You can't do anything, you're going to have metatarsalgia, but do you want it to affect you less?

What I am about to tell you is becoming a recurring theme and has a lot to do with the way we see things: either black or white, when in reality there is a wide range of shades of grey.

And it is in the greys where the solution to your problems often lies.

The thing is that last Tuesday I was climbing in the climbing wall with some friends.

Among them was Titín, who apart from being our climbing instructor, has been involved in minimalist footwear for as long as I have.

In all these years of minimalist shoes I have shared with him many talks and training sessions about feet, running techniques, training and so on.

It so happens that the climbing wall is located next to an athletics track and a lot of people run past it, and of course, we can't help but look and appreciate what we see.

People, in general, run badly, some of them very badly. To see someone with a good technique, there are 10 who look like dizzy ducks.

They just walk around the track, as if they were mice on a wheel in their cage, without worrying about how they run, about technique, which is key if you're going to spend several hours a week running.

We were in the middle of this when he told me that in the last functional training he gave in a gym, a woman of about 35 approached him to train with him.

The woman has only been running for a short time and is currently suffering from metatarsalgia, a deep pain in the area where the toes begin.

Titín tells her that her training is done barefoot, which includes multisprinting, and that with this pain it will be difficult for her to train.

The woman takes part in the class, does what she can and at the end of the training session tells him that she has an appointment with a chiropodist for insoles.

Titin makes a face of circumstance, although he doesn't say a word, and she says to him:

"Don't talk to me about minimalism, not all feet are the same, each one does one thing well".

"Besides, I've used minimalist shoes for walking and they didn't work well, I couldn't even walk in them".


Here, with this woman's comment, is where we go from black to white, without seeing that in between means there are the wonderful greys.

And this is where we call everything that doesn't work for you a fraud.

There is an example that explains it very well. I have given it several times, but I will not tire of repeating it because it is so clear.

The first day you join a gym you don't start lifting weights of 100 kilos because you will get injured.

And if you get injured, the injury is not caused by the weights, but by doing much more than your body can handle at that moment.

The same thing happens to your feet, and even more so if you have an ailment such as Morton's neuroma, spur, metatarsalgia, fasciitis...

For this there are weights of 1, 2, 5, 10 kilos... so that you can progress at your own pace.

And that's why there is minimalist footwear with a thicker sole, but flat, wide and flexible.

Because let's see, my goodness me.

If you have metatarsalgia, neuroma or a simple callus, and you wear shoes with a raised heel, the pressure on the damaged area is greater, and the more pressure, the more pain.

And if you have squashed toes or a slanted big toe in your footwear, the pressure is also greater on the painful area and the metatarsalgia will not heal.

You can use a plaster or an insole, but it won't heal.

Something that at first glance may seem logical, common sense, is not.

And it all comes down to minimalism or not minimalism.

As if it were a competition.

When minimalist footwear is simply footwear that respects the shape of your foot.

We don't see the greys, but they exist and in this case it's called:

• Lems Primal Zen

A minimalist shoe: wide, flexible, flat, without reinforcements, but with a thicker sole to protect your weak feet.


Health starts with letting your feet do their job.

Antonio Caballo