Yeah, this crazy toebox bullshit is why I wear stuff like Keens: I hate having my toes smashed together.
I started working from home due to covid and then a year into that I ended up breaking my 5th metatarsal. Due to those two circumstances I've been 90% barefoot for like 3 years now. My feet have physically changed and shoes in general aren't comfortable anymore. Especially the ones that squish.
Here's the guy's citations if anyone wants a look. I'm not educated enough in this field to assess quality but if there happens to be a podiatrist around...
I started getting a little iffy when he expanded from foot problems to making grand claims about the rest of the body, these will take quite some time to review.
or buy wide shoes, or buy a size bigger to have more room. some of those xrays of a foot crammed into a shoe just shows that nobody is telling people how a shoe should fit anymore. the person at Shoe Carnival just rings you out, do they have knowledge on how a shoe should fit? i doubt it.
Kuru Quantums for the win:
https://www.kurufootwear.com/products/womens-quantum-2-jetblack-slategray
Wide toebox and a heel designed to collapse around and maintain your natural heel shape instead of crushing your heelpad flat. These are the first shoes in my entire life I don't need orthotics for. And I'm a nurse! I live on my feet all day
Really interesting video.
I'm in my 40s, and honestly have never heard/thought of this as a medical issue. Yes I made jokes about shoes not being foot-shaped, but it stopped there.
I realize I only watched this one video - but this seems both so obvious AND easy to fix, that I wonder why the hell we're still essentially binding our feet.
Now I feel like I should never wear shoes again!
I have narrow feet at the middle, idk what shoe I'm supposed to buy because anything that's wide at the toe is usually too wide midfoot and results in feeling like my shoes are going to role around my feet no matter how I tie them.
Also what shoe are you supposed to buy if you're running on road or sidewalk? Those barefoot shoes are too thin soled IMO, unless you run on dirt paths
I guess my feet aren't in too bad of shape since I can wiggle my toes sideway and grab stuff with my bigtoe and middle toe
I have a similar thing, and I have found that certain shoes with the right lacing pattern work well. Basically, buy something with a big toe-box, but most of the lacing concentrated on the center of the foot so that you can narrow it by lacing it tight. I find that certain Xero shoes, and most iterations of Merrell Trail Gloves work well for this.
I run in vibrams on all surfaces.
60k a week or so, pushing 40y/o
I got back into running lately, hurt my knee and had to take a break, using the very cushioned Hoka Clifton 8.
I think I increased mileage too quickly, but this video makes me think it might be the shoes since before my running hiatus, I used to cover more ground with very flexible Nike Freeruns and was fine although my feet hurt more. Probably only 10k/week back then though.
Right now taking a break because the outside of one of my knees clicks when I bend it.
Any specific vibram model recommendation for sidewalk/hard surfaces?
Altra shoes serving me well these days, they are zero drop with big toe box
Crocs baby, Crocs.
On the topic of quality footwear, does anyone here know a brand of steel toe boots that don't suck? I end up with blisters by the end of a long turnaround in my current pair and I need to replace them soon.
Red Wing always gets my recommendation. Spend the time to find a pair that fits you really well. Instead of ever buying a new pair in the future, send in your old pair to be repaired. They can resole (in and out) them, repair linings and stitching, etc. As long as the leather itself is still in good shape. Take care of the leather on your own at home and theyll last a long time. Ive had mine over 10 years now.
IDK, I used to really recommend Red Wing, but I have been repeatedly told that over the last decade (I have had mine for, I think, 12 years, so not from first-hand experience) their quality has very consistently getting worse. So maybe some caution there.
