Barefoot Shoes & Foot Strength: A Podiatristās Perspective on Real Foot Health
Nov 02, 2025
Why rediscovering your natural foot function could change the way you move, and age.
TL;DR
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Traditional orthotics and cushioned shoes can weaken the feet over time.
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Functional podiatry restores natural movement, balance, and strength.
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Awareness and gradual adaptation are key to transitioning safely.
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Movement is medicine, the body thrives when challenged, not protected.
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Real foot health starts with curiosity, not comfort.
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Introduction
For decades, we’ve been told that good shoes mean support, thick soles, arch control, and maximum cushioning. But what if all that protection is part of the problem?
In this episode of The True Form Podcast, podiatrist Helen Halkias joins Jack Graham to explore what she calls functional foot health. After 28 years in traditional podiatry, Helen realised many of her patients, and even her own children, kept returning with the same pain, despite new orthotics and shoes. That sparked a complete rethink of how she practised.
This conversation goes far beyond footwear. It’s about how modern life has made us weaker, why comfort can come at the cost of capability, and how reconnecting with our feet might just help us move and live.... better for decades to come.
Lesson 1: Rethinking Support, Why Orthotics Aren’t Always the Answer
What It Is:
Traditional podiatry focuses on “fixing” the foot through support and correction. Functional podiatry instead aims to restore the foot’s natural movement and strength.
Why It Matters:
Constant support can disable the very structures it’s meant to help. Like any muscle, your feet adapt to the environment you give them. Over time, over-correction leads to weakness, stiffness, and reliance on external aids.
How To Apply It:
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Notice when and why you wear orthotics, are they treating pain, or habit?
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Spend short periods barefoot each day on safe, varied surfaces.
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Swap stiff, narrow shoes for ones with a wider toe box.
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Strengthen your feet with slow, controlled calf raises and toe-spread exercises.
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Reassess pain regularly; reduction in symptoms often follows gradual exposure.
Pro Tip:
Don’t ditch orthotics overnight, transitioning is a process, not an event.
Try This Today:
Stand barefoot and lift just your big toes. Can you? If not, that’s your first mobility goal.
Lesson 2: Movement Is Medicine, The Foot’s True Design
What It Is:
Your foot is a dynamic structure designed to pronate (absorb shock) and supinate (propel forward). Limiting either function restricts your body’s natural movement.
Why It Matters:
When we stop using full ranges of motion, everything up the chain, knees, hips, back, compensates. Restoring mobility at the base improves balance, strength, and longevity.
How To Apply It:
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Walk on mixed terrain: grass, gravel, sand, let your body adapt.
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Practice slow heel-to-toe walking to retrain proper gait.
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Incorporate balance drills like standing on one leg while brushing your teeth.
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Include hip mobility work; stiff hips often cause poor foot mechanics.
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Build variety into your day, stairs, squats, sitting on the floor.
Pro Tip:
“The foot is built to move, not just to be protected.” - Helen Halkias
Try This Today:
Take a short barefoot walk on grass. Focus on feeling the ground under each toe.
Lesson 3: Awareness Over Avoidance, Learning to Feel Again
What It Is:
Modern life teaches us to avoid discomfort, soft shoes, flat floors, easy solutions. But awareness begins when we let the body feel again.
Why It Matters:
Feeling texture, temperature, and balance feedback strengthens neural pathways between your feet and brain. It sharpens coordination and prevents falls, especially as we age.
How To Apply It:
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Start small: stand barefoot on different surfaces for 30 seconds each.
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Notice pressure points and how your balance shifts.
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Gradually reduce cushion and support in your shoes.
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Practice mindful walking, pay attention to the rhythm of your steps.
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Stay consistent; awareness grows through repetition.
Pro Tip:
If you’ve worn heavily cushioned shoes for years, expect early discomfort, it’s your body waking up.
Try This Today:
Remove your shoes indoors for the rest of the evening. Notice how often you grip or lean without realising.
Lesson 4: Strength Over Comfort, Building Resilience from the Ground Up
What It Is:
Strong feet are resilient feet. The goal isn’t perfect posture or pain elimination, it’s adaptability.
Why It Matters:
Everyday strength keeps you capable. The ability to walk hills, balance, and recover from a stumble is one of the strongest predictors of long-term independence.
How To Apply It:
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Perform 10 slow calf raises, barefoot, twice a day.
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Do toe spreads and curls while seated.
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Practice getting up and down from the floor without using your hands.
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Include short balance challenges (e.g., single-leg stands).
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Stretch your toes after wearing narrow shoes.
Pro Tip:
“Resilience isn’t about avoiding challenge, it’s about being able to come back from it.” - Helen Halkias
Try This Today:
Next time you put your shoes on, do it while balancing on one leg.
Lesson 5: The Comfort Trap, How Convenience Weakens Us
What It Is:
We’ve designed modern life to eliminate effort, automatic cars, soft chairs, slip-on shoes. But every shortcut has a cost.
Why It Matters:
When everything becomes “easy,” our capacity shrinks. Just like the foot loses strength when cushioned too long, the whole body (and mind) suffer when challenge disappears.
How To Apply It:
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Choose stairs over lifts or escalators.
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Carry groceries instead of using a trolley for short trips.
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Sit on the floor occasionally to maintain hip and core mobility.
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Limit “assistive” gear unless it’s truly necessary.
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Treat small physical challenges as daily training.
Pro Tip:
The easy path today often creates the hard path tomorrow.
Try This Today:
When tying your shoes, stay standing, don’t lean or sit down. It’s small, functional training.
Mini Case/Example
“I put my first two kids in orthotics because that’s what I believed was right. It wasn’t until I experienced my own foot pain that I realised we were missing the root cause.” - Helen Halkias
“Transitioning to functional footwear is a process, not an event.” - Helen Halkias
Quick Wins Checklist (Do These Today)
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Go barefoot indoors for 10-15 minutes.
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Practice 10 slow calf raises while brushing your teeth.
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Swap one pair of narrow shoes for a wider toe-box option.
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Take a short walk on grass or sand and focus on sensation.
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Get up from the floor without using your hands.
Closing Insight
Real health doesn’t start in the gym, it starts at your feet. Every step, every surface, every bit of movement sends information to your brain about how alive and capable you are.
Helen’s story is a reminder that strength and awareness grow through use, not avoidance. When we reclaim the natural movement of our feet, we reconnect with the design that evolution built for resilience, balance, and longevity.
Start small, stay curious, and trust your body’s ability to adapt.
Listen to the full conversation with Helen Halkias on The True Form Podcast
Watch me on YouTube
Listen to the True From Podcast
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