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What are Barefoot Shoes?
“Barefoot Shoes” give you that natural, free, fun feeling of being in bare feet — letting your toes spread, and your feet bend and move and flex — while letting you safely FEEL the world beneath you. All those sensors in your soles give your brain the feedback it needs to help your body move better, efficiently, and enjoyably.
Are Minimalist Shoes and Barefoot Shoes the Same Thing?
In short, NO.
“Minimalist” was a term that big shoe companies came up with in mid-2010 to describe the shoes they created to capitalize on the sudden interest in running barefoot.
While “barefoot shoes” are minimalist, not all minimal shoes are barefoot.
Harvard’s Dr Irene Davis defines minimalist/barefoot shoes as:
- No unnecessary cushioning
- No unnecessary “support”
- Wide enough for natural movement
- Flexible enough for natural movement
She calls shoes that do some of the above “partial-minimalist.”
Frankly, we call them “fake minimalists” because they claim to be the same as true minimalist footwear, but they’re not.
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