Barefoot P90X or Insanity?

I've been doing all of my P90X and Insanity workouts in bare feet. I find that my calves take a beating but I love it anyway. It's supposed to be better for your feet, knees, hips and back. Any others workout without footwear?

Replies

  • WickedGarden
    WickedGarden Posts: 944 Member
    I workout in bare feet. It helps me esp in Yoga, but I hate wearing socks or shoes anyway.
  • jfan175
    jfan175 Posts: 812 Member
    I did all the p90x wokouts barefoot, except plyo. I think it really strengthened my ankles and feet. I had a wicked case of plantar fasciitis when I started, and it's now practically non-existent.
  • PinkSweets87
    PinkSweets87 Posts: 9 Member
    I do every single one of my workouts barefoot. Yoga is supposed to strengthen your feet, so that's a given. As long as you're landing correctly and not dropping anything on your feet, than I believe that you are fine.
    ~K
  • jenneal89
    jenneal89 Posts: 243
    I do everything except plyo barefoot. All of the jumping in plyo ends up hurting my ankles after a while. I think it's goodfir your feet to be barefoot as much as possible
  • jess7386
    jess7386 Posts: 477 Member
    I do everything except the weight lifting routines barefoot... so yoga, kenpo, plyos, cardio.... I didn't think I'd get as good results if I did the weights barefoot, since I know there is a bit of balance/stability involved in your footwear. Now all of you are making me rethink it :)

    I'd love to hear about some experiences people have had lifting barefoot. I have those vibram shoes but they are nowhere near as good as being totally shoeless!
  • munty76
    munty76 Posts: 47
    I started doing insanity with my vibrams ( five finger shoes ) and the last few sessions switched to normal trainers. Some workouts felt better with vibrams, others with the the trainers. I noticed the sides of my calves hurt with some of the moves ( the side to side moves)...maybe i need cross trainers....

    other than that no problems.
  • StarvingDiva
    StarvingDiva Posts: 1,107 Member
    WOW! You can do plyo barefoot? I can barely do it with sneakers. HAHA!:smile:
  • dangerdj
    dangerdj Posts: 17
    The skin on the bottom of my big toe started to peel off from Insanity workouts and my calves burned a lot while doing barefoot workouts as well. The toe is healing up and my calves are adjusting.
  • LuxHappens
    LuxHappens Posts: 72 Member
    This forum topic highly intrigues me... Tomorrow is my Day 6 of Insanity's Recovery Week.
    I can't afford to buy new shoes right now and the ones I have are very worn out and in my opinion, not very supportive or stable for all the jumping involved with Insanity.
    I am going to try tomorrow's workout in my bare feet and report back! (Very excited!)
  • LuxHappens
    LuxHappens Posts: 72 Member
    Did my day 5* of Core Cardio & Balance just now with absolutely NO shoes on -- and I loved it!

    Being barefoot during my workout was eye-opening! I was forced to pay more attention to my form and how I landed after jumping. I gotta say I liked how secure it felt when my toes gripped the ground instead of desperately clinging to my insoles.

    ALSO: In the past weeks of the program, I had experienced slight ankle and foot pain after most of the workouts. NO pain whatsoever today in bare feet! Woohoo!

    I will definitely be trying this again tomorrow, and continue doing so (unless there are a lot of jumps in the workout).
    And hopefully I'll be employed again so I can afford some new kicks!

    Happy training, everyone!




    *day 5, not 6 as I initially stated - guess I was trigger happy! ( =
  • Altruista75
    Altruista75 Posts: 409 Member
    I was doing most of my workouts barefoot and then started to get severe foot pain. I had a deep bone bruise according to the foot doctor. He said my arches were too high and can't handle some of the impact that was happening while working out barefoot. People that don't have high arches are fine going w/o shoes but he said that I need the arch support that shoes provide. I actually enjoyed working out barefoot but can no longer do it!

    So in other words - just be careful depending upon the type of feet you have; you could be doing some harm to your bones that you aren't aware of.

