Inés wonders if she wasted money buying minimalists

"I'm desperate.

I've injured my calf muscles in the gym because of all the stress on my legs".

That's how Inés arrived at the shop.

With doubts, pains and not knowing if the minimalist shoes would be her solution.

Her story is a typical case of less is more.

Look what happened.

Inés had been suffering from various problems for years: foot pain, heavy calf muscles, waist pain?

The podiatrists she had visited told her that she had a shortened Achilles tendon because she had always worn shoes with heels.

When asked about the type of shoes, she says she didn't wear stilettos, but the typical women's shoes with a little bit of heel.

You know, all women's shoes have heels.

All of them.

On girls as well.

And the solution that the podiatrists suggested to her was two things:

1. She should wear shoes with a 3-centimetre heel.

A beastly thing to do.

Because this means that your feet are not flat, the pressure on your feet and on your knees is not distributed correctly, your hips are rotated forwards and your lumbar vertebrae draw a more pronounced curve.

2. And insoles.

I don't know what insoles can correct when you put them in a narrow shoe with a 3 centimetre heel.

As expected, both solutions did not work.

Applying the principle of less is more, Inés decided to eliminate what had made her a fragile woman.

Instead of putting on, she started to take off.

She would eliminate the heel and the insoles.

Although with certain doubts, as she didn't know if she could adapt to flat shoes, but as she had been in pain for so long and with her toes cramped, she thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

So she left the shop with her husband, wearing the Zauris sandals (it was summer).

On the way to the car, the doubts came back to her.

The inner voice in her head tried to sabotage her decision:

"Will I have thrown the money away?"

When she asked her husband about this, he said he was glad, because he felt his fingers free, with nothing constricting him, and that made him feel good.

Before letting herself be carried away by more doubts, Inés remembered what had been explained to her minutes before in the shop:

• She had to be more aware of each step she took, enjoy it, with a shorter stride, to gradually get used to it.

• Doing specific exercises to gain strength and confidence with his feet.

• Patience, so that the body can compensate for the new stimuli and generate the necessary positive adaptations.

After a few months, Inés felt good, and one day she went for a longer walk than usual, about 3 hours.

That walk that used to leave her waist "broken" and her calf and soleus muscles loaded, she didn't even notice. He finished without any discomfort.

And she excitedly tells us that now she even enjoys walking in the city:

"I can feel the roughness of the zebra crossings".

"I get a kind of joy in my body, I don't know, I can feel how my feet feel everything, and it's not pain".

It felt so good that he didn't even want to say it:

"I didn't tell people how happy I was with my shoes because I didn't want to jinx it. I didn't want to tell people how happy I was with my shoes so as not to jinx it, lest I would suddenly feel pain again".

And so, Inés forgot her initial doubts, applied the principle of less is more and began to enjoy the simple fact of being able to walk without pain.

Now when she calls us, it's to ask for advice when it comes to buying a new shoe.

The last thing she asked about was a more stylish, bootie-type shoe, such as:

• Vivobarefoot Geo Chelsea
• Vivobarefoot Gobi III WIN
• Xero Shoes Tari

For when you wake up in the morning, it's cold and you have an important event or you just want to look smart at work.

More doesn't have to be better.

On your feet, less is always more.

Your health starts with them.

Antonio Caballo