THE SHORT ANSWER
Courtney Conley, foot health specialist, founder of gait happens, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Here's where Conley lands on sleep. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
WHO IS COURTNEY CONLEY?
Dr Courtney Conley is the chiropractor and foot health specialist behind Gait Happens — the most-cited modern resource on the connection between footwear, foot dexterity and performance. Cycling is brutal on feet (narrow toe-box race shoes, rigid soles, fixed cleat positions) and most riders dismiss the resulting forefoot pain as a fit issue rather than a foot-mechanics issue. Her work matters because it gives amateurs a low-cost, off-the-bike intervention that produces measurable strength and sensory gains without changing a single watt of training.
CONLEY ON SLEEP
Conley’s key positions on sleep.
- Most cyclists won't switch out of stiff race shoes — compensate off the bike: wear wide-toe-box, low-stack-height footwear daily to let the toes splay and restore sensory input.
IN CONLEY’S OWN WORDS
Verbatim from Courtney Conley’s appearances on the podcast.
“if you put a very strong foot into a shoe like a super shoe right it's going to give me 2 to 4% running economy now I'm stacking I got a strong foot I got a strong C and I'm putting it on top of a shoe that's going to cheat the system a little bit that's how I like to view that rather than saying I'm going to strictly rely on extrinsic modifications to improve my performance”
“you can't build a jet engine on a paper airplane so if you're getting bigger and stronger and bigger and stronger but you're not paying attention to the foundation of where all that weight and load is going you're going to run into problems”
“if you can't do things like that it's toe dexterity it lights up part of our homunculus a part of our brain so I always explain it to my patients it's like having static on a phone like there's no clear message going from your foot to your brain which means that the motor output is going to be affected”
HEAR IT ON THE PODCAST
Episodes where Courtney Conley covers sleep and related ground.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
What does Courtney Conley say about sleep?
Courtney Conley, foot health specialist, founder of gait happens, has appeared on the Roadman Cycling Podcast. Here's where Conley lands on sleep. The positions below are drawn from those conversations, quoted directly.
What is Conley's main point on sleep?
Most cyclists won't switch out of stiff race shoes — compensate off the bike: wear wide-toe-box, low-stack-height footwear daily to let the toes splay and restore sensory input.
Which Roadman Cycling Podcast episodes cover Courtney Conley on sleep?
Conley discusses sleep in this episode: "The Surprising Downside of Incorrect Cycling Shoes | Courtney Conley".