Most of us take for granted how many steps we take in a day. How about in a month, a year or even a lifetime… 

For a moderately active adult, that’s 3,650,000 steps in a year or 36.5 million steps in a decade! 

Our amazing feet are what connect us to the earth and carry the full weight of our body every day but unfortunately, many of us mistreat our “dogs” without realizing it. 

Founder and CEO of Xero Shoes, Steven Sashen, is our guest today on Strong By Design. When it comes to feet, few people are more passionate or knowledgeable than Steven.  

After a 30-year hiatus from sprinting, Steven became fascinated with running in bare feet and eventually this love of running barefoot sparked his company Feel the World and then Xero Shoes.  

By the way, if you’re in Boulder, CO, he is well known for living life shoeless. 

“This is about strengthening your foundation. This is about having strong, flexible, supple, responsive, healthy, happy feet. This is about strength… strength starts with the feet.” – Steven Sashen 

Time Stamps  

00:35 – Welcome to the ‘Strong by Design’ podcast 

03:19 – Get to know today’s special guest, Steven Sashen, co-founder and CEO of Xero Shoes 

06:22 – Foot fetish: What is it and why do people have it? 

09:55 – The importance of having strong feet 

11:58 – Use it or lose it: Why we need to FREE our feet from ‘foot coffins’ 

17:37 – The power of barefoot training 

21:57 – Steven on why your modern shoes are killing your feet 

26:27 – Steven recounts the birth of ‘Xero Shoes’ 

33:44 – How are Xero Shoes different? 

43:59 – Steven on what causes balance issues in older adults 

48:06 – The power of daily movement 

50:59 – Where you can go to connect with Steven Sashen