When we join a gym or start exercising, footwear isn’t something of particular concern to us. However, whether you are lifting weights or doing a light resistance band workout, your feet play an important part in your body mechanics. Training barefoot would be ideal for our bodies. This can be easily achieved if you train at home using body weight or light weights. If you mostly train in a gym, it can’t always be safe to take your shoes off. Luckily, there is a solution – barefoot shoes.
If you are new to this concept, barefoot shoes are usually lightweight, thin, wide and have a flat sole. These types of shoes give your feet significantly more freedom to move and have contact with the ground. If you compare these to traditional heavily padded trainers with an elevated heel, barefoot shoes can make a huge difference to the way you move, especially during lower body exercises. Below are just some of the benefits barefoot shoes can offer.
1. Helps improve stability
Whether you squat, deadlift or lunge, you want to make sure you have as much contact with the ground as possible to create stability. Your ankle, knee and hip are all connected. If your feet are not in an optimal position this will affect the rest of your body. Wearing padded trainers means you have less connection to the floor which means you have less stability.
For example, if you are already struggling with balance during your lunge, wearing padded trainers will make your foot feel even more unstable. On the other hand, wearing barefoot shoes will over time help you improve your ankle, knee and hip stability. This will, in turn, allow you to lift heavier while maintaining a good form.
2. Strengthens foot muscles
There are a lot of muscles in your feet. When you wear overly padded and supportive footwear those muscles don’t need to work as hard and get weaker. This is why it is extremely important to address those weaknesses. Working out barefoot in a home environment or wearing barefoot shoes in a gym can help you strengthen those muscles.
Having weak foot muscles will affect your knees, hip joints and even your back. Always wearing shoes with an elevated heel (even slightly) will affect your postural alignment in the long term. Having worn barefoot shoes myself for several years, if I put on any shoes with the slightest heel elevation I am extremely aware of how my body is leaning forward.
It might not seem like a big deal at the time but if you keep doing it for years your body will adapt to your weight being shifted forward, changes will take place and muscle imbalances will occur. Subsequently, this can cause joint aches.
Whether you are a runner or like lifting weights, it is important to strengthen all the muscles in your body. While padded shoes will “support” the weaknesses in your feet, barefoot shoes will force the muscles in your feet to work the way they should. Strong feet are a very important part of a healthy body.
3. Allows you to move your foot
Barefoot shoes are designed to be very flexible and light. Furthermore, due to their wider shape, you are even able to move your toes. You can actually feel your feet in barefoot shoes and can use them to grip the ground. I can’t tell you how many times I was briefly losing balance during a lunge or split squat but was able to use my leading food to grip the floor and stabilize myself. This would be impossible to achieve in padded shoes. In a way, it would be similar to trying to lift weights wearing thick padded gloves.
Wearing barefoot shoes allows you to move your feet in different directions more freely. Constantly wearing restrictive padded shoes will affect the mobility of your feet as well as nerve feedback your feet would get about the surface you walk on. This will affect how your body moves. It is particularly relevant during exercise when your muscles and joints need to work in unison to maintain a good form.
While a lot of people are often concerned with their hip/ankle mobility when doing lower body exercises, ensuring you have good mobility in your feet should not be ignored.
4. Helps improve/learn the correct form
Wearing padded trainers can be a large part of using improper technique and overlooking weaknesses. For example, during a squat, you might find your feet rotating inwards causing your body weight to shift forward. This can put too much pressure on your knees. When you wear padded shoes with an elevated heel you are likely to keep squatting incorrectly while potentially developing joint problems. On the other hand, if you wear barefoot shoes during your squat, you will be more in control of what your feet are doing.
Similarly, a common cue during deadlifts is to “push the floor away”. This would be difficult to implement if you can’t feel the floor with your entire foot. Whereas, performing this exercise in barefoot shoes can help you learn proper mechanics – starting from your feet.
Wearing barefoot shoes would be very beneficial when learning lower body movement patterns. Teaching your body correct form from the start will set you up for a pain-free fitness journey.
Barefoot shoes for everyday use
While barefoot footwear would be very beneficial to use during your exercise, they are also great for your daily life. There are numerous health advantages to wearing minimalist footwear. From helping to restore your foot’s natural shape to improving various feet conditions, your stride, your posture and the way you walk.
It might take a while to get used to wearing barefoot shoes in everyday life so it would be advisable to ease into it. Just like with any type of muscle – if you haven’t been using your foot muscles properly for years, it might take some time to get used to the new physical stress placed upon them.
While some barefoot brands can be pricey, it is worth investing if you are serious about learning to move better, lifting weights with better form, improving the health of your feet and building a robust body starting from the foundation.