I used to run competitively and runners endlessly debate the benefits and drawbacks of different shoe types. Since runners don’t get much equipment, we make up for it by over analyzing the little equipment we do purchase. This characteristic remains in me today. I am always interested in determining the best foot gear for any activity. T-Nation recently had an article about bare foot lifting.
I have tried bare foot running. I did not keep it up because running is a minor part of my training at the moment and it is impossible to keep the soles of your feet clean when you run barefoot on a daily basis. At some point in the future I may make another attempt to switch to bare foot running, but I don’t think it will be soon. I do lift kettlebells in bare feet. This took some time to build up to, but I have no difficulty now.
The T-nation article does not spend much time proving that bare foot lifting is better; it just explains that it is. I have no problem with this because I also hold this point of view). Most of the article explains how to progress from your current state to bare foot lifting. They recommend progressing from more supportive shoes to less supportive shoes and eventually bare feet in the following order:
- Chuck Taylors
- Sanuk Vagabonds
- Vibram Five Fingers
- Bare foot
I know Pavel Tstatsouline recommends training in Chuck Taylors and the authors suggested that this is fairly common amongst lifters. I have heard of the Vibram Five Finger shoes before, but I have not bought them because I use Puma H-Streets for running. The vibram five fingers also look too silly for every day wear. I did buy the Sanuk Vagabonds and will write a more in depth review of them. They are probably a good fit for between the Taylors and the Five Fingers in terms of progression towards bare feet. The best part about the Sanuks is that they look semi-decent, so I can wear them around campus. I will write a more detailed review of the shoe in the future.
Lifting barefood is a great goal to have although it is probably difficult to implement into most people’s lives. I recommend following the advice laid out in the article.
Filed under: Physical Training | Tagged: bare feet, sanuk, shoes, weight lifting
[...] have been wearing my Sanuk Vagabonds for a while now. I first wrote about them in this post where they were recommended as a minimalist weight lifting shoe. These are the original Sanuk [...]