "attributes" of the opposite side of the body. The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and vice versa. That's normal neurology. Maybe you were referring to something else.
Does this matter with being left dominant l handed?
Neal, I love the video and i love your input, but this is a bit too much info for something you can explain with half of the length of the video.
Neal, thank you so much for the videos you have put out. The countless hours of research that had to go in. I have been struggling with left AIC right bc for a very long time now. I went to the PRI website and found a certified physical therapist in my area because of your videos and personal stories. I am now getting the help I need to be a properly functioning human lol And not have to worry about pain. It felt totally legit going to my first appointment with my therapist and am now I’m literally re- teaching myself to do normal stuff, ie. walking breathing chewing. I had given up on the thought of getting rid of my back pain and believe it was some kind of disorder of my physiology. But my hopes and moral are restored thanks to you sir. I tip my hat. & please do not stop what you are doing lol
That’s an amazing comment. I’m very happy for you! Just trust the process, and beyond normal PRI techniques, I’d suggest you try some things I’ve talked about in regards to “artistic expression”: music, dance, acting etc…anything where you stop being “you” for a little while.
My spine from the thoracic to C1 are actually tilted to the left due to an accident, but I’ve still been having trouble with my right hip, right hip flexor, and inability to breathe especially on the right side of my diaphragm. I started marching like you said to do in another video and calling cadence for myself like in the Army, and so much of this pain went away. So thank you.
Your left? Your left right left?
Great video ! I liked how you took many talking points you used to have separate videos for and combined them into one video while still having the focus on the main topic, minimalist shoes. This really answers why things are the way they are, which is really important for understanding and then execution
I'm glad you appreciated it 👍
Outstanding content
This video and your others I’ve just started watching this morning have been really helpful for what I’ve been dealing with physically these last few years. Thanks.
Just wanted to share a personal tidbit about my experience with getting out of barefoot shoes. I had been seeing a chiropractor while wearing barefoot shoes for 6 months before I got a shoe recommendation from a PRC (Postural restoration certified) DPT. After wearing my new shoes for a couple hours I went in for a chiropractic adjustment and for the first time in 6 months my chiropractor exclaimed how relaxed my spine was compared to the past 6 months of "rigidity". I was pretty blown away because I didn't expect that reaction and hadn't mentioned anything about my shoes to him. Now I understand that my brain needs proper signals from my feet in order to feel safe and relax.
Thanks for that tidbit! Shoes can make a huge difference for some people. Chinese medicine associates the spine with the arches of the foot (I saw it in a book years ago, and I think I'm remembering correctly). I always found that fascinating because if you can't pronate (arch sense) you'll stay extended through the spine.
So does the type of shoe matter or could a pair of hasketball shoes work
Thanks for your work in the field of postural restoration. I found your videos by an anonymous online recommendation and began seeing a PRI provider after watching your videos. It has since then made a world of difference in my life. @@NealHallinan
What brand of shoes you bought?❤
very curious what the shoe/brand was that was recommended by the PRC?
This information just blew my mind! 🤯
There is a difference of wearing minimalist shoes for the first time and being trained in them for several months and years and having a proper walking technique. This demonstration lacks depth.
This gentleman was wearing minimalist shoes for years.
thank you for the video, very informative. please, talk about cases of left leg being shorter then right leg
This is an excellent explanation of the junction of the methods that I use; Anatomy in Motion (AiM) and PRI. Now I understand the value of L heel, R arch from a PRI perspective and why giving the foot (brain) new inputs via the various wedging positions we give in AiM restore the brain's sense of the ground. I've commented for years about the problems with flat level floors for our brains and why the brain predicting uniform experiences from those floor conditions means the brain puts very little stock in what our feet are doing. This video is also an excellent explanation for all the barefoot enthusiast newbies who get excited about barefoot shoes solving all their problems and then getting myriad new problems. The problem wasn't your shoes. The problem is your environment and lack of long term variety of inputs for your brain layered on our natural asymmetry. Resolve those issues first and then your brain can accept whatever shoes you wish to wear, barefoot or 'traditional'.
