The claim: Barefoot and minimal shoes
Do barefoot shoes fix your feet?
Probable for foot strength; unsupported for injury prevention. Evidence grade: Probable for strength; Emerging for injuries.
Published Updated
The book tests this claim twice, in a table and in the chapter that owns the subject. Both verdicts are below, each with its own evidence and sources.
Chapter 2's table of nine claims: "Barefoot and minimal shoes"
Probable for foot strength; unsupported for injury prevention
The evidence
Eight weeks of walking in minimal shoes increased foot muscle size and strength in runners, and six months of minimal footwear raised foot strength by more than half. Injury prevention lacks large controlled trials (Chapter 3).23
The "What you've heard" box in Chapter 3: "Barefoot or minimalist shoes fix your feet"
Stronger feet, yes, slowly; fewer injuries or better balance, unproven
The evidence
Partly. In small trials, walking in thin, flexible shoes built foot muscle about as well as foot exercises, though a review rated the evidence low to very low certainty. For injuries, a Cochrane review found no clear reduction in running injuries from any type of running shoe, and when a small group of runners switched to toe-shoes over ten weeks, more than half showed new fluid in a foot bone on scans. The famous study of barefoot runners that launched the fashion measured impact forces, not injuries, and was part-funded by a shoe maker. For older feet, falls matter most: going barefoot or in socks at home is linked to more falls, while exercise combining balance and strength cut the rate of falls by about a third in pooled trials.23
Where the book tests it
Related claims
- Is sitting the new smoking?Exaggerated about tenfold.Evidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.
- Is 10,000 steps a day a myth? How many steps you actually needA round number, not a threshold.Evidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.
Sources
Chapter 2's table of nine claims
- 23.Ridge, S.T., Olsen, M.T., Bruening, D.A., and Jurgensmeier, K. (2019). "Walking in minimalist shoes is effective for strengthening foot muscles." Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 51(1), 104-113. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001751 (eight weeks, runners) ; Curtis, R., Willems, C., Paoletti, P., and D'Août, K. (2021). "Daily activity in minimal footwear increases foot strength." Scientific Reports, 11, 18648. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98070-0 (six months; foot strength rose 57.4%)
Note numbers are those of Chapter 2, What Your Body Expects, and How to Trust This Book.
The "What you've heard" box in Chapter 3
- 23.Ridge, S.T., Olsen, M.T., Bruening, D.A., Jurgensmeier, K., et al. (2019). "Walking in minimalist shoes is effective for strengthening foot muscles." Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 51(1), 104-113. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001751 ; Peters-Dickie, J.L., Detrembleur, C., Guallar-Bouloc, M., Rastelli, M., et al. (2025). "The effects of foot core exercises and minimalist footwear on foot muscle sizes, foot strength, and biomechanics: a systematic review and meta-analysis." Clinical Biomechanics, 122, 106417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2024.106417 ; Relph, N., Greaves, H., Armstrong, R., Prior, T.D., et al. (2022). "Running shoes for preventing lower limb running injuries in adults." Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 8, CD013368. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD013368.pub2 ; Ridge, S.T., Johnson, A.W., Mitchell, U.H., Hunter, I., et al. (2013). "Foot bone marrow edema after a 10-wk transition to minimalist running shoes." Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 45(7), 1363-1368. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3182874769 (10 of 19 runners) ; Lieberman, D.E., Venkadesan, M., Werbel, W.A., Daoud, A.I., et al. (2010). "Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners." Nature, 463(7280), 531-535. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08723 ; Koepsell, T.D., Wolf, M.E., Buchner, D.M., Kukull, W.A., et al. (2004). "Footwear style and risk of falls in older adults." Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 52(9), 1495-1501. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2004.52412.x ; Sherrington, C., Fairhall, N.J., Wallbank, G.K., Tiedemann, A., et al. (2019). "Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community." Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 1, CD012424. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012424.pub2 . Vibram USA helped fund the 2010 Nature study; Koepsell studied people aged 65 and over.
Note numbers are those of Chapter 3, The Body That Walks.
This verdict is one of nine in the table Chapter 2 uses to show how the book judges a claim: find the primary study, and grade the claim by what it measured. The grade rates the evidence behind the verdict, by the book's stated method.
Educational content, not medical advice. Disclaimer.