Barefoot Strength

We can become so fixated on the visibly affected area of the body that we assume it must be the root cause of the problem, when it might simply be a symptom of dysfunction elsewhere.

With bunions, for example, the big toe is where we see the problem, but restricted ankle mobility can be one of the factors contributing to it.

A full-body movement assessment matters. Before we can fix the problem, we first need to understand what is tight, weak or poorly controlled. Once we know the destination, we can properly plan the route.

At the Barefoot Strength Academy, members begin with 10 functional tests. This gives them a clearer understanding of their biggest weaknesses so they can choose the follow-along workouts that target what their body actually needs.

No guessing. Assess first, then build the plan. Link in bio.

Ankle mobility is 1 of 10 functional tests we give you to do in our Barefoot Strength Academy. By the time you have completed all of them, you’ll know every limiting factor in your body that’s destroying its function.

Then we give you follow-along workouts to fix each of those weaknesses.

Together we leave no stone unturned. Your body will have no choice but to regain function.

A couple of months ago, I started sitting more than usual.

I’d moved into a co-working space that didn’t have proper standing desks, and after a while I could feel it: my glutes just weren’t firing the way they normally do.

I’ve spent years working on building strong, dominant glutes, and I’ve made real progress with it. But even with all that work behind me, the extra sitting still had an effect.

So I went and got tested at a university sports lab, and the results confirmed what I was feeling: my glute activity was way down.

I went back to the basics: sitting less, moving more, and stretching my hip flexors every single day.

Within two weeks, my glutes were back on track.

That’s why I’m so confident when I say this stuff works. I’ve seen it with our members, I’ve seen it with so many people over the years, and I’ve experienced it myself.

If you want stronger, more powerful glutes, sitting less and opening up your hip flexors is one of the most important places to start.

And if you need help, accountability, and a community to keep you consistent, join us inside the Barefoot Strength Academy.

We practice this daily, and we’d love to see you inside.

We look at problems like ankle mobility holistically. Instead of just throwing a mobility exercise at the problem, which is the most common response, we go a layer deeper and ask: what are the main causes of that restriction? Then we fix those too.

That way we’re not only addressing the problem directly through exercise, we’re also preventing it from coming back by fixing the root cause.

If this is how you’d like to solve these dysfunctional patterns in the body, then you’ll love our free 7-day strong feet & glutes guide.

Just comment “academy” and we’ll send it to you.

About 14 years ago I started really trying to understand the root cause of dysfunction and injury in the body. And I quickly realized that all roads lead down to the feet. Which makes total sense when you think about it, because the feet are the literal base that the entire body rests on. Like any structure, if that base isn’t functional, nothing above it can be functional either.

We’re often overcomplicating things in this industry. But really we just have to go back to first principles. The body, like all structures, needs a good foundation.

If we can get the basics right, there’s a much higher chance that everything else falls into place and stays structurally sound.

That’s exactly what we focus on inside the Barefoot Strength Academy. We help people build that foundation from the ground up. Link in bio if you want to join us.

Bunions are a shoe problem, an intrinsic foot weakness problem, and a glute problem disguised as a toe problem.

That’s how we address every issue inside the Barefoot Strength Academy. We always look upstream and downstream of the symptom to find the real root cause.

Fourteen years ago, I became obsessed with one question: What's the root cause of dysfunctional posture and movement patterns in the body?

Fortunately, I figured out early on that all roads lead down to the feet.

Fast forward to now, having worked with thousands of people and spent more than ten thousands of hours in the research and literature, I'm more convinced than ever: if you want a strong, resilient body, you have to start at the base, the feet.

This published case study is a real example of how interconnected all the parts of the body are. If one area is dysfunctional, it creates a ripple effect everywhere else.

That’s why when you’re dealing with a specific issue, you need a good understanding of the entire system and how everything integrates.

We make it really simple at the Barefoot Strength Academy. We’ve taken that complexity and broken it into practical pieces that make up our full body screening. Once you complete it, we help you understand exactly where your problem areas are and how they might be affecting the rest of your body.

Fixing bunions isn’t as simple as most online content makes it seem. The majority of what you’ll find focuses almost entirely on footwear, and I’m in total agreement that wearing the wrong shoes affects toe alignment.

The literature is clear, and the thousands of people we’ve spoken to over the years have confirmed it. Switching to wide toe box barefoot shoes has helped their bunions and toe alignment.

But if you really want to solve this problem holistically, you’ve got to look at every factor that contributes to misalignment, including arch collapse and overpronation. You can’t only wear the correct shoes. You can’t only work on foot strengthening. You can’t only wear silicone toe spacers. You’ve got to do all of it.

That’s exactly what we do in our Barefoot Strength Academy. We now have a 21-week Bunion Protocol that covers the 5 biggest contributors to bunion development, targeting all of them over the course of those 21 weeks.

If bunions are something you’re struggling with, come try it out. It’s non-invasive, and at the end of those 21 weeks your feet will be stronger, you’ll understand your bunions better than you do right now, and I can promise you won’t be any worse off. 21 weeks. That’s the commitment. Give it a try.

Why I love this exercise:

Babies do it instinctively from day one. No cue needed. It’s some of the oldest movement code we have.

I’ve watched all three of my daughters splay their toes without me saying a word. And personally? Look at the first clip in this video (pretty good toe splay), then look at the last clip. It’s from a few years ago when I was struggling to spread my toes out properly. My toe splay has gotten way better.

What I also like is that it’s non-weight bearing. So when your feet are “angry” (plantar fasciitis, whatever), you can still do this one.

We build everything in the Academy from first principles. Get your assessment, find your weaknesses, train them directly.

👇Get our free 7-day strong feet & glutes guide: 🔗 in bio