Great comment. Thank you. People think the barefoot shoes are helping, but they are often just transferring the tension elsewhere (usually the neck)
This video doesn't make much sense to me. Not only anecdotally, but logically. Logically speaking, you keep saying the brain needs to sense where the ground is, but you don't explain how minimalist shoes are interfering with that *more* than padded, heel-rise, toe-bending shoes. Especially the toe box aspect makes the least sense - you work daily on trying to help people get their bodies closer into alignment, but you recommend shoes that twist the toes out of alignment. You're saying logical words, then making big leaps when it comes to the conclusion, without defining the presumed logic that is being applied in those leaps. On an anecdotal level, my experiences align perfectly with the concepts you've described about alignment and neuro-feedback. When i can feel the ground, in very barefoot shoes or actually barefoot, i walk with no pain. When i put on more cushioned shoes pain develops no matter what i do in terms of trying to hover my right foot, etc. And i feel constantly dissociated because my brain thinks i'm floating in space. I wonder if you've taken on some kind of bias somewhere which is causing you to leap through logical steps you'd normally explain... this is definitely a departure from the logical rigout of your usual content.
I agree with you. This is some nonsense he is saying. And he keeps complaining about flat floors! But floors are supposed to be flat! Elderly would trip over stuff on the floor if it werent flat and furniture would not stay in place.
I grew up in cheap canvas shoes that had 0 arch support and 0 raised heel..i wore those since I started school and went through all of those years of school in those ( while my classmates were wearing those "stylish" name brand shoes that had arch support + raised heels). This was back in the 80s. But then I started to buy those popular shoes too once I graduated high school.. I didnt know anything really how shoes were made. And I certainly never thought about what the shoe does to your feet. Well 10 years later after wearing those modern shoes I was having SO many shoes problems it was not funny. The modern shoes made me walk crooked! And the shoe itself grew crooked on the heel. And now these days the shoes are made of such " puffy" material that I could not walk even one block in them without the whole heel of the shoe caving in. That heel material just collapses and folds up on itself so the heel of the shoe is at some crazy angle. That is what a modern shoe does to me. And its a very expensive problem. What good is a shoe you spent over $100 on and not even a day later its all crooked and unwearable?
But years ago I had to spend a year to teach myself how to walk when I went back to a "barefoot" shoe. This was the results of what I had noticed. This is what a modern shoe did to my feet:
1. My big toe was NEVER touching the ground. My big toe and the toe next to it were up in the air due to the arch support in the modern shoe.
2. The inner "ball of the foot" which is right behind the big toe was NOT touching the ground either. It was up in the air!
3. All of my body weight was on the little toes.
4. At this time if I went to the shoe store and stood on that machine I was "flat footed".
5. I tried the motion control shoes from the store and they didnt DO anything. The one brand would get crooked in 3 months. I once bought a $100+ New Balance ( which the man told me would stop the issue) and in a month they were so horribly crooked on both heels that they were impossible to wear. They were putting too much strain on my knees too by this point.
And it took me a YEAR to fix this stuff once I switched back to a canvas shoe. I had to walk super slow and carefully place my foot down paying attention to what my foot was doing. First I had to teach the ball of the foot behind the big toe to make contact with the ground and then many months later I had to teach the big toe that too. But this is what modern shoes do to my feet: big toe up in the air!
And a raised heel destroys the heel of the shoe. It gets all crooked fast and caves in!'
I have been living in these barefoot shoes now for years. I walk on both concrete and on dirt forest trails. I walk long distances too. I dont have any foot pain. Or leg pain. Of course I know how to get enough nutrition. Often people are low on potassium. That can cause tight muscles. Or its magnesium. I supplement my diet.
But modern shoes are JUNK. They destroy your feet. Especially if you have hypermobile feet like I do! And that is the one thing the shoe store guys didnt know. I didn't know it either! Both my big toes can go upward at 90 degree angles. And yes I have hEDS. I was just diagnosed with it back in Nov 2020.
But the thing is many people can be hypermobile and you have no idea. I didnt know. And I think the arch support made my feet very weak and then they collapse.
These days my feet are strong. I have high arches. And years ago back at that shoe store I was flat footed! But the walking in a barefoot shoe makes your feet strong.
And yes I feel everything through the shoe. I step on a sidewalk crack I feel it. I feel the little twigs too. I can scramble up rocks or go on a dirt trail in the forest. I can do eagle pose while balancing on one foot. And I ride in the barefoot shoes too with my feet balanced on the stirrups. And yes I certainly feel the stirrups texture under my forefoot!
