The Merrells, here, now have a similar shoe.  These are for people who are afraid to go out with the toes.  This is not your thing.  You’re not the showy person.  I’m a showy person so I don’t mind showing my toes off.  I like the attention I get. Some people don’t like them, and they think they look weird.  Merrell has now made a shoe that you can wear the same way.  There are also Nike Frees.  These came out a few years ago.  They’re more of a minimalist type shoes, as well.

So, these minimalist type shoes, again, we’ve got a little bit of a thinner sole.  This one’s are a little thicker than the Vibrams.  So, this is nice for people who like to do a little more hiking stuff.  It’s a thicker sole than the Vibrams, the Merrells are.  We still have this minimalist.  We don’t really have much on a heel on it, and it doesn’t really have that toe thing going in as the other shoes are.  They’re going to have give in them.  This one, right now, has something in it so I can’t show you how it usually gives, but it has more give.  It is a little bit more forgiving as you move. So, Merrell would be a nice substitute.

Again, I would work my way into these.  You can’t take your way from this to this.  Start by with just one hour and then the two hours and work your way up.  That goes for walking.  Walk for a certain period of time.  Then, up that up to a mile, maybe longer, depending on how far you walk or what you do, distance-wise.

[38:40]

The Merrell would probably be better if you’re going where there’s a little bit more rocky stuff because the sole’s a little bit thicker.

[38:52]

These don’t have any.  If you’re going really mountainous type, you might want something that has a little bit stiffer ankle, but what’s nice about when you have these Merrells and the Vibrams is that it allows your foot to readjust on them.  Naturally, your feet, your ankles, are supposed to readjust and not lock up.

[39:25]

Yeah.  Either way, you can.  Your ankles have to be strong if you’re going to do something of that, and that’s again working your way into them, getting the strength into your ankles because naturally your ankle is supposed to give.  If you really get a truly flexible and strong ankle, you can roll out and not sprain it because the body readjusts.  These joints are meant to do these things.  They have this absorbency and this movement to them.  When we lock them up, they don’t get that movement which means that you have more chance of twisting them, causing problems, spraining them, all of these things.

Since I’ve been working with people or since I’ve been working myself in fixing my feet, I don’t roll my foot out.  If I do, my body responds back and catches me without sprains or inflammation or things like this.  The people I work with have the same results.  They don’t find as much foot pain.  They’re not rolling out as much.  Their body can readjust to the terrains, the different things that happen.  When your feet can feet the ground and feel what’s going on, the body can readjust to these various things that pop into the way.  If our ankles are locked down and I misstep, let’s say, off a rock, my ankle doesn’t move.  What’s going to happen?  It’s going to have to sprain.  It’s going to give, and it’s going to pull on that limb.  Thank you.

[41:22]

So, you’re a big heel striker.  Yeah.  As you work into them, they should start to get you to walk more naturally.  So you don’t have the cushion to cause you to do more heel strike.  Sorry.

[41:42]

You notice the impact more.  This was his question, earlier, that I missed.  Because you notice the impact more, your body won’t let you do that because it doesn’t want the pain.  Because it’s going to feel, it’s naturally going to start go into this walk.  When I went into the Vibrams, I noticed how much more ankle movement I had.  I wasn’t so hard on the heel.  Your body will naturally start to change because it doesn’t want you to strike on them.

[42:11]

You can’t.  You know what, this is where you start becoming aware.  Some women really like to wear their high heels.  We’re going to do it.  With us doing that, you just need to be aware and try to change as much as you can and know that you’re making a conscious decision to wear those shoes.  That’s what I do.  I know I’m going to wear these shoes.  I’m going to feel it tomorrow.  I might work me feet out a little bit, but I do try to walk a little more balanced even in them.  Even if I can’t get to the exact place because the shoes prevent me, I try as much as possible.  I try to get as much ankle and all of these things.  Does that answer your question?

[42:54]

Yeah, definitely.  I don’t recommend concrete running in the Vibrams.  I find that’s a little stressful to the body unless you have built your body enough to handle that.  You want some that’s a little bit thicker sole just because it’s concrete.  I run in them.  I can run on the concrete, but my body’s been trained a little bit more.  Trail running, these are great for.  If you can get in paths, these are for the running.  I would say these are going to be better because of a little bit of a thicker sole.  If you find, though, that you are having a lot of stress on the body, find the shoe that may be a little thicker than this but not too much, not that big high heel on.

