Correct Toes

I wore toe spreaders inside shoes for about two years. However, whenever running, I prefer being unencumbered. The result was that my toes were more flexible as far as splay was concerned, but not extension or flexion. However, my toes weren't any stronger, and it was still challenging to try to splay them without the toe spreaders.

Incidentally, I found that my feet became stronger, when I started wearing a heavy backpack to try to burn some extra calories while walking. It seemed that I learned how to move more efficiently. Eventually, I got a weight vest that was 1/3 of my bodyweight, but I didn't really notice any further improvement after about 1/4 bodyweight. 6-8 weeks of this did more to strengthen my feet than a 1000 miles of barefoot running.

Maybe this makes sense. Rehabilitative strength training seems to be about slow, purposeful, controlled movements against resistance. Maybe it's no different for toes! :D
 
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I just wonder if you could be damaging your feet/toes (in the long run) from running in those toe spacers. Do you feel you are gripping them at all when you run? I know you said you forget you have them on. I am surprised they stay on your feet. I think I would feel like I was gripping them all the time to make them stay in place.

The Correct Toes are supposed to be able to be worn inside or "outside" (hee) of shoes when running. It makes sense that they could be worn inside of shoes, but I've tried them, the smallest size, for running barefoot, and they kept coming off my feet. I do get that the Correct Toes are super soft and flexible, so they could possibly pass for running in shoes, but with them barefoot, I was always trying to grip onto them and that really messed with my form and caused my toes to ache.


Sounds like they are too big for your feet...if you are already using the smallest size, try wearing them over top of toe socks or underneath a pair of regular socks ;-)

Running in socks is not so bad ;-)

Another option that I have really enjoyed, but that can get a little pricing, is using that stretchy colored athletic tape to tape up the foot in a way that the stretchy tape pulls the little toe outward and the big toe inward :)


Works great, but if you use it everyday it's costly....is probably a good race day solution.
 
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Just thought I'd add this...see how much more my toes open up after wearing the toe spacers for an hour or two?


I might have mentioned it before...but through this whole process, over about an 8 month period, my shoe size has gone from 10.5 US to an astounding 12 US...and I think they are getting bigger still.
 
Steve, can you clarify?

Did you go up 1.5 shoe sizes just in width to accommodate a larger toe-box, or overall (length and width)?

A little of both.

I am only wearing shoes with very wide toe boxes, but both the length and the width of my foot increased.

Probably a full size my foot grew, but am also wearing the shoe looser than before, so a half size up is probably that...though I could really wear a 12.5 comfortably in some shoes...the size 12 Lems seem to be getting smaller on me already.

My foot had been getting wider for a while, but the correct toes made my foot longer.

What seems to happen is that when the toes are use to being scrunched, they actuall scrunch more and shorten up when weight is transfered inside the shoe...but with the toe spacers, the toes length and spread when weight is transfered across the foot.

I will add that I always wore my shoes pretty snug before becoming a barefooted, I probably should have been wearing an 11 all those years instead of a 10.5...but even so, the foot got much bigger, and is still spreading out it seems.


It's funny to think of myself as a guy who wears a size 12 or bigger shoe.
 
Ok. I was wondering. I wear a 9EEEE (9 length, 11.5 - 12 width) so my foot getting wider could present a problem if the length didn't change too...


I would guess how your foot 'unfolds' will vary from body type to body type...I'm a long thin boned guy, who got fat lol.

I'm 6'2", but that's not my natural height, I have a curvature of the spine, such that if it didn't exist I would be about 6'5" or 6'6"...so my feet are the feet of a tall thin-ish boned guy.

Your body type, and your feet may be different, and sohow they 'spread out' may be different too.

Depends on HOW you deformed them in shoes all those years to I guess....Dunno