Barefoot Training

Here is a very simple way to improve your training ... train barefoot!   

At the basketball club I currently work for all the athletes do the majority of their weightlifting barefoot.  This is not some wacky novel idea, many athletes have been doing this for hundreds of years, like the martial arts for example.  What tipped me off to this was some work I have read by Pavel Tsatsouline, where he talked about training barefoot when weightlifting.  So, I started to experiment with my own training by doing heavy squats and dead lifts and progressed to jumping exercises and even the Olympic lifts barefoot.  It took a few sessions to get used to it but I really believe that there are some great benefits to training barefoot.

Here are some of the main reasons:

• 26 & 33 - that is the number of bones and joints in the feet.  Having a shoe on restricts the movement and activation of the joints and muscles in the foot and ankle which can create what many experts call a "lazy foot".  If you don't use it, you lose it!
  
• Flexibility - most shoes have a raised heel which has a dramatic affect on the flexibility needed at the ankle joint.  The stiffer the ankle, the more knee problems you will probably have.  Training barefoot challenges your flexibility to a greater degree.
• Landing Mechanics - you cannot have sloppy landing technique when doing even simple jumping drills barefoot.  The landings need to be very precise and are learned very quickly when barefoot.
• Stability - when barefoot, you don't have the passive support of your shoes, therefore the muscles and joints get a greater stimulus from the training.
• Reduced Impact Forces - there is actually some research that shows there is reduced impact forces when running barefoot!

Before you go off and start training barefoot please use some common sense.  Feet sweat, so the surface you train on is very important, rubber floors are good.  The surface needs to be clean and free of any sharp objects that may damage your feet, even a small pebble can puncture the foot.   If you have any  open sores , cuts or injuries to the foot then you should wait till they heal before training barefoot.

With respect to training, start slowly, I usually spend the first 1-2 weeks doing only the weightlifting warm up barefoot, I then progress by having the athlete do the rest of their program barefoot with the exception of the Olympic lifts which I give the athletes the choice of barefoot or shoes.  Also, I require the athlete to wear shoes when doing exercises like walking lunges where there is an aggressive foot strike.

One of my most enjoyable training is being outside in the summer exercising and lifting weights in the sun, barefoot.  This past summer, I was back in Canada and did most of my own training at my brothers summer house with my kettlebells, it was great!

The photo to the left is of David Rigert, one of the greatest athletes in weightlifting history with 130kg overhead in either the catch phase of a snatch or overhead squat; take notice of the feet.

Enjoy your training and try it barefoot next time.

Be Well,
Mike Reid

references

Divert, C., Mernieux, G., Baur, H., Mayer, F., Belli, A. Mechanical comparison of barefoot and shod running. Int J Sports Med. 2005 Sep;26(7):593-8.