1. MOBILITY

Without shoes your feet don’t have that additional support which will free up your ankle’s full range of motion. Providing you have good ankle mobility from the start.

When squatting in shoes or barefoot it’s important to make sure your feet stay flat on the floor.

2. TECHNIQUE

Your squatting technique is essential to get the most out of your reps. Squatting without shoes makes it a lot easier to push through your heels.

3. GRIP

Your grip is actually improved when you are barefoot. When each part of your feet spread out when you squat you are proving your body with a wider and firmer platform.

4. BALANCE

Barefoot means you have a better sensory to balance. When you are wearing shoes, it numbs your sensors which may say to your brain that you are stable, when in reality you are just a squat away from an injury.

5. POWER

Your feet and ankles are the foundation of your body. When you exercise without shoes you allow your feet and ankles to strengthen which is actually going to provide you with more power.

You are also allowing your smaller balancing muscles in your lower limbs to strengthen, which in turn provides you with more lift power.

6. CHEAPER

Let’s face it, gym equipment, clothing, and shoes can be expensive. If you are squatting barefoot, you are saving that coin you would be spending on squatting shoes.

7. STRENGTH

Wearing shoes day in and day out allows your feet to slack off and weaken.

When you do barefoot squats you are encouraging your feet and ankles to reach their full potential which in turn allows you to reach yours.

8. AWARENESS

This allows you to properly feel where you are pushing from in your feet, where you are holding the weight, if you are balanced, if you are pushing through one foot more than the other and if something is not quite right.

9. NEUROMUSCULAR CONNECTION

This is all about the loop that sends signals from your muscles to your brain and back again.

When you are barefoot your feet are able to accurately send information to your brain telling you to adjust your footing, you are not balanced right etc.

10. ARCH SUPPORT

Your arch is a vital part of your foot health. Wearing shoes allows your arch to slack off and become lazy, this can create a number of issues.

Barefoot squats force your arches to do the job they are meant to do and get stronger, thus increasing stability and support.