I have tried the "modern" shoes and they just dont work with my feet. But I did grow up wearing cheap canvas shoes.
I also remember previous winters what had happened to my winter boots that had heels on them. Because raised heels made me overpronate, the winter boots would literally fall apart by February. I would wait as long as possible before I started to wear them - like either in January or the very end of December. But the hole heel area would be wrecked in like 2 months. Because the walking motion was putting my body weight in the "wrong" spot. And I was doing a lot of daily walking. As in at least 3 miles if not more. The boots could not take that. Its the raised heel that makes me overpronate. I am also "knocked kneed" plus have the hypermobility too...
But those modern shoes just do NOT work for me. They are not made for people who have very hypermobile feet!
Hey Neal, I have a pretty weak right eye compared to my left eye. My ophthalmologist told me that my brain ignores the signal from my right eye probably 90% of the time and corrective lenses can’t help it much. My brain never completely figured out how to interpret the signal from my right eye is what I’ve been told. I’m right handed and and left side dominance in terms of strength at the gym with every muscle group in my body. There’s a lot of cross dominance stuff going on here and I’m having trouble understanding how your videos relate to me. Compared to my left side I frequently get injuries on my right side. My right hip flexor gave me incredibly bad problems in high school on year, I have arthritis in my right big toe, my right calf doesn’t like to activate on the inner side, my right glute doesn’t activate as well as the left, and I favor my left side when doing all back and arm exercises. Can you make a video on being left side dominant (if I am, I definitely think I am) and how having a right eye weakness works into that? You have so many videos that have helped me but often I don’t know if some of them are applicable to me
Just from personal experience and from doing this for a long time: your left side strength may be coming from your very strong left hip flexors/lower back muscles, or you may have just learned to use your left leg really well. My left leg was always stronger than my right but I was still the left AIC pattern underneath. Vision is really tricky and can make people think they are somehow the opposite of everything, but they really aren’t. To see where you fit into the PRI realm, you’d need to be evaluated. Vision is too unpredictable.
Neal I love how curious you and and are always perfecting your knowledge and wisdom from constant research! Brilliant man! ❤
Thank you!
As a physical therapist, I think this video is mostly useless. By the time he showed the picture of that guys feet I turned it off.
First of all, yes. Uneven, soft grounds are the real deal and you shouldn’t walk with minimalistic shoes on artificial surfaces for too long.
But seriously, that guys left foot was clearly overpronated and let’s talk about why that really happens. If you pay attention to the big toe, you can see that the left big toe is less abducted than the right big toe.
The ability to abduct the big toe correlates with a so called navicular drop Index which correlates with flat feet the higher it gets.
And this precisely, can be helped with barefoot shoes. If you give the toes it’s freedom, mobilize it with manual therapy and do exercises, maybe wear toe spacers - you can definitely work against overpronation.
His left foot is not overpronated. His body is shifted to the right, which makes it appear that way. It’s not a physical issues. It’s a neuro-sensory issue, which is the point of the video.
It's all about sensory Input, Safety and our past. Had a pair of shoes that had a thin front sole and thick chushy back sole. I loved the shoes but in the end, not feeling the back of the foot as much as the foot gave me an uneven feeling or an out of timing. A heel elevation gives me an overstricking and an non steady walk pattern, so the center of mass is a little before the body - so over time the body and posture have to follow and beside your left and right pattern we will get a front and back pattern too.
Save walking is a solution to get better, but walking in flat and functional shoes or barefoot is a solution for the front/back pattern, more feeback from your surrounding help too.
So if you have a more domiinant front/back pattern than you have mostlikely a dynamic problem which will represent itself in your static standing and sitting reperesentations.
if you have right/left dominant not front/back this talk is more for you.
But old age will catch us all, not training, not walking or aging will make front/back pattern more dominant with time by most people.
I have a more supinated left foot and a more pronated right foot (opposite to the video). My face is not symmetrical left side is way better than the right side. Right molars barely touch each other. I think my body is turned to the right side with the weight leaning on the left foot. Also my left rib cage is pressed on the inside (don't know the medical term).
When the right foot is more pronated, it generally means something above the torso is influencing it. The observation you made about your right molars could be cause of the atypical foot pattern.
@@NealHallinan So fixing my molars could fix the problem?
Okay...
