Squatting Barefoot?

The other day I was in the gym, It didn't happen to be my leg day but I saw an older guy who was squatting and he was doing it barefoot. My immediate thought was that's disgusting do you know how much sweat is on that floor!!! Once my moment of disgust passed I wondered why is he squatting barefoot? I came home and did some googling and found a few discussions boards on the topic. 

From the discussion boards I found that alot of bodybuilders like the barefoot because it helps their stability and balance which I guess I could understand how being more grounded could help with your balance. I also found that some people found the barefoot at the gym just as gross as me and some of them would squat in socks rather than barefoot, which is better hygiene wise for sure. 

While I did find many supporters of the barefoot their were many people who suggested that if you are going to be lifting frequently go out and buy chuck taylors or lifting shoes because they are worth it. I also found that if you are truly going to be doing alot of lifting then running shoes are an absolute no no. My brother who has been lifting for awhile has shoes made for lifting he hasn't gone the chuck taylor route because he doesn't do any crazy Olympic lifting however he found that nikes that were geared towards lifting worked much better for him in the gym all around compared to his running shoes. 

This is where so research  in to journals comes in. In (THE EFFECTS OF WEIGHTLIFTING SHOES ON SQUAT KINEMATICS  Dave Fortenbaugh1, Kimitake Sato2, and J. Kyle Hitt2) they found that shoes that are made for weight lifting are best to use they help in keeping the best form while squatting.

So what am I to do? I currently have running shoes, why after reading all of this you might ask... personally I spend alot more time doing cardio and hiit intervals then I do squatting and dead lifting (I dead lift like never to rarely). If I ever feel that I am lifting more or doing much more in the weights area of the gym I may splurge on some lifting specific shoes, and I can guarantee you will never see me lifting barefoot, I'm still alittle grossed out to be honest.   

What do you think? Barefoot? Lifting shoes? Running shoes? let me know your opinions in a comment below! 

Stephaniexx

Beginner Treadmill Interval Workout

While some cardio days I like running endurance (even though I'm not great at it) and others I feel like I get a better work out when I am running Intervals. This is my most recent interval work out that I tried and really loved it pushed me and definitely got my heart rate up. However, this is definitely more of a beginners workout because my brother looked at it and told me to increase some things next time but it was a good start so I figured I will build in to it more and more as I go.

Treadmill Interval Workout

1 Minute Walking at 3.8mph

4 Minutes Jogging 6.3mph

1 minute Run 8.0mph

30 sec rest with your feet on the sides of the treadmill

1.5 minute run 8.0mph

30 sec rest 

1 minute Run 8.0mph 

30 sec rest

1 minute run 8.0mph 2.5 incline

1 minute rest
1 minute run 8.0mph 2.5 incline
1 minute rest
1 minute run 8.0 mph 2.5 incline
1 min rest
30 seconds run 8.0 mph 4.0 incline
1 minute rest
2.5 minute jog 6.5mph
1 minute walk 3.8 mph

This was my calorie burn after those first 21 minutes of interval cardio If you are looking for alittle extra burn like I was I finished out my 30 minute treadmill workout with 9 minutes of  walking at 3.8mph and a 10 incline! this really just keeps your heart rate up and finish out the 30 minutes

This was once the whole 30 was done! It was a great workout for me and it kept me going instead of a long endurance run which occasionally I get bored while doing that on a treadmill. 

I hope you enjoyed this post and let me know in a comment below if you try this workout or if you have any other interval workouts for me to try out! 

Stephaniexx