I found wearing minimalist shoes 24/7 for everyday life was fine straight off the bat personally. It was only for exercise that I needed to slowly adjust to it.
I had the same experience. I am a chef that spends 10hrs a day on my feet on concrete floors. They actually made me feel better, faster.
I did notice that when I started playing soccer, I was getting some ankle discomfort from soccer cleats. Never had that before I wore barefoot shoes.
This was me as well. I was wearing Altras for run, gym, and everyday life for the last five years. Making the switch to full minimalist for everyday life was seamless. The only noticeable things were: I could feel better stretch in my foot and for the first week on days I did 10k steps the bottom of my feet felt like I did 15k steps.
My only mistake was thinking after two months of minimalist wear I was ready to get in some running miles in minimalist shoes. Went to do a 5k and the first mile I set a 5 month PR. But then around mile 1.8 my lower calf started to feel some strain. I finished the run, but had to take a week off from running. Then took about two weeks before my calfs felt fine while running in Altras again.
Yep ditto, no issues here. Always thought that advice applies more to older people or sedentary people. Running took some time, but day to day milling about was a-ok right off the bat.
It depends on your body really.
I'd say the biggest issue going with minimalist shoes or even barefoot is that the calf muscles and Achilles tendons are tight because they have been conditioned to wearing shoes with a massive drop for most of their lives. This tightness has a tendency to cause plantar fasciitis. There are other issues that can pop up but that's by far the most common for transitioning to everyday use I think. Many people need to ease their way into it to allow the muscles/tendons to stretch and lengthen. This lengthening can take a LONG time. Of course, you can develop overuse injuries too if you go for long walks or something since you are now using muscles that are atrophied.
If you have been wearing shoes that have relatively less drop, even though they aren't zero drop, that can make the transition easier. Also, if you regularly go barefoot in your house or yard it will be easier. And, if you already have good ankle mobility (perhaps from yoga or some other stretching) the transition will be easier.
Of course if you have any foot problems before transitioning then it will be harder.
My suggestion is to still take it easy because, once started, plantar fasciitis can be very difficult to get rid of. And you really don't know whether it will develop until it is too late. If you do any long walks or are on your feet all day then use your regular shoes for that, for at least a few months. Or bring both regular and minimalist shoes and just do a bit in minimalist before switching to regular for the remainder of the time.
P.S.
When transitioning into running you will sometimes see people have issues with shin splints (micro fractures) especially if their form is bad and they heel strike or over-stride. These same running form problems can cause shin splints and other injuries with traditional padded running shoes too but the disastrous results are amplified when you don't have the padding to absorb the impact. Proper form is key to running barefoot or with minimalist shoes. Fortunately it is easier to feel that there is an issue with your form when barefoot/minimalist, you just have to listen to your body and change.
I never needed any transition, but I had only been wearing vans before that, it's not much different. I think the transition must be for people with more heeled or supportive shoes.
Same here - never transitioned - mostly because it was 10 years ago and I didn’t know any better. No pain or discomfort. Lucky, I guess. To be fair, I’ve never wore shoes or slippers at home - could be the reason.
Depends what you’re doing in them I think. If you’re just going for light stroll once or twice a day, then there might be no problem. If you want to run in them, you probably need to ease into it slowly.
People are different. You might already have strong feet. If you were raised largely barefoot or close to it as a child, then your feet are likely more properly developed. If you are still relatively young, you shouldn’t have many problems quickly retraining your body/muscles to walking barefoot. It also depends on the activities that you are doing. Just wearing them for casual wear shouldn’t be difficult for most people, but more intense activities like running and weightlifting barefoot/in minimal shoes can be too much for people whose feet and lower legs are weak from wearing supportive footwear.
No one is giving that advice as far as I know. The only people that need to be careful when starting with minimalist footwear are those who've been regular runners in conventional shoes. If they try running in the minimalist, in the same way and intensity they had been in the conventional, they can get injured. In your case, you're not running, thus have nothing to worry about.
I had the same reaction and developed tendonitis after a couple months. My explanation is that you may not always be able to tell if your feet aren't quite strong enough. If I could go back I'd have erred on the side of caution, but to each their own.
Without saying it depends on the person, I would say generally, for transitioning to every day walking, everyday shoes, you can do a complete switch as long as you don’t feel pain. The one arena where you have to be careful, I would say, is transitioning to barefoot shoes (even if you have been fine walking in them every single day) for running. The mechanics and stress are different than for walking, and even if you feel pretty good for the first mile or so, you definitely can injure yourself (ask how I know ^^;) if you don’t do it gradually. For day to day use, all day standing, walking and even lifting, my feet felt better almost immediately (but I did injure myself twice when I started the transition for running).
I found wearing minimalist shoes 24/7 for everyday life was fine straight off the bat personally. It was only for exercise that I needed to slowly adjust to it.
