Humans have been barefoot for most of their existence. It was only about 40,000 years ago humans began to wear shoes. Why does this matter? Is there any benefit to training barefoot as an athlete? Why is it essential for a non athlete to be barefoot? These are a few questions we will be examining. Training barefoot has many benefits to humans in performance and everyday health. The absence of shoes enhances proprioception, balance, stability, mobility, speed, force production, and overall health.

Before we dive into the specifics of barefoot training it's important to have a cursory knowledge of foot anatomy. Out of the body’s 206 bones, one foot contains 28 bones, 30 joints, and 100 plus nerves receptors. We have over 100 muscles, tendons, and bones in our feet. Our feet comprise over 1/4 over our bodies entire skeletal structure.  The feet can act as a rigid lever, mobile adapter, a spring, and as a damage detector.  It is sufficient to say the feet are an...