I found a photo of my foot from the first month after ditching shoes and compared it to my current photo. It shows the change in the toe spread over my 28 months of running barefoot.
I can't believe you actually took a picture of your foot for comparison,
way more forethought than I give this stuff I've noticed the same
effect however, my big toe has an even wider spread although I can't
prove it
ha! at first i was like, "hey! i only see one pic!' man, technology. nearly 3 years in for me and my toes still point in a little. this gives me some hope.
No before photo here either. Sure wish I had. My toes were pointed toward the center and the bunion on the right foot stuck out badly.
After a year or so of trying to stop this deformation(by being bf/minimal), my toes mostly point straight out when relaxed or standing, and splay lots while running.
And if I stretch them they go waaaaaay out. However, no where near your spread.
Waiting to see what happens after another year or two.
This also applies to the straightening of hammer toes, my wife had the worst hammer toes now her toes are quite straight. Pretty damn amazing I must say.
Interesting to see how much the position of the big toe moves between shots. Alas the poor old little toe, lost and forlorn, doesn't move much. Very similar to mine in fact. My smallest toe is still rotated around 45 degrees from the position it should be in from years of wearing badly designed footwear. Will we ever get to design items of clothing that actually conform to our natural shape, judging by how hard it is to find shoes that have a correct fit I would have to say never.
Nice. My big toe was similar, pretty much touching my second toe and I was probably close to having a bunion form. In fact, I wore a hole through the side fabric of my first Vibrams on the inside of the big toe. Now it is nicely away from the second toe. Still waiting for my hammer toes to straighten and the little toes to decide to be on their own.
Paraganek about how many miles do you run in one week? If your ticker is for the whole year then 1734 works out to be about 31 miles a week is that about what you run?
Paraganek about how many miles do you run in one week? If your ticker is for the whole year then 1734 works out to be about 31 miles a week is that about what you run?
I am averaging at only 18 miles a week these days. Most of that is on a winding hilly trail (dirt/gravel). The ticker is for all my barefoot miles since I started about two and half years ago.
Just a bit of caution that it is easy to fool oneself that the toes have really spread. It all depends on how careful one was in the before and after pictures. My foot:
Just a bit of caution that it is easy to fool oneself that the toes have really spread. It all depends on how careful one was in the before and after pictures. My foot:
Skepticism is good, and critical to the scientific method. Though, I'll take paraganek's word for it. He's not trying to sell anything. No different than the before and after weight loss photo thread, which is equally unscientific and full of non-reproducible variables.
Edit: To clarify, I think that many barefoot runners end up developing a good sense of self-awareness regarding their feet. It would be the same for someone who uses their hands, such as a surgeon or pianist. I've had to give away all of my regular shoes, because they don't fit comfortably anymore. If paraganek has noticed that his feet are wider, then I believe him.