I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.I didn't realize how much time I spend barefoot until I read this book. I'm constantly barefoot at home (I'm a stay-at-home mom, so I'm home pretty much the whole day); and when I do venture out, I tend to wear sandals so my feet can breathe and I can kick them off while driving or sitting at a restaurant. And yes, my feet need to breathe. It is amazing how much feet regulate the body temperature-and my feet need to stay cool because I'm going through menopause right now. If my feet get hot, my temperature goes up immediately and I literally feel like I can't get a decent breath. It's a weird feeling.
I think this book is a nice introduction to a barefoot lifestyle. Probably more for people thinking about it more so than the ones who actually practice it. I'm from that generation where shoes were put on kid's feet to "support the ankles." I was told never to go barefoot because I would get hookworm and as a kid, the thought of any kind of worm working its way inside your feet is scary! And when I stepped on a nail out in the woods that went deep into the arch of my foot, my mother triumphantly proclaimed, "See? I told you going barefoot was dangerous."
I was impressed with the anatomy lesson on the foot and I appreciate the research done and the bibliography of other sources to check out in regards to barefoot living. Dispelling myths about the foot and going shoeless, I learned that maybe some of my aches and pains in my hips and lower back might just be because of the shoes I choose to wear. After all these years, I might not be able to fix damage that has already been done, but maybe I can make what I have left work better.
Lots of food for thought here, and I recommend this book. I don't know how many people would really make a change to barefoot living, but I think more time spent barefoot is a good thing. New moms should pay particular attention as they can save their children a lifetime of aches and pains by being smarter. As the saying goes, "when you know better, you do better." Let your babies feet develop correctly right from the get-go.
As the author of Fixing Your Feet: Prevention and Treatments for Athletes, this book caught my attention. I am seeing more and more people joining the barefoot and minimalist movement.Fixing Your Feet: Prevention and Treatments for Athletes
The premise of The Barefoot Book is that feet and shoes are at odds with each other. The author promotes a barefoot lifestyle and the subtitle, 50 Great Reasons to Kick Off Your Shoes, supports his cause to get readers to shed their shoes.
The book starts with a chapter that covers a short history of how shoes came to be. Chapter 2, "Living Barefoot," shares the stories of 10 people who have to live a life barefoot. I liked how chapter 3 went into detail about the foot and how it works. It was very informative and helpful, especially if the reader has little knowledge of the structure, form, and function of the foot.
The title, of chapter 4, What Your Shoes are Doing to You, carries forward the author's premise that shoes are bad for you. Readers learn a bit about the history of shoes and their construction and purpose; a lot about how shoes change the way stand, walk, run and feel the ground; followed by a discussion of negative conditions and injuries common to feet.
I found it interesting that the Howell would devote almost all of chapter 5 to the effects of high-heeled shoes, and a short bit of dress and work shoes. Chapter 6 is informative as we learn about the ways shoes affect children. All parents should read this chapter.
I loved chapter 7 where time was spent on walking, running, and hiking barefoot. This is a worthwhile subject given today's interest in going minimalist or shoeless. People wanting to try running and hiking barefoot, especially, need information on how to start out (slowly) and what to pay attention to. Howell does a good job of imparting this important information. Too many people want to try barefoot and do too much too soon, and become injured so this is an important chapter.
Chapter 9 offers alternatives in footwear for the times when one cannot go barefoot but want to be as minimalist as possible. Chapter 10, Getting Out There, starts with 11 ways you can start towards a barefoot lifestyle. The second half of the chapter deals with common hurdles, working barefoot, businesses, cold conditions, and social pressure. All helpful information.
I loved chapter 11, Mythbusters, where Howell debunks seven common myths about going barefoot. A few include driving barefoot, OSHA and the "bare feet prohibited" warnings, barefoot dangers, and barefoot liability. It was fun reading. For those interested in liabilities, the appendix lists five pages of a sampling of lawsuits where shoes were essential to the cause of the lawsuit.
So, were there actually 50 reasons to kink off your shoes and go barefoot? Yes. For a while, I kept paging through the book looking for an organized list. There was none. Then I discovered that throuought the book, on the outside of the page, were an outline of a barefoot. In the big toe outline was a number, 1 -50, and then inside the foot was a reason. Very cleverly done.
I recommend The Barefoot Book for those interested in trying the barefoot lifestyle. One could argue that we all need to try it and Howell does just that and does it well. My only reservation is that there is an obvious bias that shoes are bad for your feet. That said, Howell backs up his statements with facts that are hard to argue with. Read the book in the context of your lifestyle and make your own choices. Me? I love going barefoot at times. In fact, I think I'll try hiking barefoot this summer.
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I'm an avid runner. For the past six months I've been researching barefoot running, and entertaining the thought of becoming a barefoot runner. After I completed my research, the notion of a barefoot lifestyle sounded perfectly natural, but I still had questions. This book thoroughly answered all of them.In layman's terms, the author explains the anatomy and function or our feet. The importance of our heels, arches, toes, etc, and how they are made to support our daily activities. He discusses various health reasons why we should put aside our shoes, and gives 50 practical reasons to begin a barefoot lifestyle. The book contains a nice section on how to transition into barefoot walking, running, or hiking and provides an overview of the pros and cons of the minimalist shoes available. I've chosen to transition into barefoot running using the Vibram Five Fingers minimalist shoes. I've gone for my first "barefoot" run and to my surprise only had sore calves which is to be expected since you engage those muscle when you run barefoot. It's wonderful! My shins and knees don't hurt and my feet felt much lighterwhich improved my running time (that I loved).
