The Importance of Training Barefoot

Jul 9
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Your feet are a brilliant example of evolutionary engineering


A complex mechanical structure of the human body
composed of:
10 Tendons
19 Muscles
26 Bones
33 Joints
107 Ligaments
200,000 Nerve Endings
That all work together to bear weight, allow for locomotion (walk, run) and transmit force (jump).

Our ankles also play an important role in allowing your feet to move. Assisting the foot to move in six different ways - dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, inversion, eversion, medial and lateral rotation.

Your toes can move in four directions - dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, abduction and adduction.

Proving that your feet are designed to move with such variety.

This is why barefoot training is so important and why we utilise this natural movement during our Kinisi Flow® Classes. You will find a more detailed explanation in our Kinisi Flow® manual, "The Science and Theory" - available on our platform.  

Why You Should Consider Training Barefoot

Barefoot training encourages you to use the natural movement of your feet.

Modern shoes are shoe shaped, and not foot shaped! - excluding barefoot shoes.

Normal shoes and socks can compress & squish your toes, which can lead to poor foot mechanics and bunions.

Rigid shoes, combined with thick soles allow for very little to no movement of the joints in your feet, and a nulling of any sensory feedback, which can cause injuries due to a lack & delay of information provided from the ground underneath us.

This lack of movement and rigidity in the feet and ankles, can also cause issues and compensatory patterns upstream to the knees, hips and back. 

Giving your feet the freedom to move more freely will increase overall foot mobility and health, but the benefit's go far beyond just that.

Here are 6 benefits of barefoot training

And why we utilise this in our Kinisi Flow® classes and practice.

1. Sensory Awareness & Feedback

There are approx 200,000 nerve endings in the bottom of your foot. Therefor one of the benefits of training barefoot is the sensory feedback you get when your feet connect directly with the ground.

Our brain tells the body how to move our foot on the ground, including how much pressure to exert. When wearing shoes it’s more difficult to feel the surface and get sensory input making it easy to overcompensate. This can cause us to exert more force than we need to, and over time this can result in joint pain. 
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2. Foot & Ankle Strength

One of the primary benefits of barefoot training is improved foot and ankle strength.
When we wear shoes, our feet are often in a fixed position, with little room for movement. This can lead to a weakening of the muscles in our feet and ankles.

By training barefoot, we develop strong and stable feet. This improved foot and ankle strength, including mobility, can help reduce the risk of injuries like sprains and strains.
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3. Increases Coordination

Being barefoot is a natural part of being human. Getting back to nature, re-learning your movement patterns, and improving muscle engagement increases the activation of proprioceptors, unequivocally bringing your coordination, stability, and balance to the next level.

This in turn leads to healthier joints and a significant reduction to the risk of injury, making you more biomechanically efficient.
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4. Improved Balance and Stability

Another benefit of barefoot training is improved balance and stability.  When we wear shoes, we rely on the support and stability they provide. However, training barefoot forces us to engage the muscles in our feet and ankles to maintain balance.

This can help improve our overall balance and stability.
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5. Healing and Connection

Grounding connection is also an important part of our Kinisi Flow® practice and while we might not have our feet on the earth, there are techniques that we teach and use to initiate the same experience and health benefit's during the class.

There is no doubt that we all feel a better connection when we are rooted to the ground barefoot. Scientific studies have shown the healing benefit's of grounding in nature. To learn more we have 2 studies available via the Kinisi Flow® manual.

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6. Better Posture and Alignment

Barefoot training allows you to be more rooted & grounded. This improved sensory feedback from the 200,000 never endings in each of your feet sends a plethora of information upstream, which in turn can also improve our overall moving posture and alignment through our joints - knees, hips, spine and all the muscles that surround them.

Shoes can alter our body mechanics, causing us to compensate
for the changes in our gait and posture.

By training barefoot, we can improve our body mechanics and reduce the risk of back pain, knee pain, and other common injuries caused by poor posture.

To help manage or mitigate these symptoms you can

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Start Strengthening Your
Lower Limbs 
 

Give this movement sequence a try
from our lower body prep follow along class via the Kinisi Flow® platform.

Deep Knee Bends with Calf Raise

This movement sequence can be used in a number of ways.
Here are 3 basic ideas of how you can implement this into your schedule. 


1. Body Preparation
You can do it before or after a walk
Reps: 3-6 repetitions x1 

2. Warm Up or Reset

Use it as part of your warm-up before you workout or
at the end of your workout for a reset/finisher 
Time: 3-5mins x1 

3. Movement Snack
This is a great movement snack that you can easily implement. 
From once a day to multiple times a day, or even just a couple of times per week. 
Reps/Time: Use the above repetitions and times as a guide, dependant on your current schedule, physicality and time constraints.

Write your awesome label here.

If you would like to learn more about body preparation,
movement nutrition and mobility training,


Plus ELEVATE your fitness career so you can help others to move with better function, such as -

 Improved strength and connection from the ground up
 Feel more grounded, better balance & stability 
 Improve your athletic performance
 Reduce joint pain, inflammation & discomfort
 Speed up recovery
 Feel energised & rejuvenated and so much MORE!

Then sign up to a Kinisi Flow® Level 1 Workshop -
We will teach you everything you need to know.

PLUS when you sign up -

You will receive instant access to the FULL pre-workshop package. CLICK the link below to find out more!

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