17 Best Barefoot Shoes for Running or Walking (2024)

How to Get Started with Barefoot Shoes

You’ve been wearing padded shoes for most of your life. Don’t expect to throw them on and be able to cover the same distance—whether you’re walking or running—in bare shoes. To some extent, you have to relearn how to run and walk. It will take serious effort on your part, and it can be very difficult. You are not only learning, but also not learning certain fixed habits. The key is to go slowly. Too much, too little, too much.

How you approach bare feet depends on what you want to do. I got into running, it went well because I it was necessary taking it slowly (absorbed). If you are currently an ultra-marathoner and want to try bare shoes, you will have a hard time resisting. If you are somewhere between those poles, it will still be hard not to overdo it. Focus on teaching what you usually use for your grade not to make the distance.

If you don’t know where to start, check out Graham Tuttle’s YouTube channel, especially his foot strengthening exercises. This will help you develop foot and ankle strength that you lack from years of fixed shoes, and help reduce muscle soreness when you first start running barefoot. Tuttle also offers other paid programs that are intended to provide you with a personalized guide (I have not tried any of these). Another YouTube channel I’ve found helpful is the MovNat channel, which isn’t exactly specific but has a lot of good no-nonsense advice sprinkled throughout its content. And if you haven’t read Christopher McDougall, both Born to Run again Natural Born Heroes It’s fun to read about shoes. Indeed, Born to Run has arguably done more to popularize barefoot running than anything else since the padded shoe was born in the early 1970s.

It is also worth mentioning that bare shoes are not a zero-sum game. For over a year I wore bare shoes for running, casual shoes for other activities, and sandals all the time. It’s not all or nothing. If you go for a run barefoot and kick on your favorite Converse afterwards, that’s fine. It is equally important to know that everyone is different. It took me six months to switch to bare shoes. But that’s just me. It may take you two months or two years. Go at your own pace, and don’t worry about the experiences of others.