The best training BAREFOOT SHOE I have found- Xero Shoes!

Xero Shoes  - These are the very best sort of "shoe" I have found for running, and walking barefoot! 

See the above Sensori Venture, which is what I have, and recommend, for anyone getting into barefoot running and walking, or even just standing...  this is, in my opinion, the perfectly Paleo version of barefoot, natural movement.  

Watch what Stephen, the CEO of Xero shoes has to say about this latest offering of his company:

Your own PaleoJay did quite a bit of research about barefoot shoes, and finally zeroed in on this form of sandal, the Huarache as the best compromise of minimalist form, function, and price...

But, even if price was no object I would recommend this Sensori Venture above any other shoe I found, anywhere!  Why?

It's indestructible!  No one has worn out a pair yet!  Guaranteed for 5000 miles!!

Barefoot, but with PROTECTION for your foot!  You do need some "cover" in the modern world, to simulate barefootedness without injury!

Not CLUNKY and dumb looking (and FEELING!) like Vibram 5 fingers and the like!  Put them on, and you will look (and feel!) like you have nothing on your feet!

Customizable with cool colors and "bling" if you so desire!  I went with basic black, but that's just me- check out the options right here- Xero Shoes

PRICE!  I know, I said even if price was no object I would go with the Xero shoes... but the price is way cheaper than the inferior competition!!  

So, once again, if you are looking at barefoot shoes and barefoot running and walking, Xero shoes are the ones to get.  

I did my last several workouts with them on, and they are great for that as well!  And I think that, this Summer and Spring, I will be wearing them just about everywhere...

You can even make your own with kits they provide, and save even more money- but, I recommend the Sensori Venture model  for just about everyone, first pair- All the work is done for you- just put them on!  And, again: the price is right!

J

PJSC #70 Put Yourself Back in Contact with Mother Earth!

Thermography Images- left- INFLAMED.....Right- GROUNDED, little inflammation!!

PJSC #70
Put Yourself Back in Contact with Mother Earth!

Earthing, or grounding- connecting the body directly to the earth- is this a vital part of healthy living, or a strange scam?

I have been researching this idea, and testing it out on my own body, for quite some time.  I noticed when I began barefoot sprinting years ago that I really enjoyed it!  I would do my usual Sunday in-the-basement workout, with my chin ups, and dips, various sorts of self-resisted squats and leg raises and assorted ab exercises, various kinds of pushups, and several sets of kettlebell swings… then, as “dessert”, I would go outside and sprint for 50-100 yards or so, for maybe 5-10 sets of sprints.

It has gotten to where I really look forward to the feeling I get doing these- it’s like I’m little 8 year old Jay again, running with my friends and brothers around the yard, barefoot, just for the fun of it!  Remember how great it felt to tear around like this barefoot when you were a kid?  Well I’m here to tell you that it feels just as good at 60 as it did at 6- and the older you are the MORE you need it!

At first I chalked this feeling up to just the barefoot benefits:  my feet were strengthened by running and walking as they were meant to- not confined in little “coffins” of stiff shoes…and that is definitely a  big part of it!  The benefits of using your feet as Nature intended are legion- the long atrophy caused by constant wearing of shoes results, eventually, in not only foot pain, but it travels up the chain of the body, and causes knee, ankle, hip, and back pain as well!

You really do need to start going around barefoot, at least inside your house!  Socks are fine- they don’t “confine” and degrade your foot like shoes do.  But, is there even MORE benefit to actually being barefoot- outside- ON THE GROUND?

I believe that there is, and it has to do with the electrical charge of the earth, with which we are meant to be in contact with!

We are electrical beings; we need to be grounded! Like everything in the ancestral, or paleo lifestyle, the more we examine the many ways in which our civilization has gradually and relentlessly set us further and further apart from nature, giving us many comforts and conveniences, sure- but also made us lose contact with those things that made us what we are- things like real, God-made food!  Ample, restful sleep!  A tribal community and family that we interacted with on a daily basis!   Pure water and air, an unpolluted environment! Daily stimulation to our muscles, and nearly constant movement!

And now, it appears: Contact with the electrical charge of the Earth itself!  That contact, which our forebears had in abundance, has been largely lost through the constant wearing of shoes, and the separation of most of us totally from the land and the soil!
There is a book, and plenty of information about this topic at www.earthing.com  You can certainly go there and check it out, and make your own decision.  They sell grounding “products”, like mats that you can sleep on, and when you are selling a product like that, somehow your research seems a little, well, shady…

But I really think they are onto something, and you can try it out on yourself, for free!

