Free The Feet: Are Barefoot Shoes And Training Barefoot Helpful?

You may see people who train or perform certain exercises with no shoes on.

You may also be familiar with the sight of people wearing barefoot shoes (they’re usually the ugly ones – the shoes that is!)

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Are these barefoot approaches helpful at all?

Let’s look at why it may be helpful to set the feet free.

Your Feet are great communicators

When you’re walking, running, training and going through day-to-day activities, your feet are sensing, interacting with the ground and sending information to the rest of your body.

What your feet sense and how they communicate to the rest of the body can influence your posture and how you move.

The feedback that your foot sole receives is so important that when you age and experience a reduction in foot sole skin sensitivity, you may experience poorer control of your posture and an increased risk of falls! (1)

So, It makes sense that when performing strength training movements, to move as efficiently and effectively as you can, there’s an advantage to letting your feet feel as much of the ground as possible (going barefoot).

Foot Muscles

There’s the potential for modern shoes to limit how much movement occurs at the foot and consequently how much certain muscles are used and stressed.

For example, shoes can limit the motion of your foot in the forefront region. When you’re barefoot, your forefoot can spread more and is used more effectively. (2)

“… aspects of modern footwear design such as arch supports could be forcing our feet into unnatural positions not allowing for normal foot function and resulting in weakness” - (2)

Like any muscle and surrounding joints, we want to be able to stress them (make them stronger) and move them through full ranges of motion to build their resilience.

Your strength training sessions could simply be a great opportunity to introduce some movement variability; letting your feet free and helping them develop strength in positions and muscles that may be neglected when you’re walking around in shoes all the time.

Barefoot Strength Training

Environment permitting, a strength training session offers a great opportunity to perform some exercises barefoot. This can help you move/perform your exercises more effectively (thanks to your enhanced interactions with the ground) and allows your feet to access and strengthen muscles and ranges of motion that are otherwise normally restricted by shoes.

What about barefoot shoes?

Minimalist shoes (‘barefoot shoes’) are supposed to allow this barefoot functionality while still offering some protection for the soles of your feet.

There have been a number of studies and reviews that have looked at their use in running performance and injury:

• One of the biggest takeaways is that these shoes result in less impact through the knees! (3) (4)

This is because you have more movement available at your feet and ankles so it changes the way you strike the ground and what joints are primarily loaded.

• Having more movement available at the feet and ankles was beneficial for running performance and the size/strength of muscles and tendons (like the achilles) (3) (4)

• One caveat: There’s more loading and pressure placed through the feet and ankles, which could potentially increase injury risk if you suddenly transition from running in common shoes to running in ‘barefoot shoes’. (3) (4)

This highlights the importance of easing into wearing barefoot shoes (like consistently walking in them or spending some time strength training barefoot) before you start running in them. It’s also wise to be mindful/talk to a professional if you do have foot/ankle issues and are eager to do more barefoot training.

The Takeaway

To ensure well-functioning feet that can help you move better and generally stay healthy, it may be worthwhile going barefoot during some of your strength training sessions or slowly transitioning out of your usual shoes into some minimalist shoes (be mindful if you’re dealing with foot/ankle issues). It doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing approach, but giving your feet an opportunity to be free and strengthening muscles/ranges of motion that may otherwise be neglected will be advantageous!

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References

1. Viseux, Frederic J F. “The sensory role of the sole of the foot: Review and update on clinical perspectives.” Neurophysiologie clinique = Clinical neurophysiology vol. 50,1 (2020): 55-68. doi:10.1016/j.neucli.2019.12.003

2. Franklin, Simon et al. “Barefoot vs common footwear: A systematic review of the kinematic, kinetic and muscle activity differences during walking.” Gait & posture vol. 42,3 (2015): 230-9. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2015.05.019

3. Sun, Xiaole et al. “Systematic Review of the Role of Footwear Constructions in Running Biomechanics: Implications for Running-Related Injury and Performance.” Journal of sports science & medicine vol. 19,1 20-37. 24 Feb. 2020

4. Linares-Martín, José Ángel, and Markel Rico-González. “Influence of Minimalist Footwear in Middle and Long Distance Runners’ Physical Fitness, Biomechanics, and Injury Incidence: A Systematic Review.” Strength & Conditioning Journal, vol. 45, no. 3, 2022, pp. 309–324, doi:10.1519/ssc.0000000000000748.

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