Do you think our early ancestors wore half-length or full-length orthotic shoe inserts? Would their video-recorded gait assessments have revealed more under or over-pronators in the general population?

If we try to imagine how life was back in the day of the caveman we could safely assume that his ability to run both short sprints and long distances was necessary for surviving in a wild environment. Without the ability to track food or flee from dangerous predators the human evolution may not have been possible. What we can also be sure of is the caveman did not run in a pair of Asics trainers with rear-foot gel-cushioning outer soles structured for either a neutral or over-pronating gait . Nope, our early ancestors would have been running barefoot.

Many thousands of years later and despite our advances in footwear design and technology there is a ‘barefoot running’ revolution gaining traction in some circles. The idea is that we as a species have spent more time running barefoot than we have in our fancy high-tech shoes and therefore we are more physiologically suited to running barefoot.

An infographic may not be the best reference style for medical advice but it's catchy with lots of fun pictures and really gets the message across.

Do you realise what poor posture looks like in different positions and are you consciously aware of how you hold your body at different times of the day?

Shoe insoles / foot orthotics have the power to positively transform your postural alignment - or ruin it.

If you are suffering any form of foot or ankle pain and if the thought of a shoe insole has crossed your mind, then please consider these few key points before taking any action.

If you are a runner yourself or involved in almost any type of training regime, it would be hard not to have noticed a lot of talk in the industry about barefoot running. The sudden craze of ditching the shoes might not make a whole lot of sense if you, like many, see the need and benefit for a good supporting training shoe. So, barefoot running - madness? or, a strategic plan for better training?