When the weather warms up, SOON I hope, go outside and walk around in your yard, or the park, or wherever- barefoot!  Sit outside with your bare feet on the ground- even on cement you will be grounded!  Get some natural sun each day as well- skip the sunscreen, and let your body make vitamin D the way God and nature intended… I’m sure there are other benefits to this we just have not even discovered yet!

See if, like me and many others, you don’t start feeling, and sleeping better!

The theory is that grounding, or earthing your body, at least some of the time, is another piece in the paleo puzzle of improving how you look, feel, and perform, by putting things back into our lives that never should have been drifted away from.  Real food, real sleep, real movement, real environment, and real contact with Mother Earth!

They all go together, and we should reintroduce them into our lives for our own good!

- and Hey- could you give me a review on Stitcher?  I'd sure appreciate it dude!
Just go to this link- stitcher review link  Thank You Tribesmember!!
J

Plantar Fasciitis!

All human beings should be able to perform
basic maintenance on themselves

Above: Kelly Starrett, of mobilitywod.com


I have had plantar fasciitis.  Most people who walk and/or run a LOT eventually develop this problem!   And it is a real problem- quite debilitating, really.  Each and every step is... a pain. Not a good way to go through life!

What to do?

The first thing to understand is that the pain is caused by inflammation; this is the same inflammation causing most of the other ills in our bodies- all of the "itis" diseases-  all are inflammation of our tissues to some extent or other.

The main cause of inflammation, of course, is our diet, which is off the charts high in grains, sugars, and industrial seed oils. 


So, the first order of business is to get these out of our diets!


The next step is to add omega 3 oils INTO our diets.  Wild caught Salmon, sardines, and a good quality cod liver oil, such as Carlson's, should become staples of your diet!

I know, I KNOW-  you're in pain, and we all want immediate fixes in the modern day world.
After all, that's what drugs have always promised us!


Let's get past the "quick fix" mentality- it's too good to be true, and it's not true.  We want to correct the cause, not the symptom.


The primary cause of foot (and knee, and hip, and BACK pain is):

SHOES!

Really!  We think:

 "Oh, my foot hurts, I must need more padding/arch support/insoles/cushions etc. in shoes and around my feet!"

The thing is, our feet are meant to function barefoot; balancing our weight throughout the complex foot structure, making minute adjustments to our gait as we amble along- shifting from big toe to little, and all in between... like a cat.  Encasing our feet in shoes, while necessary in our modern world, is still like putting them in casts.  

What happens to your arm in a cast?  And Quickly, too??

Your arm withers, loses strength, and gets... really small!  

Now think of your poor feet.  They have been encased in little "casts" for most of your life!  They are almost as weak as the feet of the Chinese brides whose feet were "bound" so they could be artificially made tiny!  

Just by wearing shoes most of the time, your feet are weak, and frail, and ready to fail!  (Hey- note to self: great song lyric!)

So, that's how it happens- your weak, pampered little feet, encased in the little casts you constantly wear on your feet, finally get so weak and inflamed that they start to really hurt!!

WHAT TO DO?

Firstly, go barefoot as much as possible!  (Stockinged feet counts as barefoot!)

Start to walk around your yard barefoot!  Just like Tom Sawyer!!  Really- it's how our feet were meant to function!!  Eventually, graduate to barefoot sprinting, detailed elsewhere in this blog, (and elsewhere on other sources).

In shoes, less is more.  Less cushioning/padding is really more natural, and better for your feet than more padding is!  Go Natural!!  God made us a certain way for good reason!!
And Forget the High Heels!!  Geez...

Now, I know you wonder:

"But PaleoJay- WHAT DO I DO IN THE HERE AND NOW??"

Check out this video, pilgrim: plantar fasciitis exercise video

Some very effective, no-nonsense fixes here!  This guy really knows what he's talking about- not a fancy video (to say the least!), but if you really want to address your problem, not just be coddled (like those silly little immobilizing "boots" that physicians and others try to sell), Kelly Starrett here tells you how to really fix the underlying problem!

And all you need is a La Crosse ball or two...

OK- follow the above, and not only will you solve your plantar fasciitis foot pain:

But, following the dietary anti-inflammatory advice, 

You will cure most of the modern day diseases of civilization!  

Really!!

No (Wheat, Rye, Corn, Soy) GRAINS!  No (Corn Syrup, Cane Sugar, Agave) SUGARS! 

 No SOY, CORN, or other Industrial, (Rancid) Seed Oils!!

=

NO MODERN DISEASES!!

It really is that simple.  

J

And, for a reward for reading through all of that information, I offer you this photo of my daughter Holly (in the RED), riding her bike with her cherished, paleo cat, ZEKE, in her basket.  

Obviously, Holly does NOT need a headlamp!!

Does an all-meat and fat, paleo CAT diet lead to lambent eyes?

Possibly the subject of a future post...