I have waited tables 20+ years plus added in bartending, cooking, and as a bouncer as well as fighting (kickboxing and grappling)
I will tell you that barefoot shoes have 100% fixed a ton of issues i have with my feet at age 49.
I have high arches and neuropathy in my toes.
I can not wear any other type of shoe after 3 months of barefoot shoes, i have tried and they absolutely suck.
Now keep in mind the shoes would wear before are not trash shoes, being on my feet for a living i spend a good amount on shoes.
I also workout 5 days a week.
Maybe because i have walked a LOT for years i normally walk heal-outside foot-balls of foot/toes.
Maybe its from years of fighting?
Maybe because i know how to breath i dont have some of the other problems.
To sum up, i walk with intention, and i have no issues with barefoot shoes, with normal good shoes i am in constant pain
To add a little idea, maybe teach your people total core exercises that will keep them more naturally in line
Very very intereting thanks.
Im a couple if weeks into minimalist shoes, i have high arches ( left is higher than right ).
Definitely hate fkat hard ground but everything else is much much better, and im slowly getting the hang of controlling the flat surface walking, putting heel down very smoothly and controlling the foot is key.
The rest of my body is very much like you say , uneven as hell and im really working on the things you mention.
Im very torn about the arch support though, might need to just add some light arch support for the sensory feed back that you mention.
Most of the time i walk on the grass next the the path which is uneven and feel very good under my feet and i do not need any arch support there though ..
Btw i wear normal trainers too till i get property tuned to barefoot, but i really feel the raised heel and small toe box affecting my foot posture and throwing everything out making me feel weary quickly and hurting all over my body, i dont get that with the barefoot, just have to walk slower which drives my wife and daughter mad who now wont walk with me ...😂
Wow
I transitioned to barefoot over 4 years ago, after breaking my toe and dislocating my ankle, I couldn’t stand the pressure of shoes on the area at that time and looked for wider options, which eventually led me to the barefoot movement. I’m already prone to tight hip flexors, but I noticed in photos recently my upper body is tilted forward and I’ve had left SI joint pain for some time now. My mobility is pretty good, but again I notice loss of flexibility in the mid back, exactly as you described.
Now I’m in a quandary because when I put normal running shoes on, my feet and arch ache and fatigue fast.
Lots to think on for me !!! thanks for sharing this, it was a bit of a lightbulb moment for me.
From lots of experience doing this, left SI joint pain is due to an unstable left hip which by definition will leave you with poor "left heel recognition" since your weight will be shifted too far forward on your left side. People will unconsciously lock out their left knee to stabilize things, but that just overactivates their hip flexors and they get stuck in this vicious cycle of instability and tension.
Maybe an idea to compromise might be a wide toe box zero drop or lower drop running shoe like Inov8. I'm trying that and resting the minimalist shoes for a while except when running in the woods.
Just an idea.
What would you recommend to people who have barefoot shoes because of the wide toe box. Normal shoes were giving me bunions because of how my big toe was being forced over and I’ve only found barefoot shoes to have that wide toe box.
I’m interested in this as well. Although I’ve always worn flat shoes in the gym I’ve only recently got wide toe ones.
That’s a conundrum. I don’t really know. There is a PRI shoe list that you can find online. Some of those may have a wider toe box. I’ve never had a problem with the toe box issue, personally.
@@NealHallinan I'm wondering about making a sort of DIY hybrid shoe. Take the barefoot shoes I own and add a widewidth insole like the superfeet insoles that cup the heel and provide arch support. Would something like that provide the type of heal contact you're describing in your video? That way I could not irritate my toe joint, but get the feedback my feet need?
Learning that the diaphragm is NOT one single membrane of a muscle, really helped me solve the riddle of my pain at my ribs. Thanks for sharing!
Tell us more
Would walking barefoot on the beach or forest help with reactivating balanced hips?
Hey could I get a example of where to to the padding in my minimalist shoes? A picture maybe or a better explanation so I can get an idea of exactly where to place the padding.. thank you if you reply
Well, not that you're in any way stupid, but the ideology of this is wrong. You will walk on not level surfaces when you go outside. Even in the big city you will Walk up and down steps. You will step on small things that are not evenly flat surfaces. Just try walking in barefoot shoes for any amount of time and you will see how true unlevel things are. You feel every little crack in the road, where the edge of a step is, you gravel and rocks under your feet. You can feel a throw rug and Small incline. You may think it's flat, but a barefoot shoes wearing person know different. Your problem is that you're worried you will be losing customers if people catch on to how good the really are for you.