    For those of you that can workout barefoot - I envy you! =)
  • I find that I get better grip barefoot than with shoes. My shoes would slip doing the stretches and pushups on my hardwood floors but I dont barefoot. I also noticed that my muscles dont hurt so much going barefoot.
  • vtmoon
    vtmoon Posts: 3,436 Member
    So after reading this yesterday I decided to give it a try with kenpo X. It wasn't bad at all, actually my calves felt the workout more it seems.

    The only issue I had at times I felt like i was slipping on the carpet but once I started sweating that stopped due to clamminess.

    I'll try it with Plyometrics and let you know how that goes.
  • vtmoon
    vtmoon Posts: 3,436 Member
    So Plyo went great, I actually was more aware of my feet without the shoes on. I also feel like I was jumping and landing lighter because I was more aware of them.

    Again I felt that barefoot I was engaging my legs more since they seem to be a lot more sore than normal.
  • shinkalork
    shinkalork Posts: 815 Member
    Was doing P90X before and it was killing my feet. I was using standard running shoes or barefoot.

    I just got new shoes and tried them for a week on 10 min trainer etc... and bits of insanity moves and works AMAZING!

    I know that a lot of people are using these shoes for Insanity and P90X so just letting you know.

    Here's a link I found of the shoes.... Reebok Zignano ignite trainer 2 (I have the black ones)

    http://www.zappos.com/reebok-zignano-ignite-trainer-2

    So much support and cushion.
  • Was doing P90X before and it was killing my feet. I was using standard running shoes or barefoot.

    I just got new shoes and tried them for a week on 10 min trainer etc... and bits of insanity moves and works AMAZING!

    I know that a lot of people are using these shoes for Insanity and P90X so just letting you know.

    Here's a link I found of the shoes.... Reebok Zignano ignite trainer 2 (I have the black ones)

    http://www.zappos.com/reebok-zignano-ignite-trainer-2

    So much support and cushion.

    That's interesting because I was thinking of buying some Reebok Zigs for my workouts. I love working out in bare feet but the carpet is burning the skin off my toes! I tried the ziglites and I think they will be ideal - super comfortable and very light!
  • Tried the Rebook Zig lights with Insanity Plyo workout and they were awesome! No more skin coming off of toes! I highly recommend them :)
  • TiffanyS19
    TiffanyS19 Posts: 6 Member
    I have done Insanity in my Vibrams since about day 3. The first 2 days I did with regular sneakers and my arches would hurt immensely. I ended up going barefoot for those workouts.
    I'm on day 60 and I have continued to wear the Vibrams. I find the bit of traction they provide helps with the floor movements (side to side ski jumps, planks, moving pushups, etc.).
  • I'm about to start P90x within the next week or two and two of the questions I had was what mats people are using and whether they are doing it barefoot or with sneakers. I'm considering the Square36 big exercise mat, but I'm not sure it will hold up to a beating with shoes. So I'm glad to hear some people are having success doing the program barefoot :)

    I'm actually attending a workshop this weekend to 'work out with Tony Horton', so I'll be sure to ask these questions and more.
  • Kabuhtu
    Kabuhtu Posts: 85 Member
    I started insanity with my brand new Pumas... Which wasnt a good idea because my feet hurt bad. I already threw out my old sneakers. So, I just do it barefoot. It sucks when I cant stick to my 'plush' carpet sometimes but its fine!
  • hmuh
    hmuh Posts: 379 Member
    Barefoot on a Pilates mat. It may be weird, but it works! :)
  • p0kers0ph
    p0kers0ph Posts: 250 Member
    I do Insanity barefoot, I did try it in trainers but it hurt my feet too much.
  • NoxDineen
    NoxDineen Posts: 497 Member
    I've actually been told by several friends who are serious lifters that barefoot is fine/better than running shoes. Typical running shoes elevate your heel above your toe, and cause a slight lean which can affect proper form (especially on squats).
  • Asterie
    Asterie Posts: 159 Member
    I did month one of insanity with my runners and it was fine, but in month two I noticed that (**trigger warning if you're grossed out easily**) my sweat basically flew everywhere so I'd slip every time I'd try to do the side push ups or basically anything that required moving in any direction. I can't use my runners on my yoga mat because it tears it up (I tried and found out the hard way). So now I'm doing it barefoot on my yoga mat and I'm no longer slipping, woohoo! Calves definitely get sore faster than the rest of me though, haha.