Squatting Barefoot: Proper Form Starts With Your Feet

More and more athletes are looking at the benefits of ditching their shoes when they go for a workout. Squats are among the exercises that can be improved by going barefoot.

The Benefits Of Barefoot Squats

The primary benefit of squatting without shoes is that you have a greater degree of body awareness. When you wear shoes, the nerves in your feet are shielded from the floor. Squatting barefoot means feeling the floor beneath you. This allows you to improve your body mechanics for better form, stability, and balance.

When barefoot, your feet are in a slightly different position, with the toes spread so they grip the floor. This gives you greater muscle activation. Why do people squat barefoot? Because they find that it gives them more power in every move. Squats get deeper when your muscle power comes from the bottom up.

Squatting Barefoot Vs With Shoes

Which is better, squatting barefoot or keeping your shoes? There will be times when one option is feasible and the other is not. Squatting in shoes can offer protection if you are in an environment where your feet could be injured like a basement or garage. Some gyms don’t allow you to go barefoot and workout socks, may not permitted. However, in most cases, it should be 100% safe and acceptable to rock some squat socks such as Pedestals.

Try out your favorite moves, including squats, both with shoes and barefoot. You will likely find that you get more out of every workout without the barrier of your shoes.

Pain Free Squatting

Have you ever heard someone mention that squatting hurts their knees, squats aren’t safe, or not to let your knees go over your toes? Stop…Squats aren’t bad for your knees

No matter how bad your knees are or how unsafe you think squatting is, there is some variation that you can do. While squat variations are endless and below are just a few examples. They can all be separated into just two buckets based on how the weight is distributed. One bucket is anterior loaded (weight is placed in front of you) and the other is posterior loaded (weight is placed behind you).

Anterior Loaded

Posterior Loaded

Anterior loaded exercises will place more torque on the knees than their posterior counterparts. In an attempt to prevent knee issues while squatting, coaches and trainers teach their clients to “not let your knees drift over your toes”. What they really should say is feel the heel, which means maintaining heel contact with the floor throughout the squat.

Keeping your heel locked to the ground will prevent any excessive knee drift and in turn will challenge your foot/ankle mobility. If you want a great ankle mobility exercise, give THIS one a try before your next squat session.

Your feet affect everything else in your body and any issue at the ground will work its way up the chain. This means that your footwear choice is crucial for maintaining proper squat form and reducing your risk for injury.

Your feet act and move independently within all sneakers, which makes the sneaker respond and contort. Instead of putting force and energy directly into the ground, you waste it through the sole and sides of the sneaker. This is an inefficient and poor use of energy or what is referred to as an energy leak.

Another important element here is that these were just bodyweight squats with no added load. You can imagine how unsafe and inefficient sneakers would be under load. Whatever squat variation you are a fan of or decide to do next, make sure to ditch your shoes and maintain solid heel contact throughout the movement.

Pedestal Footwear Makes Squat Socks Just For You

Barefoot training socks from Pedestal Footwear provide protection and traction while preserving the benefits of barefoot squats. Allow your feet the sort of free movement they desire, and get these added bonuses by rocking some Pedestals: