OnFitness Magazine - January/February 2022 - 50

WWW.ONFITNESSMAG.COM | VOL 22 NO 4 | 2022 50
Smart Training
the intrinsic foot musculature must contract to
absorb the shock and to maintain foot posture.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that
the intrinsic muscles of the feet become lazy in
shoes. With the intrinsic muscles playing an
important role in maintaining the stability of
the medial arch, shoes may be partially to
blame for the prevalence of flat feet observed in
shoe-wearing populations.
The benefits of barefoot training include
improved foot posture. Studies have
demonstrated that six weeks of barefoot
training improved medial arch height and rearfoot
posture. Since there is a correlation
between foot posture and lower extremity
function, improving the musculature support of
the foot can decrease the risk of knee and low
back pain.
Barefoot training improves balance and
stability. The skin on the bottom of your feet
plays an important role in balance and upright
stance and is more sensitive than ankle joint
proprioceptors and muscle response.
By training barefoot we will better activate
this plantar feedback system, which in turn will
provide a more accurate perception of our
stability and ground reaction forces, therefore
reducing the risk of injury.
Barefoot training improves performance
allowing you to activate all the muscles of your
foot and ankle, creating more efficient
movement patterns and improved athletic
performance.
Since your foot acts as the foundation for
movement, the ability to achieve a full range of
motion and activation of intrinsic musculature
allows for dynamic shock absorption and
proper foot alignment.
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A baseline foot function must be considered
before introducing barefoot training into your
workout. Since the average trainee has minimal
exposure to working out barefoot, it's important
to begin any barefoot training by first
improving foot mobility.
Foot mobility means more than increasing
flexibility of the calves; it also means freeing the
muscles and fascia on the bottom of your feet.
Begin by introducing stretches to the muscles
that surround your lower leg, including the
peroneals, gastrocnemius, soleus, and posterior
tibialis.
Daily myofascial release can be integrated to
the plantar musculature by walking on stones
or standing on golf balls.
After your foot begins to increase in
flexibility, begin to introduce exercises targeted
to strengthen the intrinsic musculature.
Exercises such as toe crunches, picking up
marbles, and lifting the arch are great ways to
activate the smaller muscles of your feet.
As your feet become stronger, progress by
adding barefoot balance exercises that will
challenge foot strength and ankle stability. Most
traditional resistance exercises can be integrated
into a barefoot balance training workout, which
will not only add a new challenge but will also
correct foot posture and total body alignment. Z
BODY PART
TRAINING AND
PROGRESSIVE
RESISTANCE
DeShawn D.Williams
Physique development is beginning to be clouded
by all the new-fangled exercise modalities that
have emerged in the last few years. We of course
are big fans of all the new exercise approaches, but
have we have even noticed the physiques these
new workouts build, or better put, don't build?
Bodies that may be lean and athletic, but lack the
artistic sculpted quality that's the hallmark of a
physique athlete. This article is a reminder of what
it takes to build your best-looking body.
Practitioners of functional exercise seem to have a disdain for body part training.
Isolation to them is a dirty word. But isolation is key to building the most
aesthetically pleasing and balanced body.
To develop the body you want, there are two ways to look at exercise: building
and shaping. Building requires a large muscle stimulus to generate a full-body
anabolic response. This means exercises like squats, leg press, deadlift, bench press,
shoulder press, and barbell rows. These exercises build mass.
Shaping exercises move to more isolation and involve barbell curls, triceps pressdowns,
calve raises, leg extensions and curls, shoulder raises in all directions, chest
flyes, lat pull-downs, and other movements that bolster particular body parts.
Rather than exercising muscle, many of the new exercise genres utilize patterns
and therefore may not always provide adequate stimulus for muscle growth. These
modalities are also often too refined and varied. Static holding exercises, nuanced
balancing moves, and light weights are sometimes overused, and these workouts
often switch up so fast they force little growth adaptation.
To build your body, you must be challenged consistently, frequently, and with
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OnFitness Magazine - January/February 2022

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