I returned to mountain biking after an extended hiatus, a vacation courtesy of a new job, a growing family, and bike thief.  In my decade absence, however, the biking aficionados complicated the sport.  In college, when I wheeled my Rockhopper to the trails, the regimen was simple: ride up lung-busting hills, ride down sphincter-puckering slopes.  Since then, however, the practitioners of the sport have invented, among other things, the skills section, a mountain biker’s playground complete with skinnies, teeter-totters, and other nefarious wooden devices.

Skinnies are land bridges, thin planks that trail builders set from nowhere to nowhere.  Standing anywhere from three inches to several feet above the ground, they challenge the rider to ride a narrow line; falter from the two-by-six, and you either jump or fall off the edge— onto dirt or mulch, if the trail engineers are kind.   Teeter-totters are…well…teeter-totters.  Aim your bike up the ramp, keep your balance, and either wait for the other side to drop you to the ground, or launch yourself into the ether, using the plank and fulcrum as a launch.

On my first ride after the extended vacation, when I first saw a skinny (and a beginner’s skinny at that), I snorted.

You’ve got to be kidding,

I said to David, my riding partner. He smirked.

Wait till you see what comes next.

He rode it perfectly.  I tumbled off the side within the first two feet.

Practice followed, and if perfection hasn’t, comfort certainly has.  I’ve ridden the skinny numerous times since then; the beginner’s bridge doesn’t raise my pulse, nor does the teeter totter— at least, not in the novice section.

Still, I appreciate the land bridge in a way that I couldn’t several years ago.

(Forgive me, dear reader; in my real life I’m an English teacher, so I tend to see symbols quite often.  Here goes.)

Simply put, the skinny symbolizes balance.  We fear the lurch off the edge, but we ride through the anxiety, eyes focused on the six-inch wide piece of wood in front.  Stay on the board, remain relaxed, move forward.  Nothing else— not the drop to the side, or the teeter in front, or the issues at work— nothing else matters.

All of us have experienced the aura of balance and the tension of crashing.  Most of us know, instinctively, that we have to wave hello at our worries, but then we have to watch the path in front of us.  Yet we are distracted by the drops at the side-the phone calls, e-mail messages, politics at the office, demands and complaints and assertions that pull us off the plank.  And we crash, whether that means spending too much time in the bar or on the computer or in the office, staring at something other than our lives.

Exercise reminds us how to stay on the path.  It is the pure distillation of what we know, but what we need to be reminded of:  ride the skinny, and keep your balance.  It gives you confidence for what comes next, even if it’s a teeter-totter.

Robin Follet lives, teaches, and cartoons in North Carolina.

I have been training barefoot since I began lifting weights in my parents’ basement 15 years ago. It just felt right. Many people have voiced concern for my little toes around heavy weights, but I have always felt safer without a chunk of rubber, plastic and leather wrapped around my foot. My gut told me that shoes were the cause of the majority of foot, ankle and knee problems in modern society. In my calculations, I was more likely to incur an injury wearing shoes due to misalignment of the foot and a weakening of the musculature, ligaments and tendons than I was to have someone drop a dumbbell on my toes.  It hasn’t happened yet, and if it did I question how much that little bit of cloth would really save me.

Unfortunately, research on training barefoot has been minimal to date.  Michael Warburton of Gateway Physiotherapy has done an excellent job collecting and condensing what research has been done.  Here are Warburton’s findings in a nutshell:

• Where barefoot and shoe-wearing populations co-exist injury rates of the lower extremity are substantially higher in the shoe-wearing population.

• Running-related chronic injuries to bone and connective tissue in the legs are rare in predominantly barefoot populations.

• Footwear increases the risk of sprains by decreasing awareness of foot position and increasing the leverage arm and consequently the twisting torque around the ankle during a stumble.

• Two keys to improved balance during movement are proprioceptive and tactile sensitivity; both of which are always reduced by running shoes.

While studies are still needed to ensure that some of the above data is not due to unmeasured variables such as mileage, wearing bad shoes or not seeking medical attention, the evidence does suggest that Mother Nature and millions of years worth of evolution may beat out Nike after all!

But here’s the catch: the muscles in your feet are probably so deconditioned from being supported by your shoes all the time, that it would be a really bad idea to jump on the treadmill barefoot and try banging out your usual run. (In fact, I don’t like using a treadmill, with or without shoes, but I’ll talk more about that in a later post).  You could injure your feet pretty bad if you don’t build up the strength to support the structure of your feet and ankles first.

Instead, begin with basic, non-impact exercises and build on their complexity. When your feet begin feeling strong, then you can add impact exercises. Remember, you are strengthening muscles, ligaments and tendons; they need time to develop. Of course, there are still the issues of glass, dog poop and gym rules. To negotiate all these pesky impediments, I recommend the Vibram Five Fingers. They offer thin rubber soles for protection without any support, leaving your foot to do its job.

Good luck! And please, watch out for my little toes.

Jamie Dreyer is the President of Further Fitness NYC.

Blog Further is a well-informed conversation and community among health conscious individuals.

Interdisciplinary in approach, the blog features weekly writers with smart, distinct, and compelling voices. While our bloggers hail from very different parts of the country— from the Midwest to the South, the East Coast to the West— and while each of them comes to fitness from a very different place, each shares a commitment to good health and good writing.

Here is what to expect:

Every Monday— Further Ahead

• Jamie Dreyer blogs on the latest trends and research in exercise and fitness.

Every Tuesday— Further Man

• Robin Follet offers anecdote and analysis on men’s health and the various ways fitness intersects with his roles as father, coach, athlete, teacher, and writer.

Every Wednesday— Further Woman

• Jeanine Casler writes about women’s health and her own relation to health and exercise as a seasoned marathoner, mother and scholar.

Every Thursday— Further Fun

• Robert Speck muses on what it means to return to fitness after a long hiatus.

Every Friday— Further Thoughts

• Allen Durgin closes the week with his own revels and reflections.

Blog posts will run the gamut from lyric essay to investigative reportage.  Some blog posts will critique current trends and research in the field, while others will simply share the writer’s experience or expertise.  Either way, each post will encourage a healthy dialogue— sometimes heated, sometimes hilarious— on various issues surrounding exercise, nutrition, men’s health, women’s health, sports, lifestyle and fitness.

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