i have grown up wearing thongs probably because of the convenience and also the weather in australia. but im wondering if my constant wearing of thongs will help my transition to barefoot shoes as it seems like a fairly similar idea. after doing some research on transitioning, i have noticed that my toes are quite well splayed anyway, and put this down to thongs... not sure if there are any other benefits of having the freedom to move in thongs, but im going to find out!!
i have had plenty of ankle injuries when wearing high stacked sneakers through my life, but now determined to try and retrain my feet as best as i can. i was interested to read a study that shows thongs have actually been shown to increase ankle dorsiflexion, increase midfoot plantaflexion, increase midfoot inversion and reduce hallux dorsiflexion, so in that respect, very close to walking barefoot.
