Working out barefoot?

poisongirl6485
poisongirl6485 Posts: 1,487 Member
edited September 24 in Fitness and Exercise
I don't wear shoes at home, they come off immediately upon entering my place (not because of the 'clean' factor, but just b/c I hate wearing shoes).

I work out at home doing the walk at home DVDs...is it bad that I would LOVE to not even both with shoes and just do it barefoot? Or is that risking an injury or something else that i'm not thinking about.
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Replies

  • kadye
    kadye Posts: 136 Member
    Some people do it and say it's great. I tried for awhile and ended up with horrible plantar fasciitis and my heel still hurts a lot of the time. It really set me back.
  • kappyblu
    kappyblu Posts: 654 Member
    When I am doing my walk at home dvds, I never wear my shoes. I can't stand to wear shoes (except slippers sometimes) in the house. They track everything all over from the outside.
  • SARRY562
    SARRY562 Posts: 123 Member
    Good Question i do the same thing..
  • RMX983
    RMX983 Posts: 34
    I tried doing Turbo Fire DVDs barefoot one day and was injured for a week. Could barely walk. I don't recommend it. Natural walking/running motions while barefoot are fine, but jumping up and down, side to side, etc are rough on bare feet.
  • kimmy272011
    kimmy272011 Posts: 3
    I agree I just said that at curves to someone but she said probably not a good idea.
    It feels good to me?!
  • jeff_lee4
    jeff_lee4 Posts: 3
    Shoes are very important when working out. You might not like them, but it helps absorb a lot of stress on your knees and feet, as well as gives you more mobility if you are doing more than just walking.
  • angievaughn
    angievaughn Posts: 655 Member
    I work out barefoot.....so far no problems........the shoes I have right now are too big....because I lost weight in my feet!! Which is a good thing...but now I have to go drop a huge $$$ on shoes!!!
  • poisongirl6485
    poisongirl6485 Posts: 1,487 Member
    Hmmm I think I will try to do them barefoot and see. It's just a pain to put on shoes just to take them off 30-45 minutes later. Plus if my daughter is napping in our room, I can't go in there to get socks etc or she'll wake up.
  • CGerman
    CGerman Posts: 539
    I'm the same way - walk in the door and off come the shoes. I never wears shoes when I workout in the house, and I haven't had any problems. I actually move better without them.
  • glittersoul
    glittersoul Posts: 666 Member
    I never wear shoes when working out at home with the videos or even on my treadmill. I hate them also lol. So far I haven't had any problems. I think you are accustomed to going w/o them then it shouldn't be an issue.
  • poisongirl6485
    poisongirl6485 Posts: 1,487 Member
    I tried doing Turbo Fire DVDs barefoot one day and was injured for a week. Could barely walk. I don't recommend it. Natural walking/running motions while barefoot are fine, but jumping up and down, side to side, etc are rough on bare feet.

    Yeah high-impact stuff I can understand. The DVDs I have are quite low-impact, so I imagine it wouldn't be quite as bad as jumping around ,etc.
  • pkd1
    pkd1 Posts: 170 Member
    I never wear shoes when i workout at home, cant stand shoes on my feet when i work out i do wear socks tho
  • OLP76
    OLP76 Posts: 768 Member
    I workout in little ankle socks...but my apartment in my livin' room is covered in cushion carpet...so far so good. I'm unsure about barefoot though - I'm a creature of habit :)
  • cerysrhi
    cerysrhi Posts: 262
    I don't wear shoes when working out at home, I do think there is the possibility of injury but isn't there always when you exercise x
  • xxquzme
    xxquzme Posts: 157 Member
    It is something that has to be done gradually. I started doing most / all my workouts barefoot about 2 months ago and just recently attempted to go back to shoes but couldnt. I really enjoy working out, and this includes running, barefoot. It strengthens your feet and forces you to use muscles that you normally dont while wearing shoes. I highly recommend it but i do offer words of caution. You can injure yourself if you are not careful.
  • poisongirl6485
    poisongirl6485 Posts: 1,487 Member
    I workout in little ankle socks...but my apartment in my livin' room is covered in cushion carpet...so far so good. I'm unsure about barefoot though - I'm a creature of habit :)

    Yeah our place is carpeted too, and I'm ALWAYS barefoot unless I'm going outside or to work, etc. I just can't stand shoes, they bother me.
  • cerysrhi
    cerysrhi Posts: 262
    I workout in little ankle socks
    thats me too x
  • Mariposa187
    Mariposa187 Posts: 344 Member
    I can do simple workouts without shoes; yoga, beginner dvds, but workouts with lots of jumps, and constant movement (jillian) I have to wear shoes.
  • poisongirl6485
    poisongirl6485 Posts: 1,487 Member
    It is something that has to be done gradually. I started doing most / all my workouts barefoot about 2 months ago and just recently attempted to go back to shoes but couldnt. I really enjoy working out, and this includes running, barefoot. It strengthens your feet and forces you to use muscles that you normally dont while wearing shoes. I highly recommend it but i do offer words of caution. You can injure yourself if you are not careful.

    This is an interesting point. I have fairly low arches...I wonder if the muscles used when working out barefoot would help with that.
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    If you're not having any problems so far and it's quite low intensity I don't see it as a problem. I wear them all the time though, if I don't I end up hurting my foot/ankles from all the jumping about, it's a great support to have footwear.
    I'd recommend them if you ever get anything more intense though.
  • AmeMahoney
    AmeMahoney Posts: 232
    Some people don't wear shoes and are fine. Apparently there's a whole "barefoot running" movement going on right now. I knew a bunch of guys from Kenya who always laughed at us Americans for wearing shoes. Obviously, it's a cultural norm, not a necessity. However, like anything, you may need to build up a tolerance to it because many of us were put in shoes from a very, very young age - and that changes our feet and how they grow as well as our tolerance for being barefoot.

    You also may have foot characteristics that will affect you, low arches, flat feet, whatever. I have some kind of genetic defect where all of my bones are very weak in my feet, break easily, and don't heal correctly. So I do wear shoes when working out (otherwise my foot my break AGAIN.)
  • songofserenity81
    songofserenity81 Posts: 138 Member
    I dont wear shoes/trainers when doing weights, yoga/pilates or kinect fitness evolve at home but I do wear them when working on either the elliptical or treadmill...the elliptical has large footplates that are grooved and a tad uncomfortable on bare feet.
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
    I wouldnt wear my shoes when I did the walk at home videos and after about 2 weeks my ankles started hurting so bad.
    But I have injured both ankles pretty bad in the past so thats probobly why
  • kklittle
    kklittle Posts: 14 Member
    I hurt my toe doing an aerobic type dvd barefoot that involved sliding the foot in some of the moves, and doing push-ups and plank moves can be hard b/c socks and bare feet slip on the floor sometimes. I think it just depends on the moves of the exercise really.
  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member
    I don't wear shoes inside and I wear minimal shoes outside. Yes, it should be done gradually. If you've already been doing this for sometime it should be fine. My PODIATRIST says working out barefoot is great for your feet and lower legs as long as you are conditioned for it. This includes high-impact cardio like plyometrics. Again, this is the advice that I was given by my doctor. It seems to be a very HOT topic. You will, no doubt, get every answer under the sun :wink:
  • Tuckersn
    Tuckersn Posts: 149
    I tried doing Turbo Fire DVDs barefoot one day and was injured for a week. Could barely walk. I don't recommend it. Natural walking/running motions while barefoot are fine, but jumping up and down, side to side, etc are rough on bare feet.

    Yeah high-impact stuff I can understand. The DVDs I have are quite low-impact, so I imagine it wouldn't be quite as bad as jumping around ,etc.

    That was my thought . . . and your feet will get sore, I would imagine, that you would be aware of before injury. I would think anyway. ??
  • LadyPersia
    LadyPersia Posts: 1,445 Member
    I've practice soccer in socks and my girls love to play it that way. I dont think in you home is that bad. There are some sports and exercises that need shoes for protective purposes.
  • Creiche
    Creiche Posts: 264 Member
    I usually do my P90X workouts barefoot, but I will be starting to wear shoes for Plyometrics as my toes and the balls of my feet often hurt afterward.

    As others have said, it really depends what you're doing and whether or not it hurts your feet during or after.
  • MisdemeanorM
    MisdemeanorM Posts: 3,493 Member
    I love working out barefoot. Pretty much anything but kick boxing I can do (since i can't do the required pivots barefoot and don't want to fall in socks). I am barefoot 90% of the time anyway, so I didn't need to get into it gradually. Some high impact things I did barefoot but on a mat. you can also look into barefoot shoes like Vibrams Five Fingers if you want to work out "barefoot" at the gym or running outside.
  • dawnelaine96
    dawnelaine96 Posts: 38 Member
    I've got to admit I never even thought about it. I always take off my shoes when I come into the house so therefore, I'm always doing my in home workouts sans shoes. But I also worry constantly about injuries because I have weak knees and ankles. Think I'll start including the shoes in my workouts. If I get injured, it'll be pretty hard to lose weight.
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