Karl­heinz, can you tell us how you discov­ered your passion for walking bare­foot?

Walking bare­foot in warm and pleasant weather has always appealed to me. But it wasn’t until I was outside shov­eling snow bare­foot in winter when it suddenly clicked! What at first seemed like a crazy idea resulted in warm feet and a pleasant tingling sensa­tion in my lower legs. Somehow, I suddenly felt so ener­gized. Some­thing was happening that not only invig­o­rated my feet, but my whole body. That’s what trig­gered me to take a closer look at bare­foot walking.

Are there any other bare­foot fans who helped you get started?

There is plenty of infor­ma­tion about bare­foot running, but for me it was more impor­tant to simply try it out for myself and constantly improve. Training to become a natural running coach at the Bare­foot Academy Düssel­dorf, a visit to the “foot guru” Casten Stark and other work­shops provided useful input. I have made good progress, but there is still a lot to discover.

Do you always walk bare­foot?

Not all surfaces are suit­able for walking bare­foot, but you can also wear bare­foot shoes, also known as ‘minimal’ shoes. I have since replaced all my shoes with bare­foot shoes, which you can now get for work, leisure, or sports. Bare­foot shoes have a rubber sole that is only about five millime­ters thick, and no raised heel area. And they also provide ample space, espe­cially for your toes.

Why is that bene­fi­cial?

As humans evolved their feet devel­oped into an inge­nious struc­ture for running and walking. The bene­fits of this struc­ture, which consists of count­less bones, joints, muscles, tendons, and liga­ments, are no longer fully utilized by wearing shoes. Yet feet are actu­ally the best shoes. The wrong footwear can damage our feet over time. It can lead to bunions (hallux valgus), flat feet, splayfeet, or kinked feet. The wrong walking tech­nique also often causes prob­lems in the knee and hip joints, extending right up to the spine. Walking bare­foot and foot mobi­liza­tion exer­cises help to main­tain or restore the natural struc­ture. This also applies to a lesser extent to walking in bare­foot shoes. I am happy to see that more and more people are using bare­foot shoes. However, care should be taken to adapt the walking tech­nique to the shoes.

So what exactly is impor­tant when switching to bare­foot walking?

Switching to bare­foot walking or walking in bare­foot shoes has to be done very care­fully. The fact that they have no raised heel may initially cause pain in the calves and Achilles tendon. It’s impor­tant to start with low-impact training, true to the maxim “less is more”. The guid­ance of a specialist helps prevent many prob­lems during the tran­si­tion – I know the very person …. 

What are the health bene­fits of walking bare­foot?

Walking without shoes or in bare­foot shoes on the fore­foot or midfoot strengthens your foot muscles, improves coor­di­na­tion, stabi­lizes your joints, prevents foot misalign­ment, trains your calves, and promotes an upright posture. This helps to alle­viate or even prevent knee, hip, and back pain. Walking on your fore­foot straightens the body and acti­vates the calf pump, which trans­ports blood back to the heart. This stim­u­lates your metab­o­lism. But walking without shoes also has posi­tive effects beyond the phys­ical bene­fits.

It’s impor­tant to start with low-impact training, true to the maxim “less is more”.

Karl­heinz Kösling

What effects are you refer­ring to?

I am refer­ring to what is termed as the grounding or ‘earthing’ effect. Stress, envi­ron­mental pollu­tants or poor nutri­tion cause inflam­ma­tion in our body, resulting in the build-up of excess posi­tive charge, so-called free radi­cals. As soon as we touch the ground with our bare feet, free nega­tive elec­trons flow from the earth into our body – exactly where they are most urgently needed to release tension. This restores the balance of posi­tive and nega­tive charges in the body. Direct contact with the earth or swim­ming in a quarry pond helps us stay (or become) healthy.

How high is the risk of injury when walking bare­foot?

Walking bare­foot thickens the fat pads (subcu­ta­neous fatty tissue) in your feet. Although this makes them less sensi­tive, it natu­rally does not protect against all injuries. It is there­fore advis­able to always carry an emer­gency pack with you on longer tours. Even in cold temper­a­tures, you should never overdo it – five minutes is often enough. Diabetics or patients suffering from arthrosis, or people who take blood thin­ners, should only walk bare­foot after consulting their doctor.

But what about ankle sprains?

The fact that you can easily twist your ankle in bare­foot shoes, espe­cially when hiking in the moun­tains, is not one of the risks. If you take a wrong step and the stretching stim­ulus exceeds a certain level, your muscles, tendons, and liga­ments will react at light­ning speed and compen­sate. I’ve tried this out myself. In the Allgäu Alps, I traversed the Nagelfluhkette moun­tain range in bare­foot shoes and didn’t encounter any such prob­lems. The grip on uneven terrain is perfect, as the bare­foot shoe adapts to the terrain and, unlike the stiff sole of a climbing boot, doesn’t just touch the ground at certain points.

Having direct bodily contact with the earth helps you stay healthy.

Karl­heinz Kösling

Do you always walk alone – or some­times also with others?

At present I am running a bare­foot course in Laupheim, which takes place outdoors – both in summer and winter. It comprises a complete package of bare­foot walking, foot mobi­liza­tion, flex­i­bility, and coor­di­na­tion exer­cises, and ends with a spot of Kneipp water treading in a stream. I think it’s impor­tant that people find their own approach to bare­foot walking and don’t simply follow my instruc­tions – after all, we are all indi­vid­uals.

I’d like to see more people taking an interest in bare­foot walking. Investing in your health doesn’t have to cost a lot, and it also makes you feel good. A small bare­foot path on the company premises, which can be used during breaks to recharge your batteries, would also be a sustain­able approach to promoting employee health.

If you’d like to have a go your­self at bare­foot walking, please contact Karl­heinz directly: koesling.k@uhlmann.de