Minimalist Footwear

Why minimalist?

Human powered adventure almost always requires footwear and selecting the right footwear can make all the difference between success and failure both over the short and long term. If you are anything like us, you want to be active, healthy, injury free, and doing the things you love well into old age. It pains me to see people unable to do the activities they love due to chronic injuries. I know how frustrating that can be, I was there too. Luckily, I was able to break out of that cycle by changing my approach to footwear. It is my hope that things I have learned can be of use to others as well.

This page is a summary of all of the minimalist footwear information that I have posted to date. This page will continue to be updated as new content is added.

The original series

In early 2009 I wrote a series of blog posts on the topic of minimalist footwear. It was written as a chronicle of my journey, as well as the research and reasons behind why I believe minimalist footwear is best. This series culminated in me giving a seminar to fellow employees at my place of work, Bates College.

I have not given this presentation since then, but would be very open to doing it (or something similar) again if anyone is interested.

• A Brief Introduction (superseded by this page)
• Part 1: My Journey to Discovery
• Part 2: How We Move
• Part 3: How Footwear Affects The Way We Move
• Part 4: What Does the Research Show?
• Part 5: Selecting Minimalist Footwear
• Part 6: Making The Transition
• Video: The Case for Minimalist Footwear

Reviews

Over time, I have reviewed several different makes and models of minimalist footwear. Some I have purchased myself, others were sent to me by the manufacturer for review. I also own a few other makes/models (FiveFingers, Sockwa, Inov-8, Teva, and Onitsuka Tiger come to mind) that I haven't posted formal reviews for.

I am always interested in testing out and/or reviewing products. If you are a company and would like me to review your product, please contact me. If you are a reader and would like to see me review something let me know, if I don't own it you are welcome to make a donation to help me purchase them.

• Feelmax
  • Minimalist Footwear for Winter?
  • First Impressions - Feelmax Niesa
  • First Impressions - Feelmax Kuuva
  • Midterm Report - Feelmax Kuuva
• Kigo
  • First Impressions - Kigo Shel
• Forty Below
  • First Impressions - Forty Below Light Energy TR Overboots
• Feiyue
  • Review coming this spring... (thanks to a reader donation!)
• Other brands and/or models are mentioned (but not reviewed) in Part 5: Selecting Minimalist Footwear

Miscellaneous

• Episode 2 of the Living Barefoot Show has an interview with me... (do I really sound like that?) my first ever audio interview (direct link).
• Run 100 Miles Barefoot? is a video interview (not by me) with Leif Rustvold.
• So what's up with the shoes?? is a post my wife wrote about how she resolved her knee problems by taking my advice and going minimalist.
• The Minimalist Footwear Movement is a an blog post where I was interviewed on the topic of minimalist footwear for hiking.

Updates

This page will continue to be updated as time goes on. Do you want to be notified when this page changes? Click on the link below to watch this post and recieve an email whenever it is updated.