Why Taking a Break From Cushioned Shoes Is Good for Your Feet

Experts weigh in on when cushioning helps—and when it hurts—and how to make your feet stronger no matter how plush your shoes are.

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Wearing overly cushioned, pillowy shoes all the time is like wearing oven mitts throughout an entire cooking session—not just when pulling something hot from the oven, but while chopping, mixing, and plating, too.

The mitts dull your senses, restrict movement, and make it harder to use the small muscles in your fingers and wrists—just when you need precision for tasks such as measuring spices and kneading dough.

Shoes turn down the volume on the sensory role of the skin to take in information about the temperature and surfaces underneath our feet, and they also stifle muscles involved in balance and coordination when walking, running, or jumping.

Each layer of foam or rubber between our feet and the ground dulls the sensory experience even further. Our smaller foot muscles miss the opportunity to become stronger, and the brain is deprived of useful information about the terrain underfoot.

The evolution of concrete running surfaces combined with runner injuries made supportive, cushioned shoes an easy choice, especially for athletes. However, studies have shown that runners who wear maximalist shoes are more prone to leg stiffness, weaker toes, and more impact loading, which is the vertical impact force and the rate at which that force increases when the runner’s shoe hits the ground.

Over time, relying too much on shoe cushioning can lead to foot and joint injuries, reduced balance, and impaired cognitive function.

Functional podiatrist Dr. Tea Nguyen told The Epoch Times: “It goes without saying we need shoes to protect our feet but how much cushioning do we need? It really depends on the individual.”

How Cushioning Affects Feet

“People think because we’ve been put in shoes our whole life we are accelerating the inability to feel. I don’t know if there’s a study that proves this or not, but I tend to agree with that,” Nguyen said. “If we aren’t feeling different textures we get numb to the one texture we do know, which is the inside of a shoe.”

Even cushioned shoes can reduce blood circulation and pinch sensory nerves, leading to conditions such as neuropathy that cause tingling, pain, and weakness in the feet and can move upward into the legs and back. Loss of sensation in the feet can also make it hard to sense temperature or pain and may affect balance.

A study published in Scientific Reports found that cushioned shoes increase leg stiffness and amplify impact loading in runners. Faster runners, in particular, tended to have a stiffer leg landing than runners in conventional shoes.

“These discoveries may explain why shoes with more cushioning do not protect against impact-related running injuries,” the authors wrote.

Another reason for impact-related injuries may be that thick-soled running shoes have a different foot strike pattern, more on the rear of the foot, whereas barefoot runners land more often on the forefoot or with a flat foot. Consequently, barefoot runners experience lower collision force with the ground.

Alternatively, a study published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution found that shoes with minimal cushioning increase toe strength by 48.5 percent. A stronger toe grip is linked to a lower risk of falls in older people and may support better cognitive function.

Long-time hiker Kelly Barcus, founder of the Barefoot Shoe Guide, compares shoe cushioning to weight lifting. Wearing shoes with a lot of cushioning is like doing only biceps curls and ignoring all of the other muscles of the arms, she said.

“If we are walking on these super cushions, we’re only giving ourselves one-dimensional movement,” she told The Epoch Times. “We don’t even notice the unevenness of what we’re walking on, if there’s a rock or root. If you’re in so much cushion, you’re totally cut off from that.”

Minimal or no cushioning allows your feet to articulate with surfaces, Barcus said, creating an interesting, active sensory experience, especially on surfaces with grass or gravel. It also gives all of the foot muscles an opportunity to activate.

“You realize how much more engaged you are when you can feel and move more. It goes up the whole kinetic chain,” she said, adding that even the brain is more activated when the foot is collecting and sending more information.

Extra sensory input for feet helps with proprioception—an awareness of your body as it moves through space. This translates into being able to avoid falling if you step on something slippery or to maintain balance when changing positions.

Some Need Cushioning

Fat pads on the bottom of our feet provide adequate cushioning for most people; foot padding acts like a natural shock absorber, disperses pressure, and protects our bones, tissues, and nerves.

However, not everyone has the same amount or type of padding and may need extra support, Nguyen said. Some factors that influence this are:

• Age: Having less fat padding on the feet reduces natural shock absorption.
• Flat feet: Lacking an arch may require padded arch support to reduce pain from overstretched tendons.
• High arches: Placing more pressure on the ball and heel of the feet leads to less shock absorption and increased pain.

Nguyen said minimal shoes aren’t for everyone—but you wouldn’t know that from marketing, which tends to push the extremes: either ultra-cushioned shoes or barefoot ones with zero support.

For those concerned that wearing shoes with no cushioning will be painful, there is a range of cushioning options.

Some trendy super-cushioned shoes have a stack height—the total distance from the foot to the bottom of the shoe—of 40 millimeters (mm) to 50 mm, which includes cushioning and sole height. Minimal shoes have a stack height of 3 mm to 8 mm.

There are also transition shoes among many minimal shoe makers, which are a great choice for those who want to improve the functionality of their feet, Nguyen said.

Consideration for Runners

Runners may also want to wear cushioned shoes if they are dealing with knee, hip, or ankle arthritis, according to chiropractor Lev Kalika, clinical director of New York Dynamic Neuromuscular Rehabilitation. This will decrease the stress on joints.

Additionally, anyone who runs more than 30 miles a week should schedule a recovery run in cushioned shoes once a week to give muscles and bones in the feet a break, Kalika told The Epoch Times in an email.

Runners should choose sole thickness and cushioning based on their body composition, weight, running style, and amount of running, he said.

Those with chronic ankle instability or a history of tendinopathy—an overstretched tendon—can be prone to reinjury in cushioned shoes. Kalika advised that new runners should avoid cushioned shoes because they alter normal muscle use.

“The cushioned shoe may cause injury as it requires larger muscle recruitment which eventually will lead to muscle overload,” he said. Muscle overload increases the demand on muscles too rapidly, which can lead to injury.

How to Prepare for Less Cushioning

Most people have a cushioning preference and know what works for their body’s comfort best, Nguyen said. However, being proactive about strengthening your foot muscles is a good approach even if you don’t intend to give up cushiony shoes.

For those who have foot injuries, it’s best to heal first and use exercises to strengthen the foot before trying out different shoes. Downtime without wearing shoes at all will also help naturally recover feet that have been shoved in shoes all day.

Nguyen shared barefoot exercises for counteracting the effects of wearing cushioned shoes:

• Heel drops: Stand on the edge of a step and let your heels drop as far as is comfortable. Hold to stretch or gently lift and lower 10 times on each foot.
• Short foot: Press your toes into the floor (without curling or squeezing them) while lifting your arch. Raise the arch, relax the muscles, and repeat for 10 slow repetitions on both feet.
• Double heel lifts: Slowly lift both heels to rise on the balls of your feet, keeping your ankles from rolling outward. To increase difficulty, place a small ball between your ankles and hold it while lifting. Complete 10 lifts.
• Towel curls: Place a small towel on the ground and use your toes to pull it toward you, keeping your heel planted. Repeat 10 times on both feet.

Nguyen said she talks with patients about the importance of being less reliant on cushioning—and what it may take for them to achieve that—but ultimately, the choice is theirs.

While a dramatic change in footwear could be fine for many people, it might be beneficial to work with a specialist to make the transition if you’re dealing with foot or joint pain.

“It’s really important to work with a functional podiatrist to see what works best for them, rather than being very black or white that all cushioned shoes are bad for you,” she said.