‘I’m a Sports Dietitian, and No, You Don’t Need To Eat Protein Right After a Workout’

Most of us spend our days without much sense of the ground below us. Sure, we know it’s there—but with our evergrowing love of max-cushioned shoes, we don’t really feel it. Yet, natural foot care experts say there are several benefits to swapping all that foam for a more functional or natural shoe, often called a “barefoot” or “minimal” shoe.

“If your feet can sense the ground and your toes are spread out, your balance is going to be way better,” says podiatrist Ray McClanahan, DPM, a podiatrist in Portland, Oregon. “Some barefoot shoes, if they’re shaped properly, will enhance the circulation to the bottoms of our feet by about 20 percent. Several studies have shown that our arch muscles will get about 10 percent stronger.”

An obvious place to start testing this out would be with our gym shoes, since better balance and proprioception (the sense of where your body is in space) can make for a better workout. Enter: the Vivobarefoot Motus Flex ($190), a new shoe with a super-thin sole that’s designed as a performance trainer for workouts like calisthenics or primal movement exercises. Separated into two parts to help your feet move more naturally, it’s even flexible enough to be worn during yoga. As an avid fan of the floaty, foamy sneakers that nearly everyone is wearing these days, I wasn’t sure I’d think of wearing a barefoot sneaker. Turns out, my feet *and* my balance loved feeling more connected to the floor.

First impressions

Out of the box, the Vivobarefoot Motus Flex feels virtual