I 53 & been barefoot lifestyle for 6 years,I’m also yogi & calisthenics,after discovering in June that I’m ‘right torsion’ I’ve made incredible progress in the shoulder area & it’s going well getting the rib flare down,but I’m not seeing any progress in areas down below & ive a feeling next time I see my therapist,I’m gonna have to put the barefoot shoes to one side & look at a proper heel support & arch,I 100% get where your coming from,as I completely relate to the higher arch on the right & makes sense about not sensing the ground properly,over the last month or so,I have experimented with a bit of folded up felt under the arch & things do feel different,but obviously I have no clue/experience with this,so can’t wait to get back to the therapist & discuss the next phase of unravelling this nightmare ‘right torsion’ x
Forgot to mention,I’ve given up yoga & dialled back my calisthenics & weights.i only practice stuff that doesn’t put me in extension & I only do single limb training now & just with the basics of keeping out of extension,is helping loads x
@@-technodream- As I know from my own personal experience, torsions are really difficult. They effectively take away your “ground sense”. A change of shoes can certainly make a difference, but the primary driver is coming from the cranium and even changing shoes may not make a huge difference. On the other hand, the cranium may not be able to unlock fully without appropriate shoes. So you never know until you try. Good luck!
Right torsion here too! it's a journey :) be patient but also you can have fun, I recommend exploring Salsa dancing, boxing, hula hooping, climbing :)
Hi, new subscriber here. I'm glad that I clicked before I bought minimalist shoes again. I didn't want to go back to getting a second pair to 'fix' my problems with feet from working in safety toe boots (steel toe and composite) for years. Military boots and now working in the large power plant where I'm walking most of my 12 hours shifts.
Thank you very much for your explanations!!! They helped me.
Could you do a whole entire video on being left handed and everything that it had to do with even tho your not left handed but what if you were ? 😳
Gym bros always asking me about my routine for my massive calves. Not gonna lie theyre amazing to look at. Just dont touch them theyre always very tender and tight. My routine is simple: living with high arches. 🤣😭
My MAT/MET specialist said that one of major issies with me is neurological. My brain and my body are on non speaking terms. He proved this to me by testing my ROM all over my body, then having me sensitize my bare feet for a minute on each foot with a fork, and then retested and my weak muscles were no longer weak and my ROM increased significantly!
It sounds like voodoo and im a man of science but it worked. And basically my mind muscle connection is not very good and a lot of that comes through from your feet! Sooo he said i should start wearing barefoot shoes asap and feel the ground. Get my body to feel new and different and what old is new stimuli through my feet. And it makes sense and ill tell you why.
Even on this channel for PRI, Neal talks about how being in a stressful vs non or less stressful environment or in a different part of a room can affect your muscle activation and ROM. Hes gone over stuff like music, dance, speech..it all affects how your brain communicates neurologically with your body.
I just started seeing a PRI guy in NY named Sean Light. Endorsed by Conor Harris and works with professional athletes and in the NBA. He said to me that i probably do the same thing every day. The same routine. The same stimuli. Im not introducing my brain to any new or unpredictable stimuli. Its important to expose my brain to different stimuli snd rebuild those neurons (my phrasing, not his).
Soo walking with barefoot shoes, even on flat, even surfaces, for someone like me whos never done that before and is in pain is a net positive because it's introducing my brain to new kinds of stimili through my feet. If my feet start to hurt,i will cross that bridge when i get to it. But rn, i need to get out of pain and i believe walking barefoot all the time will have a positive affect on rebuilding those neural pathways.
Hello Neal. I am writing through a translator, since I am from Russia. We also had a PRI specialist in the Russian-speaking segment, who had been familiar with this rehabilitation technique for several years, but only started practicing a week ago (90/90 exercises and others). They tell me that my sacrum is not positioned according to the classic scenario as in PRI, but it seems to me that the pelvis still points to the right. Can I send you a photo of my back, what would you like to see?) I would love to go to visit New Jersey, but there is no such opportunity 😃 thank you for making such videos
I honestly don’t know where to start I found you recently and it’s so much info regardless I’m grateful
it's good to find more than one opinion :)! Cheers! Jesus saves!