[43:45]

How do you balance out?  You just have to understand that it’s a process, and as you continue to keep your mind focused on it and as you continue to focus, that all naturally start to go away.  The pain will naturally start to go away, and you’ll find more balance.  You sometimes have to go through the pain a little bit to get out of the pain.  If you’re focusing on all these things we’re talking about, that pain will start to alleviate as you do it.  Even joint pain, it will start to alleviate.  You just got to work through it and work in a healthy way, not an extreme way.

[44:52]

It does.  It naturally knows.  Your body naturally knows where it wants to be.  You just have to get a little bit out of how you’ve learned it or trained it and get it back to the natural place of where it’s supposed to be.  It’ll know.  It’ll know that this feels more natural.  This feels better.

[45:14]

You should wear them without socks.  They’re fine to wear without socks.  Are you talking about on the outside here?  How long have you had them?  Have you broke them in?  They do take a little bit of tiem to break in.

[46:00]

Okay.  They’re just like any other shoes, and they do take some time to break them in.  They will mold around.  So, there could be some natural breaking in of shoes, the natural rubbings and things.  Once it really starts to form fit your foot, that should go away.  Is it still doing it now?

[46:33]

For a while.

[46:36]

You shouldn’t need to wear the toe socks. You do find that if they’re the right size, they will conform to your foot, but it will take a little bit of breaking in for them to conform to your foot.  They’re just like any other shoes.  They do take some time to get that foot.

[47:02]

What about Skechers or whatever that has been that has been popular lately.

I’m going to be really honest right up.  I hate those.  I really do.  They end up overdeveloping the body in the way that they should not be.  Number one, they’re rounded.  So, they’re already putting your foot in an unnatural position.  Number two, they’re going to work your legs unnaturally.  So, they end up overdeveloping the quads and pushing you forward, and they create unbalance. Even though they talk about it, that it’s the backside, they end up overdeveloping the quads is what really happens.  They do the opposite.  So, I really do not like them.

MBTs are another brand that came out that was supposed to be.  They weren’t there for the shaping up, but they were to mimic a tribe (and I can’t remember the name of the tribe), which was Masai, which is why it’s MBT.  Those are rockers like that, too.  They’re actually bigger rocker, and although that naturalness can ease the joints, which was nice, at the same time, it unnaturally develops the body and not let it do what it’s supposed to do.  It actually throws it more out of whack than in whack.

So, I’m not a big fan of those.  I will say that, I’m sorry if there’s a Skechers person around here, I hate those shoes.  I prefer these over them.  I do have a pair of Skechers.  These are Skechers, but they’re not those Shape ups or whatever they call them.

Let’s move to some exercises.  I can answer more questions afterwards if people want.  So, let’s move on to exercises.  So, you’ve got your standing.  You’ve got your walking.  First and probably the easiest thing to do, golf ball or tennis ball.  For those of you that have tightness underneath your foot.  If you were to feel your foot, you might feel like a tight cable running through it.  My plantar fasciitis people, you might feel a tight cable that runs through the bottom of your foot.  If you were to feel your foot, and you feel hard tissue or spots that are tight or built up, this is a great thing to do.  You take a tennis ball, and you give yourself a foot massage.  Really easy.

If you have sensitive, a golf ball is not what you can use, but if you want to get deeper in there, a golf ball will help.  As you do this, you’re going to feel like there’s a tight spot.  You really work into that spot.  You put some pressure into, and you just roll.  You do both sides.  So, this can help stretch the bottom of your foot, build some flexibility back into it.

For those of you feeling a tight cable or have tight feet or high arches, these are the places.  Use a tennis ball.  This will help.  This is a good place to start in getting release in that foot.  What that’s going to do is it’s going to spread the foot out.  The bones will become a lot more natural, and those who have that high arch, the arch is going to drop a little bit, which is good, because it’s supposed to be more grounded to the floor as opposed to that big lift that’s occurring.

[50:29]

Two minutes.  Whatever feels to work the foot out.

[50:37]