This is a quick and easy read. It is the perfect book for the newbie interested in barefoot walking, running, hiking or a barefoot lifestyle. You will walk away an informed barefoot practitioner.
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The Barefoot Book was a pleasant surprise to me at first I didn't believe that going barefoot now, at age 47 and with diabetic neuropathy and constant foot pain could possibly help me. I was wrong! It helps! My feet feel much better after gradually increasing the number of hours I go barefoot over a week!The day I go this book was the day my podiatrist told me that my foot muscles have atrophied "due to diabetes." I can't begin to say how upset I was to get yet another lousy diagnosis. I am only 47 and my feet hurt all the time! A few months ago a different doctor wanted to do ankle surgery because my left ankle also hurts all the time, but I decided against it after talking to a PT who told me he has never yet seen ankle or foot surgery work out really well.
So, I read this book, and at first I wasn't convinced. When I read this quote in chapter 2 "I truly believe there would be fewer wars and less crime if we all went barefoot!" I was really turned and stopped reading it for half a day. Honestly, the first few chapters of the book aren't tremendously convincing. However, when my feet began to hurt again so badly that I had to lie down and elevate them, I decided I might as well keep reading. As I read farther, and go to the chapters with more convincing medical arguments, I figured I might as well give it a try and see what happened. Since I am at home much of the time, trying to go barefoot more often hasn't been a huge problem. I didn't expect it to help anything because my feet already hurt all the time, especially when I walk around, and I figured I really, really needed the padding in my ugly diabetic shoes to at least reduce the pain.
WRONG! What a surprise after only a week of gradually going barefoot inside my feet hurt A LOT LESS! In fact, when I put on my lace-up diabetic shoes to go out for a few hours, I was shocked by how much my feet hurt in the shoes. My feet did in fact feel much worse in the shoes. They felt inflexible, my gait felt uneven and unstable and I couldn't wait to get those shoes off even though just a week ago I would have said they were the most comfortable shoes I have ever had. Now I am working on making myself some soft, flexible, non-binding "shoes" that will protect the bottom of my feet from hot cement and rocky terrain. I think I never want to wear traditional modern shoes again. Go barefoot!
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Here I am writing this, Barefoot (and NOT pregnant)...just had to emphasize that last detail. As a child, I was one of those ruffians who preferred running around the house buck naked and barefoot. Now, I realize our society does not look favorably upon my youthful preference for nil attire. Instead of running off to a commune amongst leftover Woodstockers, I relegated that fantasy to my edgy counterculturalists. Barefooting may challenge the norm, but it will not send me to the jailhouse for over-exposure. Bared feet are only immodest to those Victorian-era females forced to lace up for fear that a man might lust after that pointy ankle joint.For the past twenty months, I have been experimenting with minimalist footwear, specifically the Vibram FiveFingers. This natural progression lead me to The Barefoot Book: 50 Great Reasons to Go Barefoot by Daniel Howell. Affectionately dubbed "The Barefoot Professor," Howell has appeared on various popular media, podcasts, and radio shows proclaiming his message of barefoot living for foot health and overall wellbeing. I watched a Today show interview of shoeless Howell with two well-heeled females, and I was intrigued by his audacity to buck the normal attire prerequisite. Can you think of any other interviewee who has appeared on mainstream television without shoes? Nor could I.
Having a Kindle, I can mark my favorite portions of the book for future reference. Here are five of my highlights.
* There have been injuries caused by trying to do too much barefoot activity too soon, before the feet and body can make the necessary changes that need to occur. This can take months to years.
* Encased within shoes whenever we exercise, our feet miss out on the action; while the rest of our body gets a workout, our feet are unable to flex, twist, grasp, feel, or breathe.
* We can regard the modern shoe as a cast.
* Habitual shoe wearing shortens the Achilles tendon to the point that simply standing without shoes can be uncomfortable or even painful.
* Shod runner suffer more injuries per mile than barefoot runners.
Here are five of my thoughts about this enjoyable beachside read.
* Though this book does provide a couple chapters with scientific diagrams and physiological explanations to support his hypothesis, the lay reader can either dig into the research or skip to the practical aspects of the book. Personally, I found the research a fascinating complement providing validation to Howell's proposal for barefoot living. It is not meant to be a comprehensive tome of podiatry.
* The book is divided into clear sections for ease of reading. If you are only interested in the application of barefooting to your daily life, then skip to that portion.
* I found the stories of barefooters to be an asset to the book. I took note of how a shoeless enthusiast can live in a footwear-obsessed culture reasonably.
* The chapter about high-heeled shoes was enough to make me ditch my stilettos for good!
* The last 1/3 of the book was by far my favorite, as Howell addressed obstacles and oppositions that those bared feet might elicit from society, family, friends, and businesses. He provides resources for those who want to barefoot in public, including an online community of barefooters, relevant documents, and legal information.
How has The Barefoot Book impacted my daily life? Here are five changes I have made (for the spring/summer/early fall...need some protection in the winter):
o My home is a shoeless, sock-free, and no-slipper zone.
o I ditch my shoes when walking around my neighborhood or taking out the trash.
o I only wear minimalist shoes when training at the gym. I might get brave enough to try a barefoot session in the future.
o I drive barefoot.
o When my hubby's not with me, I go shopping without shoes.
Reading this book reverted me to the joys I experienced as a child while playing outdoors unshod. Splashing in puddles. Squeezing mud through my toes. Climbing the backyard tree into my fort. Wailing after squishing through doggie poo. Blacktop barefooting contests on 100 degree days. Ah the memories. Thanks to Howell, I get to experience a second childhood through baring these feet whenever I want.
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