Halfway through my ALF treatment I developed a strange compulsion to get out of normal shoes. I’ve never looked back. No desire to compress my toes and elevate my heals. Want to spread my toes and stay flat.
Who knows what it’s doing to me.
How can we get in touch! Please I need to find you. I have the same problem.
Weird my experience is the complete opposite of everthing you just told. I find shoes eliminate the sensory feedback too much
Haha this is hilarious, overactive hip flexors are more so from the gait of maximal shoes that has been created … you should be having your feet access posterior muscle in gait which will in return sort your posture on its own like tribal people who don’t need intervention…
You talk about one good bad arch and transitioning to barefoot will help sort that itself!
You think the best martial artists and gymnastics people are doing something wrong barefoot 🦶🏽 on flat ground ! lol
hi, it works perfectly for me with the paper towels under the left heel and the right arch! Immediately feel better and pain-free when walking! what does this mean for the future? Exercises? Deposits?
Whats your opinion on toe spreaders? ive been wearing some for the last few months and felt ive had good results and better function of my toes.
Hello Neal, showed this to some friends at work and it blew their minds a bit. Do you think you could possibly make some recommendations on footware for flat surfaces? Also any thoughts on zero drop vs elevated heel? And are wide toe boxes preferable to slim narrow shoes?
Hi neal thanks for the video. I enjoyed it very much. However I am sure you must have come across the hea less chichen phenomenon, where the head, ie brain has little to do with walking and the instruction for walking comes from the back bones and vertibries I appreciate your COMMENT?
Overactive hip flexors is a lack of glute activation in gait, they should lengthen and retract if you walk correctly and main thing that creates the opposite is stiff elevated heels which ends up more so swinging lifting to move forward less glute and core work for your posture! So barefoot shoes need natural gait mechanics not shoe mechanics
Imagine living your entire life never walking without shoes, and having to slowly transition into barefoot shoes.
I think the only times when regular shoes can outshine minimalist shoes is foot birth defects, and standing on an concrete floor for extended periods of time, but in those times surgery and fatigue mat would do wonders.
I am using Hykes Pinnacle barefoot shoes, best shoes I have ever owned and will never go back to restricted regular shoes. My feet are so much stronger and love the feeling once you get used to them.
Woah. This video just blew me away. I finally know what has been going on with my body for the last 17 years. Thankyou so much.
The problem is, so often where I live I am walking switching between man made flat surfaces and natural earth/grass all the time. So which shoes do I pick?
Barefoot shoes are the most optimal way to go. Read Born to Run. Read physical therapist from Harvard, Irene Davis Ph.D. research studies about history of barefoot shoes and bodily impact. Heel striking with sneakers causes increased knee injuries.
Idk why everything is so black and white for everyone. Switching over? Like permanently a hundred percent? Who does that? What about the natural intermittent barefoot training? I like to connect to the earth barefoot and obviously use midfoot strike to avoid the injuries. Basically chi walking barefoot is where your core pulls you and the limbs follow.
Hi Neal thank you! very profound 🙏
A question - can I put heel cups inside my barefoot shoes and fix the sensory deficiency?
(it's just that I really enjoy having wide toe box to splay and regular shoes do not have this option so much..)
Thanks for all your content very helpful!
You could certainly try it, but from my experience most people will need a pair of sneakers with stable heels and insoles for arch sense before they can get neutral and then restabilize.
I wonder if this is why some people believe in “grounding”, which has some pseudoscientific explanation about body electrical charge, maybe what they are actually getting walking barefoot on earthen surfaces is natural sensory input on their feet and this relaxes or is otherwise therapeutic.
