Check out this article on barefoot running.. At Egoscue we’ve been telling people for years to go barefoot as much as possible. The muscles of your foot and ankle need stimulus to maintain their strength and function. If you’re wearing shoes all day, especially shoes with “extra support and stability” your foot and ankle muscles just get weaker because the shoe is doing the stabilizing work for them. Here’s an excerpt from Pete’s book The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion..”The shoe manufacturers are selling shoes for dysfunctional feet- feet that are pronating, supinating, bearing weight improperly. The shoe design masks the symptoms of dysfunction-or attempts to- and those symptoms move into the ankle, the lower leg (shin splints), the knee, and the hip.”
Barefoot walking and running allows the foot to regain its strength, stability and function. Take it one step at a time though and make sure you allow your foot to get used to the new stimulus. In other words, walk before you run!
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/11/no-socks-no-shoes-no-problem-barefoot-runners-say/
