Alignment from 🗣️ Head to Toes 👣

CorrectToes™️ (advertisement, not payed) are anatomical toe spacers designed by sports podiatrist, Dr. Ray McClanahan.

These toe spacers can be worn barefoot or inside approved footwear, and even while being active! That‘s why I put them into my strength training respectively biohacking “tool box”, besides my special designed dental splint.

An anatomical correct alignment from head to toes is mandatory not only to enhance physical performance but also to stay healthy, prevent wear and tear of your joints and prevent you from pain.

In this article I‘ll show you why and how I use two “cool tools” that are commonly overlooked, not only in the field of strength training and performance enhancement!

Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes…

Of course you all know the children‘s song that starts with:

“Head, shoulders, knees and toes
Knees and toes, knees and toes.

Head, shoulders, knees and toes
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose…”

Just a simple song for kids that bears a lot of truth!

Unfortunately, from my experience, people do not pay a lot of attention to their body, especially their footwear. Sure, they buy lots of overpriced shoes from super famous brands for hundreds of Dollars, but are they really good for your feet or just show-offs?

If you are aware of the “Golden Age of Bodybuilding”, when Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, Lou Ferrigno etc. used to train at the original Gold‘s Gym you will notice a couple of things they all had in common.

First, they all looked awesome, compared to modern day bodybuilders with their bloated guts etc.

Second, they all thrived on a high fat/high protein diet, trained outside and therefore consumed lots of sunlight (Vitamin D) AAAAAAND they all trained lots of the time barefoot (just look at the old footage or the movie “Pumping Iron” and you‘ll notice it!

If they didn’ they at least wore footwear with plane shoe soles! That might just be the case as there were no “fancy” Crossfit Shoes or lifting shoes etc. at that time, but things don‘t always change for the better! Especially when it comes to terms of footwear!

Nowadays most feet aren‘t even used to walk barefoot anymore. From early age human feet are imprisoned by (most of the cases) the wrong footwear. Let‘s just call them “foot prisons”.

Here‘s a nice clip form Family Guy where Peter Griffin shows his humoristic view on not wearing shoes:

Did you know, that you are normally born with “perfect feet”?!

Babies’ feet are designed to provide balance and stability. With a broad sole and splayed toes, feet form our foundation.

In our society, foot shape and function change as we age. As feet are exposed to conventional footwear, toes compress and curl.

Rigid footwear and arch support diminish muscle activation and toe range of motion, causing weakness and atrophy in the foot.

With the long-term use of restrictive footwear, our once dexterous and mobile toes lose their ability to move independently.

In cultures around the world who remain barefoot or minimally shod, toes maintain natural shape and splay, and foot and toe strength and dexterity is preserved through adulthood and into old age.

So instead of forcing your babies into feet you should focus on letting them walk barefoot as often as possible!

I would also recommend going barefoot as an adult whenever possible! Another benefit of walking barefoot is something called “grounding” or “earthing”. When you “reconnect” with mother nature‘s natural electron rich field and you absorb these electrons through your feet.

You will have probably noticed this effect before, maybe without noticing. You instantly feel better, more relaxed and chilled, while walking barefoot on the beach or in the forest. Even by simply stepping into the grass of your own garden!

If you haven‘t paid attention or experienced this before, give it a try!

What I also use to relief some pain in my feet and actually my whole body, i.e. after an intense workout or to get an extra mobilization ist a little golf ball shaped sphere called “Superfoot Rubz” Massage Ball. You might want to give this a try and include it into your workout “tools”. I got this tip from Ed Coan (one of the most successful powerlifters in the history of the world).

A perfect design

I have talked to the very friendly and helpful people from CorrectToes™️ and they told me:

“Strength and mobility are key features in achieving overall musculoskeletal health. Unfortunately, because of footwear design, the foot is often prevented from achieving its full potential. With 26 bones, 33 joints and over 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments, the human foot is extraordinary in its complexity.

Three arches span the heel and forefoot. Like a powerful spring, these arches are designed to flex, rebound and absorb shock in order to decrease impact forces on joints higher up in the body. With long-term exposure to conventional shoes, our feet weaken, our toes deform and our muscles shorten and atrophy.

Footwear continually forces foot arches to perform in unnatural ways, altering gait, posture and balance. This leaves our feet dependent on footwear that is structured, cushioned and supportive. But, thankfully, foot-healthy shoes now exist that allow the foot to function as nature intended.”