What kind of footwear do you recommend? You’re talking about arch and heel, but what about toes that are being squished together in a lot of common footwear? Toes seem to not get the chance to have sensory input when the front of the shoe does not allow for each toe to feel what’s beneath it. So are you a fan of wider toe boxed footwear? Also, even if we have these sensory aids under certain parts of our feet, we often also get sneakers that have very stiff soles. Would the best results come from a shoe with a combination of flexible soles, but with arch support and a raised heel, and a wide toe box? That’s a bit more of a combination of both the sensory aids but not the complete restriction of some common sneaker designs today. I have a completely opposite experience from what you are describing. I find your video very interesting but never had issues with foot pain and never had to monitor what kind of footwear I had on. Once I started wearing only very over supported sneakers, did I start developing foot pain because I wore these new types of supported styles to the point in which I could no longer walk without them. I would say that although I completely agree that we were not intended to walk on flat concrete all the time, I also don’t think our feet should have difficulty operating without footwear when doing simple tasks like standing at home or walking around the home barefoot. I’m also not entirely convinced barefoot shoes are good for cardio on concrete. So overall I think there is a lot to be gained from both sides of the argument. If barefoot shoes are not a solution, it would also be beneficial to talk about what kind of fashionable sneaker trends may have overdone the “support” aspect more as a marketing tool, and also speak of the dangers of wearing some of those over-constricted shoes.
now i see why my jaw was so relaxed when i camped at the beach barefoot for 2 days
That is definitely possible. uneven earth works very well with a bare foot.
@@NealHallinanhello so barefoot is very good??I
Hi Neal. Thank you so much for the videos. In addition to PRI, do you think acupuncture can help to balance out left and right sides? I recently went to one session and it really changed the way I was walking. It really threw me for a loop neurologically. My palms and feet were sweating and it felt like my body was fighting to figure out what to do with new muscles that had come into play. I had to keep taking naps because it was so exhausting. I felt my left abs and hip flexors kicking in to participate when they were previously dormant. It felt like I could feel the floor on the left and my left my left glute turned on and was trying to help hold me over to the left. My right hip and low back was not as tight. Then after about 24 hours it wore off all of the sudden and my body went back to its old pattern. But I am wondering if I kept going on a regular basis it would stop wearing off. I am fighting an injury caused by a chiropractor 8 years ago. It’s a long story.
You can certainly try it, but I have no personal experience with it. Sometimes we can “un-pattern” and then “re-pattern” and it can make you feel pretty lousy. My guess is that your neck didn’t “release” fully, or if it did, may have become overactive again.
I started wearing barefoot shoes a couple months ago. I do a lot of walking for exercise and my work is on a flat surface. Great at first but my left hip started to be painful and sometimes I have to take ibuprofen for relief. Thanks for this video, it explains my pain. Back to my brooks. I might add I see a chiropractor every three weeks for preventive of low back pain. I had him treat my hip pain on the last two visits and he noticed my pelvis was rotated and he asked me if I was doing anything different. I told him no because I did not even think of the shoes being different.
Brooks are really good shoes for neuro-sensory input.
Only 1 minute into the video and already looking forward to what you have to say. I tried Altras for walking and since then I’ve been dealing with a weird numbness in my right big toe and the section between the big toe and first toe and it’s really concerning. My chiropractor says I have a metatarsal issue and suggested pads but they seem to cause more aggravation in my foot. Idk really weird though. Any ideas?
Although I get what you’re saying, I guess I’m now confused more than ever. I’ve been trying to become a minimalist with my shoes and follow ones who are proponents of Vivo and other “barefoot “ shoes. So are we or are we not supposed to have arch support, etc? 🤔🥴
So now i am really curious, i am right hand dominant and left leg dominant, what now?
Hi Neal, you have very very interesting videos. I’ve had knee pain for some time and have turned to research and Chinese medicine for assistance since going to a PT doesn’t seem to help me much. I am a dancer so am moving my body a lot, but have been having issues with pain around my knee cap for the past two years. I’ve had an MRI and X ray and everything appears fine. It gets worse in heels and sometimes when barefoot, which has me believe it could be an alignment thing. Weirdly enough switching to barefoot shoes and use of the mobo balance board has actually seemed to help quite a bit. One thing to note is I have flat feet and a bunion on my right foot, which I have a feeling may contribute.
This is my right knee I’m talking about and in general my right side tends to have more issues. I also feel jaw tension often on my right side.
In Chinese medicine they talk about the right and left being the masc/feminine sides or yin/Yang sides, so I’ve been thinking about that and how the pain could potentially be related to my way of being.
But I love what you have to say and am excited to learn more about PRI. I’m wondering if you have any input on what could possible be creating this pain? Thank you 🙏
Hi Neil, how do I book a zoom call with you? Your link doesn't work.
Crazy i have zero issues with mine ,no pain ever ,maybe none of this stuff applies cause im not listening to someone use a bunch of big words and a guy told not to drop his legs down lol
I think the videos is only considering western lifestyle where many are wearing shoes indoors. For Asian, we spend more time barefoot on flat floors most of the time in daily life.
