The Science
The critical foot-brain connection.
Understanding foot function and gait mechanics.
Our team of researchers and designers began their research out of personal need.
We had collectively experienced a multitude of serious athletic injuries, foot-related problems, and had spent thousands of hours in rehabilitative therapy.
These experiences taught us that the majority of the lower extremity problems we had experienced were related to poor foot mechanics.
With our sports performance training mindset, we focused on what ideal mechanics should look like and how we could train it.
Over the past 35 years, numerous highly respected medical professional and sports training experts evaluated our research findings and products.
The culmination of these efforts is noted below.
Universal Principles of Physiology.
The science of how the human body works.
It helps us understand what happens in a healthy body on a daily basis and what goes wrong when problems occur.

The human body is remarkably adaptable.
How the body adapts is defined by the laws and commonly accepted principles of Physiology:
- Davis's law – soft tissue adaptation
- Wolff's law – bone adaptation
- Mechanostat Model – bone adaptation
- Neuroplasticity - nervous system adaptation
They describe the ability of bone, soft tissue, and the nervous system to synergistically and continuously adapt in response to everyday life experiences throughout a person's lifetime.
Understanding adaptive mechanics is the key to:
- understanding ideal gait mechanics and how to maintain them, and
- why problems occur and how to therapeutically rehabilitate them.

The human body is constantly adapting.
Healthy stressors cause positive adaptation.
Proper Technique exercise that challenges the body enhances and maintains functional robustness.
Unhealthy stressors cause (mal)adaption.
Poor Technique exercise, inactivity, or functional restrictions create unhealthy stressors that lead to functional atrophy and compensatory (imbalanced) muscle use.
This is the underlying cause of most musculoskeletal problems and pain.

The mechanics of healthy function.
All muscle activity and body movement is initiated by the brain via the nervous system in response to sensory input.
The body's "Protective Reflexes" are unconsiously initiated by the brain in response to perceived harmful stimulus.
1. The Brain requires "Right Stimulus".
Right Stimulus is the sensory input required by the brain for optimal (safe and efficient) movement-related muscle activations.
Without Right Stimulus, brain initiated muscle and "Protective Reflex" activity is inefficient.
2. The body requires "Right Movement".
Right Movement is the body's' ability to freely move in response to Right Stimulus.
When Right Movement is restricted, it results in inefficient muscle function and alignment.
Right Stimulus and Right Movement are central to Proper Technique exercise.

Impediments to healthy function.
When healthy function is consistently impeded over time, maladaptive functional atrophy becomes the conditioned norm.
Conditioned functional atrophy is easily overcome by introducing Right Stimulus and Right Movement.
Modern rehabilitation and sports training programs incorporate "Proper Technique" (Right Stimulus and Right Movement) exercise to safely train and maintain ideal neuromuscular function.
The laws of Physiology and how they apply to foot and gait function.
Less than 3% of habitually barefoot populations experience foot-related problems.
Studies have shown that few of these problems are debilitating. They also show that as soon as habitually barefoot populations begin to wear shoes, foot-related problems increase.
The mechanics of natural barefoot gait is considered ideal.
Over 85% of shoe-wearing North Americans will see a healthcare professional for a foot-related problem 1.4 times in their lifetime.
Studies have shown that by increasing barefoot activity the percentage of those experiencing foot-related problems is reduced.
The mechanics of shoe-wearing gait is considered to be maladaptive.
The Critical Foot-Brain Connection

The mechanics of ideal barefoot gait.
The quality of sensory information transmitted from the soles of the feet to the brain is vital for ideal function in our feet, legs, hips, and back.
This healthy function occurs naturally in those who regularly walk or run barefoot on natural terrain. With each step, the soles of their feet receive a subtly different sensory experience during ground contact.
In response, the brain initiates protective muscle activations prior to, and in anticipation of, each new step’s “unknown” ground contact.
These protective reflexes are nature’s way of keeping the body safe from harm. They are responsible for optimal alignment and efficient muscle use.
This includes the pre-ground contact dynamic rising of the toes and arches that is critical to the stabilization of the foot and ankle when the feet are in contact with the ground.
Ideal, healthy gait cannot occur, if the arches and toes are restricted from rising prior to the feet contacting the ground.

Biopods stimulates healthy function.
Biopods' innovative footwear and insole designs transform footwear into a Proper Technique exercise program.
With each step, Biopods provides the Right Stimulus and encourages the Right Movement to retrain and maintain healthy protective reflex function, which:
- eliminates the underlying cause of most for foot-related problems and pain,
- enhances performance, and
- reduces risk of injury.
Biopods Sneakers and Insoles are safe, comfortable, and easy to use.
Consistent use yields best results.

Why foot-related problems develop.
Footwear design, supportive orthotics, and cushioning insoles inhibit healthy function in a multitude of ways:
1. Cushioning isolates the soles of the feet from Right Stimulus. The brain does not receive sufficient information to initiate healthyprotective reflex activations in the feet and legs.
2. Artificial support mutes Right Stimulus and impedes Right Movement. Footwear and orthotics that artificially support the feet, by design spread the loading forces evenly across the soles of the feet. This dampens Right Stimulus and restricts healthy dynamic movement.
3. Stiff soles and restrictive uppers impede Right Movement. Footwear with stiff soles, shallow toe boxes, or restrictive arch areas prevent the dynamic rising of the toes and arches that is critical to the stabilization of the foot and ankle.
4. Poor footwear sole design causes maladaptive foot modelling. This forces the foot's shape and function to conform with the poor design's physical characteristics, causing a multitude of problems.
These features create a Poor Technique environment, which over time, trains maladaptive function that underlies the majority of foot and leg problems, and pain.
Educational Videos
Healthy Gait
Foot Problems
How Biopods Work
Scientific Support
Critical Foot-Brain Connection Slides
Provides a high level overview of the science and Biopods Product applications.
downloadThe Critical Foot-Brain Connection
A Comprehensive Guide to Natural Gait Mechanics and Therapeutic Foot Care
downloadBiopods Scientific Monograph
Provides the most technically in-depth presentation of the science and technology.
downloadConsulting Experts
Contains a list of consulting medical professionals and sports training experts..
downloadSuccess stories
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