Possibly, if we meet someone who is training barefoot in the gym or on the street, we may be surprised and wonder what they are doing. But, for some time, it is an increasingly practiced trend. Releasing our feet and moving closer to more natural mobility attracts many people. There are several benefits of training barefoot that we can find in this way of carrying out sports activities.
For a long time, in some sports such as strength training, yoga or Pilates, it is common to find people barefoot or wearing socks to perform their workouts, but now this trend is spreading to other sports such as walking or running.
Before starting
If you are considering the idea of training barefoot, there are a few things you need to know before you start. It is advisable to start this practice gradually , gradually, to give our feet time to get used to the new sensations. There are slippers that help the transition, allow a movement as natural as possible of the foot, bringing it closer to the effect of going barefoot.
On the other hand, it is convenient to pay attention to the type of surface on which we are going to carry out the training, since some of them can generate blisters or irritations. Therefore, we must take care of our feet and keep them very well hydrated.
Some recommendations before you start enjoying the benefits of training barefoot are:
- Start by walking barefoot at home for a while a day to build muscle.
- Do foot exercises , like grasping or pressing objects.
- Walk on different surfaces like sand, grass, or rocks. This improves strength and alignment.
- Don't forget to warm up and stretch before training.
- Start with short workouts and build up.
- Perform proprioception exercises to lower your risk of possible injury.
- Before discomfort or with recent fractures, it is advisable to visit a specialist before starting.
Benefits of training barefoot
When doing barefoot training, it is advisable to make sure that there is no object on the ground that could cause us any damage . In addition, if we are going to carry out the exercise in the street, we must observe the environment very well and be attentive to the elements on the surface. Taking this into account, there are many advantages to be found when training barefoot. Have you ever thought what they can be? Here we show them:
Strengthening the foot muscles
One of the benefits we found is that the muscles of the foot and ankle experience a strengthening . Stepping barefoot allows us to exercise the muscles of our feet to a greater extent.
Improves tread
Normally, our feet conform to the characteristics of the shoes we use. And, in general, when walking or exercising we support the heel more, so it is exposed to a greater impact and risk of possible injuries. However, when training barefoot we obtain a change in the fulcrum of the tread, improving it.
Improves joints and ligaments
Joints are points of union between different elements of the bone system. They allow the performance of mechanical movements and provide elasticity to the body. For their part, the ligaments are responsible for the union between the bones. The fact of training barefoot mobilizes and frees the joints, strengthening them and improving the ligaments.
Aligns the spine
Footwear reduces the perception of the foot when stepping, useful sensory information is lost. One of the benefits of training barefoot is that our nervous system gets more accurate information. This helps us to align the spine and straighten it , since there is greater stimulation of the muscles of the sole of the foot, thus obtaining a better position.
Increase strength
Another benefit of training barefoot that we found is that it provides greater activation to the muscles. This results in greater strength development in the leg and hip muscles; which, in turn, gives us an improvement in balance and gives us greater agility .
Improves proprioception
Proprioception is understood as the ability of the body to know the position of each of the parts of the body at all times. This function helps us with coordination, balance and acts against possible alarm signals that reach the brain. It also protects us from injury by making our brain react quickly by sending commands to the areas involved to prevent injury.
Barefoot training, by increasing the perception of sensations and the information sent to the brain, achieves an improvement in proprioception.
Improves the quality of training
Stepping on the ground directly with the sole of the foot produces greater muscle activation and causes more muscles in our body to be involved, which can be useful and improve strength training such as weight lifting or squats.
