Are your shoes causing your hip weakness?
Sounds a little intense, but after treating patients with low back and hip pain for over a decade- there truly is a connection. The connections I have witnessed: those with low back pain and hip pain have poor connection to their glute muscles.
Having limited hip range of motion while walking reduces the glute potential and muscle recruitment. And What I have been seeing in people with weak hips, they usually have poorly mobile feet because - They have TIGHT SHOES! And either bunions or on their way to having bunions. Bunions are when toes start to angle inward and lose space. Specifically the big and little toes.
Bunions lead to pain and poor feet/hip function.
Functionally- bunions leads to weak arches, limited ankle range of motion, hip range of motion and inevitably weaker hips! Which is absolutely opposite of our goals here in Functional Flow Pilates- we want be STRONG and MOBILE!
SO in order to give our toes space to move, we have to change the shoes we put them in!
Thankfully we are understanding this better and more shoes are allowing WIDE TOE BOXES!!
Traditional shoes vs. Wide toe box shoes
These wide toe box shoes allow toes to gap away, improve mid foot range of motion, improve arch activation and feet adaptability to uneven ground!
I have been wearing wide toe box shoes for a couple years now and I am so thankful that I have started. What's really interesting is that I have had 'flat feet' my whole life and historically weak ankles that often I would roll and sprain. I have been told over 10 years ago to have more rigid shoes, with increased arch support. Which I did for years.
Sadly- my feet and ankles stayed weak ( with history of knee pain when I would try to run.
Fast forward to a couple years ago- I learned about feet mobility and it's connection to the posterior chain (butt and hamstrings) and figured I should do the research in myself. I started with wearing shoes with minimal to zero drop like Altras (referring to the angle between heel and toes as traditional foot wear elevates the heel). Eventually went to VivoBarefoot Shoes - loved them. And now Kinis Barefoot.
I won't tell which brand to get because it will depend on your comfort and price point.
What I WILL tell are the brands you should consider looking into.
Altra- they are great transitional shoes for beginners as they still offer more cushioning with the zero drop feature.
Xero Shoes- an affordable price point with more durability and great for beginners also
VivoBarefoot- a true barefoot shoe that will teach your feet to feel the ground more and may require a transitional period for some to adjust. https://vivobarefoot.mention-me.com/m/ol/uf0xi-christa-ordonez for 25% off
Kinis Barefoot- a true barefoot shoe that is worn like a sock. My personal favorite because there is no pressure placed on the top of my foot that I usually get from shoe laces. I will say that this is pretty advanced. But I wore these on my last hike and my feet felt sooo alive!
I am sure there are more great options, these are the ones I have experience with and can vouch for!
I hope you learned a couple things today from this blog and made you more curious on your shoes and how they affect your feet and booty muscles!! Bunions are no fun and no friend to you! I promise you that!
In my last blog I shared with you a video on Feet Mobility - absolutely crucial for all things humanly functional. If you missed it- here it is again.
That's all for now! Until next time my friends!
XX- Christa Ordonez, your PT and Pilates Bestie