Podiatrist · Specialist in Biomechanics · Founder of VOLKAN
"When a toe stops participating, the whole body has to improvise another way to move."
"I don't use my toes to walk"
A few months ago, I asked a patient to walk barefoot in the office.
Then I asked him a very simple question.
—Do you notice how your toes push at the end of each step?
He looked at me surprised.
He took a few seconds to think.
And he answered:
—The truth is I had never thought about them.
It wasn't the first time I had heard that answer.
And, probably, it won't be the last.
We are so used to walking that we stop perceiving a fundamental part of the movement.
The toes work thousands of times each day.
They simply, do it so well that they go unnoticed.
The last contact with the ground
Each step ends practically the same.
After the weight moves over the foot, a decisive moment arrives.
The toes come into action.
Especially the big toe.
At that moment, they help stabilize the body and allow the force to be transmitted forward to initiate the next step.
It's not just about pushing.
It's about directing.
About orienting.
About controlling.
They are the last point of contact with the ground before the foot is lifted again.
And that small instant happens thousands of times a day.
Much more than strength
When we think of the toes, we often imagine muscles.
But their function goes much further.
They are full of sensory receptors capable of detecting small variations in pressure, texture, and stability.
Every time the toes touch down, the brain receives information about the terrain.
Is it stable?
Is it soft?
Is it irregular?
Do we need to correct the balance?
All that information is processed in fractions of a second.
Without us having to think about it.
Moving the toes does not only mean generating strength.
It means improving the quality of the information with which the nervous system organizes movement.
What happens when they stop participating?
We are not always aware.
Sometimes the footwear is too tight.
Or too rigid.
At other times, there is pain, joint stiffness, or a deformity that limits their mobility.
And, simply put, the body seeks another strategy.
Because the organism always finds an alternative.
Perhaps it shifts more onto the outer edge of the foot.
Perhaps it increases the work of the ankle.
Perhaps it modifies the way to propel the hip.
It does not mean that an injury will inevitably occur.
It means that the system starts to reorganize movement to compensate for a limitation.
And the longer that strategy is maintained, the more important it will be to understand why it is happening.
What does this have to do with barefoot?
A lot.
One of the most important characteristics of footwear that respects the anatomy of the foot is that it allows the toes to have space to spread and participate in movement.
Not because more separated toes are automatically better.
But because compressed toes have less chance of contributing to balance and propulsion.
The goal is never to walk barefoot out of obligation.
The goal is to prevent footwear from hindering a function that the body already knows how to perform.
When the foot has the necessary space, the brain also receives a richer information about the environment.
And that information is part of good biomechanics.
What I see every day in consultation
One of the simplest tests we perform consists of observing how patients use their toes while walking or maintaining their balance.
Many people discover something unexpected.
They can move their toes perfectly when sitting.
But they stop using them as soon as they stand up.
It is not a problem of strength.
It is a problem of coordination.
The nervous system has stopped incorporating them into the movement strategy.
And, as happens with any function that we barely use, it can lose effectiveness over time.
The good news is that the brain also knows how to relearn.
What you can do starting today
The next time you are barefoot, take a minute to observe your feet.
Can you spread your toes?
Does the big toe move easily?
When you walk slowly, do you notice how they participate at the end of each step?
It's not about doing complicated exercises.
It's about paying attention again to a part of the body that has been working for you all its life.
🔬 In a sentence
The toes not only drive movement. They also help the brain to understand where the body is.
The most important idea
Each toe is a small source of information and a tool for movement.
When they participate, the body has more resources to maintain balance, adapt to the terrain, and move efficiently.
When they stop doing so, the organism does not stop.
It simply seeks another way to solve the same problem.
And that ability to adapt, once again, is one of the great strengths of the human body.
A question to reflect on
The next time you put on shoes, ask yourself:
Are my toes going to participate in every step… or are they just going to travel inside the shoe?
In the next article…
After talking about the toes, an inevitable question arises.
If the body always seeks to adapt… why do injuries appear?
Is it the movement that injures us?
Or is it the lack of adaptation to a certain load?