Thank You So much ❤
I really have no opinion on it because I've never worked with a client who goes barefoot 24/7. If they spend most (or much) of their lives on real earth, it may be ok.
interesting. I have a shakti matt which is to lie on but i love standing on it. maybe it would begood to do some exercise while standing on it to activate the heel.
Do you think the shift of the body to one side has something to do with our dominant hand? I am left-handed and I believe my whole body has an exactly inverted problem to the one that you describe (my right foot is pronated, the left foot supinated etc.). I have lots of asymmetrically tight muscles, and according to your theory, they are tight on the "wrong" side considering the organs and their needs. Can this lead to some additional health issues?
The underlying pattern is the same in all of. The overlying pattern (our compensations for this underlying asymmetry) are unique to the individual. If I see a flatter right foot, and higher left foot, it is due to compensations. The science of PRI is to figure out how to undo those compensations.
I totally resonate and agree with what you are saying. In my opinion, the right side has to do with "self". Simply put, putting ourselves first or relying on our own strengths to navigate through life. This can lead to worry, anxiety, and fear which all can contribute to being too much on the right side. Its a big topic but I really appreciate how you address the whole mind and body, Neal.
Hi, been watching your content, just a niggling doubt- say my body developed another compensatory pattern on top of a highly pronounced left AIC, would you directly treat the left AIC or the secondary compensation?
For eg. : plantar fasciitis on right foot due to left aic and then another compensation to avoid the right foot when running.
The left AIC is still the underlying pattern so you treat that. The compensations simply strengthen the left AIC pattern but will undoubtedly create compensatory tightness in the thorax and perhaps neck. I had plantar fasciitis in both feet for 5 years. My feet were never the problem. They were just the victims.
what about adding some naboso inserts for more sensory input
If you dont like flat floors why dont you go buy a few dump trucks of dirt, rocks, sand, boulders, old fallen logs etc and put it inside your house! Then you will not have flat floors!
I hope you realize floors are flat so objects will stay in place - like furniture - and so people who have walking problems like the elderly - wont trip.
But you really seem to hate flat floors the way you are going on and on and on about it (which sort of annoys me as obviously floors are supposed to be flat)
Or go hire some architect to build you a house with UNflat floors. Like where the floor is all rippled or something. Have no idea how youd get furniture in there.
How could a supermarket have the shelves stay upright if the floor was all crooked bumpy and not level? The shelving would fall over.
I personally think option #1 is best for you but your landlord would have you evicted.
Or you could go live in a cave?
I am not neurotypical so I think differently. I think you have several options to fix your flat floor issue.
@@sarahb.6475 Or you can just wear better shoes and it will be much cheaper and easier than what you suggest.
there are barefoot shoes with a arch , this video doesn’t address that
Hello Neal, I have just discovered your channel and have been looking through your videos and I actually want to start doing the things you recommend but I'm always confused about the fact that even though I'm most likely left AIC (as you've mentioned in your other videos that most people are), I see that almost every example has high arch on the right feet and low arch on the left but for me it's the opposite and for example when I split squat I feel the left glutes a lot (and my left glutes are more developed also) and almost no at all on the right (and a lot of quad on the right but not much on the left). Should I still do the things you recommend for the Left AIC pattern or should I maybe do them while supporting the higher arch even though it is the opposite feet (left in this case, as opposed to the right that you usually show in your examples)? I also have a bit of an S shaped scoliosis, does that maybe relate to any of this?
I have a pectus excavatum so my ribcage is dramatically asymmetrical. My right side rib cage is sticking out while my left is sucken in. To add insult to injury, or I should say injury to insult, my right eye took a traumatic blow and now ive lost some vision in that eye so my left eye is stronger than my right! I guess I'm all balanced out.
I have the same issue pectus
Man modern society is so frustrating
thank you this was really helpful, I have been wearing barefoot running shoes for 10 years and love them but recently I was in pain and having trouble. This made me once again mindful that I need to run on dirt paths, trails and grass not concrete for the benefits and if I run on concrete paths I will be in pain. I forgot to apply this rule and was wondering why my barefoot running shoes stopped working!
It's definitely better to run/walk on uneven ground when given the chance.