Standing Desks, Memory Foam & The Science Of Walking Barefoot In Shoes.

Ben Greenfield (0:01)

In this episode of the Ben Greenfield Fitness Show.

Karl Müller (0:04)

When I got into this field and started to produce shoes, I found out that biomechanically, the feet are the foundation of the human body. And if you want to put any building or whatever you build, then the foundation must be strong. In our case, the rebound is extremely fast, it's like a spring. And if you walk on this spring, it automatically activates and drains the muscles.

If you want to stand the whole day, then it's important that the floor is soft and has a high rebound.

SPEAKER_3 (0:36)

He's an expert in human performance and nutrition, voted America's top personal trainer and one of the globe's most influential people in health and fitness.

His show provides you with everything you need to optimize physical and mental performance. He is Ben Greenfield.

Ben Greenfield (0:59)

Whatever it is for you that's the natural movement.

Get out there when you look at all the studies done. Studies that have shown the greatest efficacy.

SPEAKER_3 (1:11)

All the information you need in one place, right here, right now. On the Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast.

Ben Greenfield (1:33)

Hey, folks, it's Ben Greenfield here, and right now, as I am recording this, and actually for every podcast episode that I record, I'm standing on this springy, soft, supple, kind of like a mattress type of thing. It's made from this special reactive material that allows my foot to sink in and then spring back to its original position. It's got like this kind of float-like sensation. It's like a memory foam mattress for my feet.

I have one upstairs next to my table, too, that I kneel or that I lunge on because, yes, I do indeed live my life by the rule that I only sit to eat, or if I'm on an airplane or a car, I guess those would be the other two occasions.

So anyways, this mat that I'm standing on right now is called a Kaibounder, and it's made by this company called Kaiboon, and they're this Swiss company headed up by a guy named Karl Muller, who was named by the Swiss newspaper over there, one of the most innovative entrepreneurs in Switzerland, and that he has a rewritten design history. Well, he has created mats, he's created shoes, all sorts of things that affect specifically your feet and the tiny little core muscles in your feet, your knees, your hips, et cetera. So we're gonna get into the technology of this, how it compares to being barefoot, what actually goes into creating one of these mats. But before we get into any of that, I know that Karl actually has a very interesting story. So we're gonna start there. So first of all, Karl, thanks for coming on the call, man.

Karl Müller (3:07)

Thank you very much, Ben. Looking forward to talk to you.

Ben Greenfield (3:10)

Yeah, me too. And of course, as you probably already noticed, Karl has a slight accent, but I really think that we'll be able to get through this just fine, right, Karl?

Karl Müller (3:21)

Thank you, I hope so.

Ben Greenfield (3:22)

All right, so anyways, you started off in Switzerland, and I actually don't know that much about your story, but I know you eventually wound up in South Korea and you went into self-sufficient farming. So how did you actually start off getting into health technology? Like, what's your story?

Karl Müller (3:41)

It's a long story, trying to make it short. I grew up in Switzerland.

I studied mechanical engineering. Then I got an invitation from the Korean government. They were looking for engineers, foreign engineers to build up the country, as you might know, Korea in the meantime has become quite the, what do you call, quite the technology.

Ben Greenfield (4:05)

Oh, technology, okay.

Karl Müller (4:07)

Yeah, high technology with companies like Samsung, Kia. And so when I went to Korea, that was 76 for the first time, 1976 Korea was a developing country, and they were looking for young engineers. So I got the scholarship there. I studied at the time when I was there, President Park was shot down, assassinated.

So the universities were closed, and I was thinking what I shall do, whether go back to Switzerland or staying in Korea. I decided to stay there.

Fortunately, I found some Swiss people who worked in the hotel business. They needed European food, so I started to import food for them. Then I opened small restaurants one by the other. I imported skis, 12 companies within 12 years. I found in Korea, I found out that I have abilities in entrepreneurship, which I didn't know before.