What Happens if You Wear Barefoot Shoes for 30 Days?

The rage around minimalism doesn't just start and stop with makeup and tiny house living. The less is more ethos is bleeding over into people’s shoe choices, too. Minimalist shoes—sometimes known as barefoot shoes—are having a moment among runners, hikers, and other people passionate about holistic health. 

But this shoe trend is one that most (if not all) shoe-wearers should consider. After all, there are more benefits to wearing barefoot shoes than there are places to wear them to. For instance, you can expect to develop stronger feet, experience fewer injuries, improve knee and lower back health, reduce the likelihood of falling, and more. 

Below you can dive into all of these benefits and more. Plus, look into exactly how long it takes to reap these benefits.

What Are Barefoot Shoes, Exactly? 

Barefoot shoes are designed to allow your foot to move exactly as it would if you were barefoot, explains Alissa Kuizinas, DPM, a board-certified virtual podiatrist and ankle wellness specialist. 

When you walk on bare feet, you are walking with flat feet (no heel) and your toes are allowed to spread and splay, she explains. "A shoe dubbed a barefoot shoe typically has a zero-drop heel, a wide toe box, and a flat, flexible sole."

Shoes that aren't considered barefoot shoes, typically, do not have these features, says Dr. Kuizinas. Instead, most shoes have heels, cushioned (not flat) foot beds, narrow toe boxes, and/or stiff soles, she says.

Most running shoes, for example, are highly cushioned, while many cross-trainers often have a slight heel drop, some cushioning, and a stiff sole. Shoes worn outside the gym such as high heels, loafers, ballet flats, and dunks also have features that keep them from being included in the barefoot shoe category. 

If you are looking for barefoot shoes, keep in mind that they are sometimes marketed as minimalist shoes or zero-drop shoes. But not all shoes with a zero-drop heel (AKA no heel) qualify as barefoot shoes, says Dr. Kuizinas.

“A shoe can be zero-drop without being a barefoot shoe," she says. "Sometimes a zero-drop shoe will be heavily cushioned or have a stiff or supportive sole."

Are Barefoot Shoes Good for You? 

Barefoot shoes allow your feet to move and groove exactly as they would if you were shoe-free. This feature may not seem particularly important, but it actually is, says Jen Fraboni, PT, DPT, a doctor of physical therapy and podcast co-host. “When you walk with bare feet, you give your feet the opportunity to develop the functional strength and mobility they need to function most optimally."

Unfortunately, most modern day shoes rob your feet of the opportunity to develop this baseline strength and mobility, Dr. Fraboni says. They are built out with a tremendous amount of underfoot technology like heel cups, heel-drops, inserts, and cushioning, she explains.

When you constantly pimp your feet out with this kind of compensatory technology, your foot has no reason to develop strength or maintain mobility. As the common idiom says, "If you don’t use it you lose it." The result of wearing non-barefoot shoes is that your bare feet are not as strong or mobile as they need to be to support sound movement patterns, she says. 

Benefits of Barefoot Shoes 

Adding a few barefoot shoes to your shoe collection gives your feet the opportunity to gain (or regain) strength and mobility. In the end, this can offer a range of health and fitness benefits. Here are specific ways you may benefit from barefoot shoes.

Strong feet and toes

If you make a list of all the muscles you want to strengthen in your body, it likely includes mirror muscles like the glutes, biceps, and shoulders. But don’t snooze on your below-the-knee-muscles. 

“Foot, toe, and ankle strength is important,” says Dr. Kuizinas. “As these body parts get stronger, your feet move naturally, which can help improve the movement patterns and efficiency of the body, as well as help activate and strengthen the muscles higher up in the legs, hips, and pelvis."

In practice, this can lead to improved form in and out of the gym, which can decrease your risk of injury, and also increase the speed with which you make fitness gains, she says. 

Decreased risk of knee and back pain

Your feet are the foundation of the body, explains Dr. Fraboni. When they are optimally strong and mobile, there is an increased likelihood that the joints and muscles higher up the legs will be, too. However, when they are functioning suboptimally, it can cause a chain reaction of issues up to the knees, hips, and low back, she says.

Consider the lunge or squat, for example. If you have sound ankle mobility, you will be able to move through those movements no problem. If, however, your ankles are stiff—as they might be if you do not regularly access your ankles' full range of motion due to your shoe choice—your other joints will have to compensate, she says.

Increased ease during day-to-day activities

The flexible bottom of the shoe allows your feet and toes to gain proper mobility, says Dr. Fraboni. "These gains will make day-to-day activities like going up and down the stairs feel more comfortable and natural."

Things like running to catch the bus and jumping out of the way of a bike on the sidewalk will also begin to feel less strenuous. 

Improved proprioception 

Cushioned, cloud-like shoes may look cool, but they can also interfere with our sense of the ground below our feet. There isn’t that same problem with barefoot shoes, says Dr. Fraboni. 

“The thin, flexible bottom of a barefoot training shoe can help you get a better sense of the ground you are walking on,” she explains. “This can lead our feet to have better proprioception, which is our body's ability to sense where it is in space."

This can also improve your overall balance, she says. And it is especially good news for klutzes. 

Lower risk of certain foot issues

Broadly speaking, barefoot shoes have a wider toe box than other kinds of shoes, says Dr. Kuizinas. “A wide toe box allows your toes to naturally splay and expand as they do when you walk."

Constantly squeezing your feet into shoes with the narrow toe boxes puts your feet at risk for certain foot issues, she says. Switching to barefoot shoes can help offset and reduce risk of issues like bunions, hammertoes, and neuromas.

