I never thought I'd have a career that talks about feet this much, but feet are extremely important in the strength + stability realm, so here we are. Your kinetic chain starts with your feet and works it's way up, which means your stability and strength structurally depend on those things in your shoes and on the floor. Just like any other part of the body, not all are created equally. Some feet have high arches, some feet have minimal arches. Some feet are wide, some feet are narrow. One things for sure, regardless of what shape or size your feet are, you can make them stronger and more efficient to stabilize the rest of your body. The type of shoe you wear can impact your foot shape and strength. For example, someone who regularly wears narrow shoes (most popular brands) have their toes jammed against each other. Now if you're wearing said shoe for hours per day, this can cause your foot shape to change. See the example below from an Instagram post of Squat University. Click here to watch a brief video on the topic, too.
A natural foot will have slight separation between each toe, allowing your whole foot to connect to the floor and stabilize. Shoes that allow for this are wide toe box shoes. Many hiking and trail running shoes offer this as your feet/toes swell during those activities, but what about those who don't participate in those activities? Shoes such as Altra, On, Asics, and Hoka have great options for wide toe boxes. These are brands I recommend for everyday wear, walking, and running. For lifting, as you know, I recommend going barefoot/with socks on, as often as possible to allow your feet to feel the floor and stabilize using all three points of your feet. Happy stabilizing!
