Could your feet be related to your low back pain? Ben, functional exercise specialist, briefly describes his journey through transitioning towards going barefoot. Explaining the biology simply and briefly, Ben explains how a barefoot shoe can help your back pain, who barefoot shoes are for, and the role of barefoot shoes in sport. He explains how long it may take for significant changes in foot function to be seen and why research uses big toe flexor strength as a measure of foot strength. Ben dives into orthotics, arch support, and how you can progress to running in barefoot shoes. Providing research, he provides insight on recent perspective regarding footwear, especially regarding immediate improvements in balance. Let’s dive in!

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What You Will Learn in this Interview with Ben Le Vesconte:

2:34 - What led Ben into going Barefoot

8:38 - How might a barefoot shoe help you back pain

11:27 - Is there a transition period into barefoot shoes

14:54 - High Arches? Can you play a sport with barefoot shoes

17:11 - How long until you can see significant changes when wearing barefoot

18:47 - Why use big toe flexor strength to measure foot strength?

19:37 - Can you wear orthotics with your barefoot shoes? Should you wear orthotics at all?

23:47 -Do you need arch support?

28:04 -From walking to running barefoot - how to progress?

30:55 - From heel STRIKE to Heel STROKE

31:23 - Developing research on footwear

33:09 - Progressive overloading for shin splints

37:39 - Should kids wear VivoBarefoot shoes

39:30 - How VivoBarefoot shoes helps with balance immediately

41:46 - Check out VivoHealth

Items mentioned:

To learn more about Ben and view full show notes, please visit the full website here: https://jen.health/podcast/213

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