Reduced impact

Exercises like running, doing burpees, and jumping rope offer up a number of health and fitness benefits. Unfortunately, these exercises are all high impact, which can put a lot of undue stress on your joints, ligaments, and tendons. 

While high impact exercises are not for everyone, the people who have the green light to incorporate them into their routine should wear barefoot shoes while doing them, says Dr. Fraboni.

“The wider toe box of the shoes allows for proper splaying and flattening of your feet,” she says. “This helps your body absorb shock during higher impact activities, which makes them safer and puts less pressure through the joints above.”

Wait, How Quickly Will I Notice These Changes?  

How quickly you reap rewards for wearing barefoot shoes will depend on the current status of your feet, presence (or absence) of any pre-existing injuries, and your overall movement health and mobility, says Dr. Fraboni. “Changes will occur very quickly for some, but more slowly for others."

That said, it typically takes a few months of consistent wear to notice lasting changes, she says. Researchers out of Liverpool University looked at people who wore minimalist shoes, and found that increasing foot strength by 60% took six months.

Sure, you may notice some changes prior to the half-year mark, but it takes a bit for any part of the body to make improvements in strength and mobility says Mark Cucuzzella, MD, a professor with West Virginia University School of Medicine and author of "Run for Your Life."

You wouldn’t expect to go from couch potato to marathoner, or a strength training newbie to deadlifting champ in just a few weeks. That same sentiment applies to training your feet and ankles with barefoot shoes, he says. 

The feet and ankles contain more than 29 different muscles and 33 different joints, all of which need to adapt in order for you to notice an increase in overall foot strength and mobility, adds Dr. Kuizinas. “These muscles and connective tissue need time to adjust to the new levels of stress and strain placed on them when cushioning gets removed. And you really can’t rush the process."

In fact, trying to do so can result in overtraining syndrome, overuse injuries, and generalized soreness in the feet and ankles that make walking and other forms of exercise uncomfortable. Not ideal for anyone looking to improve overall foot health.

Exactly How to Integrate Barefoot Shoes Into Your Life

Put simply, the best way to integrate barefoot shoes into your routine is slowly but surely. Ahead are five specific tips to set you and your tootsies up for success. 

Talk to a podiatrist 

If you have any pre-existing foot, ankle, or joint condition you’d be wise to chat with a podiatrist or orthopedist before switching up your shoe choices, says Dr. Kuizinas. "There are some individuals who will not be able to tolerate barefoot shoes. Those with arthritis of the big toe or mid foot, for example, may require a stiffer sole and more cushioning than you’ll find in a barefoot shoe.” 

Meanwhile, those with certain pre-existing foot conditions such as plantar fasciitis may need to make the transition even more slowly, she adds. “People with unstable foot structures or severe flat feet may also need to continue to use orthotics inside of their barefoot shoes as they transition."

Don’t go zero to 100

If you have been wearing more cushioned shoes, your foot and ankle muscles have been dormant, says Dr. Cucuzzella. “These muscles will adapt to the load that is placed on them when you start wearing barefoot shoes."

But to keep from over-training and straining these muscles he suggests wearing barefoot shoes for just 1 hour of your day to start. As your muscles adjust, you can increase time spent in barefoot shoes until they are your go-to footwear 100% of the time. 

Exactly how fast you make the full transition from regular shoes to barefoot ones will depend on your foot and shoe history, says Dr. Kuizinas. “People who are accustomed to spending time barefoot and in less supportive shoes will usually be able to transition to barefoot shoes somewhat quickly."

However, those who are rarely barefoot will have a slower transition period, she says. For these folks, it can take half a year or more, she says. Another factor that will impact how long this transition takes is overall foot health and history.

“Those with injuries, pain, or more unstable foot types will need a longer, slower transition period from cushioned shoes to barefoot shoes than people without any such history,” she says. 

Prioritize your foot health in other ways, too 

No doubt, wearing barefoot shoes is a great way to care for your dogs—but it’s not the only way. Dr. Kuizinas recommends loving on your feet by spending more time barefoot, doing daily foot activation and foot strengthening exercises, and using toe spacers to train your feet to activate their muscles. These things will also help you transition to barefoot training shoes more quickly, assuming that’s your goal, she adds. 

Be picky about which barefoot training shoes you buy

Thanks to the growing popularity of barefoot shoes, there is no shortage of brands dedicated to creating them. If possible Dr. Cucuzzella recommends going to a shoe store and trying a bunch of different barefoot shoes on before investing. Or, order a bunch online to test out. 

“There is no one barefoot shoe that is going to be perfect for every foot,” he explains. Trying the shoe on before you officially buy it helps ensure that you’re not just investing in any ‘ole barefoot shoe, but a barefoot shoe that actually fits your specific foot.

Start with a walking or lifestyle barefoot shoe

You may also notice that there are subcategories for barefoot shoes including barefoot running shoes, barefoot everyday shoes, barefoot training shoes, and so forth. Dr. Cucuzzella recommends selecting a minimalist walking or every-day shoe to start.

“Most of us spend far more time walking during the day or at our jobs, than we do running,” he explains. “Opting for a walking or lifestyle shoe will allow you to wear the shoe for more hours a day than if you got a running shoe.”

Bottom Line 

Wearing barefoot shoes is a great way to support and improve the overall health of your feet and ankles. This can have a chain of positive reactions up the rest of the body that helps reduce the incidence of knee, hip, and back pain.

So, assuming you get the green light from your podiatrist to make the switch, it’s really a no-brainer! Just take care to transition into barefoot shoes as slowly and surely as you would transition to a lifting routine, so you don’t over-fatigue your feet.