Walking in minimalist shoes to strengthen the foot muscles

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Just reread this paper and I am not at all sure the results are directly applicable to people over 50 . Once age related muscle atrophy begins greater stimulus levels are required to promote muscle growth .

Walking in Minimalist Shoes Is Effective for Strengthening Foot Muscles

Sarah T Ridge et al. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019 Jan.Show details
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Abstract

Introduction: Weakness of foot muscles may contribute to a variety of loading-related injuries. Supportive footwear may contribute to intrinsic foot muscle weakness by reducing the muscles' role in locomotion (e.g., absorbing forces and controlling motion). Increased stimulus to the foot muscles can be provided through a variety of mechanisms, including minimalist footwear and directed exercise.
Purpose: To determine the effect of walking in minimalist footwear or performing foot strengthening exercises on foot muscle size and strength.
Methods: Fifty-seven runners were randomly assigned to one of three groups-minimalist shoe walking (MSW), foot strengthening (FS) exercise, or control (C). All groups maintained their prestudy running mileage throughout the study. The MSW group walked in provided footwear, increasing weekly the number of steps per day taken in the shoes. The FS group performed a set of progressive resistance exercises at least 5 d·wk. Foot muscle strength (via custom dynamometers) and size (via ultrasound) were measured at the beginning (week 0), middle (week 4), and end (week 8) of the study. Mixed model ANOVA were run to determine if the interventions had differing effects on the groups.
Results: There were significant group-time interactions for all muscle size and strength measurements. All muscle sizes and strength increased significantly from weeks 0 to 8 in the FS and MSW groups, whereas there were no changes in the C group. Some muscles increased in size by week 4 in the FS and MSW groups.
Conclusions: Minimalist shoe walking is as effective as foot strengthening exercises in increasing foot muscle size and strength. The convenience of changing footwear rather than performing specific exercises may result in greater compliance.

 

In this particular study the age group from which the subjects where drawn was 18 - 34 .
I am talking about this now because a number of sites have started quoting from the Ridge et al 2019 paper without perhaps realising that the body does not respond to stimuli at 60 the same way it does at 18 .

 

Mickle et al 2016 focused on a group of older adults in the age range 60 -90 and what measures produced strengthening of the foot muscles in that group .

It was found that home exercises , a group of exercises similar to those used in the Ridge study , did not produce strengthening but progressive resistance exercise did .

So it would seem , looking at the studies together , that different levels of stimulus are required to promote muscle growth and strengthening in the intrinsic foot muscles of young adults compared to older adults .

It is entirely possible that walking in minimal shoes would not significantly strengthen the foot muscles of older adults and it needs to be made clear that the Ridge study is specifically about a group of young adults ( 18-34 )rather than adults in general .