I want to talk about the benefits of barefoot training. That’s right, exercising in your bare feet.

Now, I realize that it seems like an odd concept to some, but I can assure you that there’s real proof to the benefits of training with “naked feet.”

Your foot is made up of 33 muscles, 26 bones, tendons and ligaments and more sensory receptors in one concentrated area than anywhere else in your body, with the exception of your hands. Like the rest of your body, we need to exercise and stimulate our feet to keep them strong and healthy.

Stimulating the muscles in your feet and lower legs will not only make you stronger and healthier, it improves your balance, agility and proprioception.

For more than 12 years I’ve trained hundreds of people and one of the observations that I’ve made in the vast majority of them is how weak, misaligned, and neglected their feet are. I’ve seen this in the young and old, highly athletic and non-athletic, slim and heavy, you name it.

Part of the problem is that most people, particularly adults and seniors, spend almost no time in their bare feet. In fact, I’ve talked to people who can’t even walk around bare-foot at home; they wear shoes in the house.

Part of the problem is that the technology built into our running shoes and cross trainers totally do the work for the foot.

Now, before I start getting hate mail from Nike, New Balance, Saucony and Adidas, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t purchase running shoes. A pair of good quality runners or cross trainers should be a must for athletes and fitness enthusiasts.

What I am saying, however, is that you need to look at including barefoot training into your fitness program. Wearing shoes all the time does the same thing to your feet that wearing a neck brace all the time does to your neck.

Reasons to exercise barefoot:

1. Improved biomechanics of the foot. Barefoot exercising, walking and running (yes, running) allows the lower leg and foot to move more naturally.

2. Stimulate and strengthen muscles in the feet and lower legs, improving general foot health and reducing the risk of injury.

3. Improved proprioception and body awareness. Neurological receptors heighten body awareness, sending messages about body mechanics, form, and movement.

4. Stimulates neural function important to balance and agility. Thousands of neurological receptors in the feet send valuable information to the brain, improving balance and agility.

5. Improved range of motion in the toes, feet and ankles. Removing the “neck brace” effect that a shoe has on the foot, allows the foot and toes to move more naturally.

6. Eliminates heel lift to align the spine and improve posture. By lowering the heel, our body weight becomes evenly distributed across the footbed, promoting proper posture and spine alignment.

You may have noticed that in reason number one, I mentioned running. For those of you who are that I’m off my rocker, let me explain. For more than three years now, I have regularly used barefoot exercising as part of my training program.

I incorporate into my weight lifting, balance, core work, stretching (everyone should stretch barefoot), mobility, and yes, running.

When I run I wear a fantastic product called Five Fingers by Vibram. Now, before I get accused of distributing or having stock options in this product, let me assure you that I have absolutely no connection nor do I receive any money from this company. Vibram has created a barefoot covering for your foot that you can do almost anything in, even run. I have worked myself up to doing 10km runs literally barefoot in this product. I love how it feels and I run faster in than in runners.

While barefoot running may not be your bent, I would strongly recommend that you incorporate barefoot exercise into your program.

One note here, many gyms may not let you train barefoot so you may want to try it at home.

If you train in a private personal training facility you’ll have better luck.

So give it a whirl and enjoy the great feel and many benefits of barefoot exercise.

Adam Francilia is the president and founder of the Fitlife Centre for Health and Performance in Maple Ridge.

www.fitlifesportsperformance.com