Shoes don't need to look like feet to be healthy
It's time we had a talk about "action length"
Barefoot shoes are gaining more popularity every year, with new brands popping up all the time boasting shoes with foot-shaped toe boxes to allow room for the toes to splay. While I’m glad to see the number of people increasing who are embracing footwear that accommodates their toes, one thing many foot-shaped shoe proponents don’t seem to realize is that it’s entirely possible for shoes to have enough toe room while not actually looking like feet.
This might be a controversial statement to some barefoot shoe enthusiasts, but hear me out.
There’s a common conception that you should have very little extra space at the end of your shoes, to reduce the likelihood of tripping. The amount I often see recommended is around 10mm, and sometimes less. The thing is, depending on the style and construction of the shoe, you can actually have a lot more space than that (20-30mm or more) and be perfectly fine. This opens up the door for a wide range of possible toe box shapes, while still maintaining the width needed for the toes. In the shoe industry, this additional space is known as “action length.”
Below are several illustrations to compare different feet wearing a foot-shaped toe box vs. various shapes that are made possible by increasing the length of the shoe. All the feet in the illustrations measure 240mm long but come in an assortment of widths and foot shapes.
Toe box shapes on an average width foot:
Here you can see a variety of toe box shapes on an average width foot. The narrower the tip, the longer the shoe must be. The “foot-shaped” toe box has 10mm action length, while the others have between 15-25mm.
Toe box shapes on a combination width foot:
Next is a combination width foot (i.e., wide forefoot and narrow heel). You can see that as the width of the foot increases, the shoe length also increases slightly to maintain the desired shape. In this case, the action length on the nonfoot-shaped toe boxes ranges from 20-30mm.
Combination width foot with wide toe splay:
Below is another combination width foot, but with a wider toe splay. The shoe lengths are the same as on the combination width above, but the toe boxes have broadened a bit.
Wide width foot:
This is a overall wide width foot (wide both in the heel and the ball of the foot). Same lengths as above, but the toe boxes are not quite as broad as the preceding example.
Extra wide width foot:
Once you get into extra wide foot territory, the toe box broadens much more than in the slimmer examples. While it is more challenging to create a dainty shape for such a wide foot, we are still not limited to having only foot-shaped shoes.
What about tripping?
So, as you can see, in none of the illustrations above are the toes being squeezed together, despite the distinctly un-footlike shapes. But how do you prevent tripping if you have 20-30mm extra space at the end of your shoes? This is where toe spring comes into play.
If you have an interest in foot health, you may have read that toe spring can be detrimental to our feet because it places the foot in an unnatural position, which can weaken the muscles on the top of the foot and overstretch the plantar fascia, potentially leading to the development of plantar fasciitis.
But really, the problem comes down to the way shoe companies are using toe spring. Most shoes have toe spring that begins at the ball of the foot, where the foot bends, forcing the toes into a constant upward-pointing position. Even many so-called barefoot or “zero drop” shoe brands use toe spring in this way.
However, there is a better alternative. If you add toe spring only past the point where the toes end, you can keep the foot in a neutral position while also minimizing the likelihood of tripping in a longer shoe. This creates endless possibilities for much more refined toe box shapes. It seems like a win-win solution, and I’m not sure why this isn’t a common practice in the industry.
Now, there may be people out there who prefer the look of foot-shaped shoes, but I’m going to hazard a guess that the vast majority do not. The fact is, many people are turned off by wide toe box shoes because they think they look “funny.” What if we can have elegant shoes while also being kind to our feet? I think that’s something worth aiming for.