Don‘t fall for cheap imitates! What makes CorrectToes™️ unique

Now I know what you might think or even say: “there are lots of similar products on the market, why should I use precisely this one?” Well, I can‘t force you to buy this product, I don’t have financial interest in it nor am I involved in this company.

But, it is like always, if you want good results, you get what you pay for. If you want a cheap (and probably not so good solution) you buy a “cheap” product. If you want good quality, you purchase the good stuff.

It‘s like cars. Nobody really needs a Porsche to go from A to B. If your only concern is to have a car, you can buy a 1000$ car from the junkyard. Will it drive? Maybe, maybe not. Will it have the power, the performance, the aerodynamic, the quality of a Porsche? Absolutely not!

Even if you subtract the prestige of the brand and narrow it down only to the parts that are used to build a Porsche it will be of better quality than most other cars. Of course not everybody can afford a Porsche, but you certainly can afford a toes spreader that comes in pairs for 65$!

So, don‘t fall for the cheap stuff they sell on amazon or ebay. You only have one pair of feet, treat them right. Otherwise “cheap” might be expensive in the long run as cheap products might cause health problems and an illness is neither cheap nor fun to deal with!

CorrectToes™️ are unique from my perspective due to:

• Designed to restore original toe splay and alignment
• Created by sports podiatrist Dr. Ray McClanahan
• Made of durable and flexible medical-grade silicone
• Naturally antimicrobial and hypoallergenic
• Promotes balance and optimal foot and toe circulation

• Can be used in foot-shaped footwear for maximum corrective effect
• Easily modifiable for unique feet and toes
• Can be used on bare feet, over toes socks or in healthy footwear
• Is a reasonably-priced alternative to orthotics or surgery
• Designed to prevent or address many foot and toe problems

👟 What is beneficial footwear? 👟

Now that I have criticized lots of modern footwear I also want to give you my recommendation about “better” ones. Of course this article is not intended to diagnose or treat any diseases nor to give any “health claims” but I can tell you which shoes I would buy.

It‘s not about a special brand but rather about the design of footwear I look to.

All good things come in threes, therefore the “perfect” shoe for me is:

• Flat
• Flexible
• Wide

According to these points I buy footwear for myself that is flat, widest at the ends of the toes and flexible in the sole!

If you are looking for cool tools to strengthen your feet, feel free to check out my article about the FREO Foot Care Sytem.

FREO Gear is a USA based company that produces strength training boards, designed by mountain runner, coach and author Eric Orton who also wrote the book “The Cool Impossible” (affiliate link).

I decided to shoot a quick FREO exercise guide. This video shows you how I  use the FREO tools. So please feel free to adopt what you like and skip what you don‘t. Enjoy!

The rack rail

The right alignment of your body is important. Therefore helpful tools like toe spreaders and rack rails have to be especially designed for you! While the first can rather easily be modified by yourself to fit your special needs, the latter have to be designed by a biological working dentist.

 I had my biological working dentist made me a special rack rail of a hypoallergic monomere to correct my too deep bite, enhance my detoxification during sleep and prevent my teeth from too much wear and tear during training and from crunching during night.

For me a rack rail and toe spreaders are rather small but extremely important tools, not only during training but for overall health and wellbeing!

When it comes to training, people pay a lot of attention to all kind of supplements, training gear, special designed clothes etc. But hardly anyone takes your jaw bone/teeth and feet into consideration!

But both of them are very important and can be the root of a lot of evil. When it comes to teeth I‘d recommend you to watch the movie “Root Cause” to get a deeper understanding how teeth that received a root cause might be responsible for lots of illnesses.

Conclusion 🔍

In strength and fitness there are lots of “gadgets” on the market. Lots of them are useful and a  lot of them are … let‘s say, made to only make money. Sometimes useful tools are rather expensive and have the absolute necessity of being made-to-measure (like a rack rail) and sometimes they don‘t ( like quality toe spreaders).

When it comes to the latter I‘d highly recommend you to invest in the best. You invest once and benefit from it for a lifetime. As a strength coach and complementary and alternative medicine practitioner I‘ve been testing CorrectToes™️ toe spreaders for quite a while now and I‘m absolutely convinced of their quality.

Besides that, they‘re a super friendly company, based in the US, with a superb customer service!

© HP Bernd Stößlein, Master of Business Administration in Sportmanagement.

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