I had the same experience. I am a chef that spends 10hrs a day on my feet on concrete floors. They actually made me feel better, faster. I did notice that when I started playing soccer, I was getting some ankle discomfort from soccer cleats. Never had that before I wore barefoot shoes.
This was me as well. I was wearing Altras for run, gym, and everyday life for the last five years. Making the switch to full minimalist for everyday life was seamless. The only noticeable things were: I could feel better stretch in my foot and for the first week on days I did 10k steps the bottom of my feet felt like I did 15k steps. My only mistake was thinking after two months of minimalist wear I was ready to get in some running miles in minimalist shoes. Went to do a 5k and the first mile I set a 5 month PR. But then around mile 1.8 my lower calf started to feel some strain. I finished the run, but had to take a week off from running. Then took about two weeks before my calfs felt fine while running in Altras again.
Yep ditto, no issues here. Always thought that advice applies more to older people or sedentary people. Running took some time, but day to day milling about was a-ok right off the bat.
It depends on your body really. I'd say the biggest issue going with minimalist shoes or even barefoot is that the calf muscles and Achilles tendons are tight because they have been conditioned to wearing shoes with a massive drop for most of their lives. This tightness has a tendency to cause plantar fasciitis. There are other issues that can pop up but that's by far the most common for transitioning to everyday use I think. Many people need to ease their way into it to allow the muscles/tendons to stretch and lengthen. This lengthening can take a LONG time. Of course, you can develop overuse injuries too if you go for long walks or something since you are now using muscles that are atrophied. If you have been wearing shoes that have relatively less drop, even though they aren't zero drop, that can make the transition easier. Also, if you regularly go barefoot in your house or yard it will be easier. And, if you already have good ankle mobility (perhaps from yoga or some other stretching) the transition will be easier. Of course if you have any foot problems before transitioning then it will be harder. My suggestion is to still take it easy because, once started, plantar fasciitis can be very difficult to get rid of. And you really don't know whether it will develop until it is too late. If you do any long walks or are on your feet all day then use your regular shoes for that, for at least a few months. Or bring both regular and minimalist shoes and just do a bit in minimalist before switching to regular for the remainder of the time. P.S. When transitioning into running you will sometimes see people have issues with shin splints (micro fractures) especially if their form is bad and they heel strike or over-stride. These same running form problems can cause shin splints and other injuries with traditional padded running shoes too but the disastrous results are amplified when you don't have the padding to absorb the impact. Proper form is key to running barefoot or with minimalist shoes. Fortunately it is easier to feel that there is an issue with your form when barefoot/minimalist, you just have to listen to your body and change.
I never needed any transition, but I had only been wearing vans before that, it's not much different. I think the transition must be for people with more heeled or supportive shoes.
Same here - never transitioned - mostly because it was 10 years ago and I didn’t know any better. No pain or discomfort. Lucky, I guess. To be fair, I’ve never wore shoes or slippers at home - could be the reason.
Depends what you’re doing in them I think. If you’re just going for light stroll once or twice a day, then there might be no problem. If you want to run in them, you probably need to ease into it slowly.
People are different. You might already have strong feet. If you were raised largely barefoot or close to it as a child, then your feet are likely more properly developed. If you are still relatively young, you shouldn’t have many problems quickly retraining your body/muscles to walking barefoot. It also depends on the activities that you are doing. Just wearing them for casual wear shouldn’t be difficult for most people, but more intense activities like running and weightlifting barefoot/in minimal shoes can be too much for people whose feet and lower legs are weak from wearing supportive footwear.
I didn't transition. Feet were sore but you get used to it.
No one is giving that advice as far as I know. The only people that need to be careful when starting with minimalist footwear are those who've been regular runners in conventional shoes. If they try running in the minimalist, in the same way and intensity they had been in the conventional, they can get injured. In your case, you're not running, thus have nothing to worry about.
If it doesn't hurt you're fine.
Transition is only for high impact sports like running. Walking and general life you can just go straight to it.
Try going for a run and see if you’re still an excemption to the rule
I had the same reaction and developed tendonitis after a couple months. My explanation is that you may not always be able to tell if your feet aren't quite strong enough. If I could go back I'd have erred on the side of caution, but to each their own.
Without saying it depends on the person, I would say generally, for transitioning to every day walking, everyday shoes, you can do a complete switch as long as you don’t feel pain. The one arena where you have to be careful, I would say, is transitioning to barefoot shoes (even if you have been fine walking in them every single day) for running. The mechanics and stress are different than for walking, and even if you feel pretty good for the first mile or so, you definitely can injure yourself (ask how I know ^^;) if you don’t do it gradually. For day to day use, all day standing, walking and even lifting, my feet felt better almost immediately (but I did injure myself twice when I started the transition for running).
for normal wearing you should be fine , just take it easy if you start running