Barefoot training is something I started doing when I did karate and I never had any weaknesses or injuries from that, then later on a lot of news about runners benefitting from barefoot training started to emerge as well as stories of super strong tribes that trained barefoot. I then came to the realisation that all these fancy trainers desensitised our feet to the ground and contact with the earth. What I mean is that a lot of clients who weren’t well practiced in squats and step ups and the function of their feet were unable to push from their heels when asked, or to lift the arches of their feet or to balance very well with one leg up and one leg standing while closing their eyes and in some cases even when their eyes were open.

The feet are fantastic and important to our posture and to the rest of our bodies going all the way up to our necks. The feet are essential to our balance, our functionality and our power as they are first point of contact to the ground. So should you train barefoot? Absolutely, especially when your in need of feeling the function of the foot and getting the feet to be placed properly when exercising.

Do you need to train barefoot all the time? No, it’s not necessary and sometimes its not appropriate and can be damaging if done too suddenly. It is however useful and a lot of us should initiate in barefoot training to progress in training for posture, strength, balance, functionality and just get back to our human roots when we walked barefoot across the savanna!