Barefoot Workout
I am not a barefoot kind of gal, for two very good reasons:
- My mother had a strict “children wear shoes” rule.
- The most memorable case I encountered as a 14-year-old candy striper in an emergency room was a toddler who stepped on glass in his basement. So much blood from such a tiny foot. And, an accident that could easily have been prevented by following my mother’s rule.
So, I wear crocs or slippers or shoes, even in the house. The fact that I have an affinity at all for working out in bare feet is a huge surprise to me. I blame yoga. My first class was about six years ago. It took awhile, but after a few weeks, I started liking the feel of moving on bare feet. Now, I deliberately look for forms of exercise and DVDs where the instructors are barefoot. The hula that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago (Exercising in Virtual Hawaii) is one example. I have a couple of Nia DVDs, a couple of dance DVDs by Ellen Barrett, and a small stack of Qi Gong DVDs with Lee Holden — all performed without shoes.
What are your favorite barefoot workouts?
For a book tie-in, I requested a collection of essays called Barefoot Summers from the library. Author, Faith Andrews Bedford, writes the “Kids in the Country” column for Country Living magazine. I read the essay that gave the book its title and it turns out that Faith Andrews Bedford’s mother also had a wear shoes rule. But there was an exception — the month of August that they spent with her grandparents on Cape Cod.
That was one of our own “rules of August” — from the first day until the last, my sisters and I did not put on shoes.
That exception was enough to make the author, unlike me, a life-long fan of being barefoot.
Today is the last day of the month. I’m posting late so that I can count every exercise minute in January. My January goals were 1300 minutes of exercise and 8 video workouts. I overshot both — 1315 minutes of exercise and 13 video workouts!
Since I seem to have broken my resistance to workout videos (I even bought a new series of DVDs), I’m going to drop that from my goals and make things simple for February. My February exercise goal is 1300 minutes, averaging about 45 minutes a day.
Take a look at how other bloggers did with the exercise in the last week at the CHECKpoint! Jan 31 hosted by Mari at Bookworm with a View.
Great January! Take a moment to celebrate your successful month.
Going barefoot… I have all kinds of nerve damage from a cut one summer. Two cuts actually, they were clean and down to the bone. I didn’t even feel the cut since my nerves were damaged. I never go barefoot since I still have issues…. there you go… another post topic for me (how do I run with this damage?)
Have a great week!
Congrats! I was just thinking of setting myself a goal of 1,000 fitness minutes. For January, I’ve got just about 800 and I want MORE. I love fitness–but the injuries and all really set me back. I’m learning this year (just this month!) that I can do 10 minutes and it COUNTS. I don’t have to wait til I can do 45-60 minutes.
I recently started doing kettlebells a bit (fun!) and there’s this pro who does it BAREFOOT. That sounds crazy but if you think about it, only a steel-toed boot would save you. A trainer wouldn’t do squat! ;p
http://lilyreed.posterous.com/joy-of-barefoot-workouts
…metablogging, as I’ve linked back to your post
I’m barefoot as much as possible inside. I’m loving the yoga videos from yogatoday.com right now. They have a free one every week and you can download videos for $3.99. Cheaper than DVDs.
I have never been a barefoot girl…. I don’t like the feel of getting anything on my feet… (I know.. I’m goofy!) But I will wear flip flops in my home year round…
Congrats on your January goals! That is awesome!
I love doing yoga and dancing NIA barefoot. Of course, you do both on a clean studio floor. Doing aerobicsvwith shoes on feels clunky to me now.
Delighted to know that you enjoyed my book “Barefoot Summers.” Should anyone want one they are available on my website, http://www.faithandrewsbedford.com. Happy walking.
in our house, as per Indian custom, we got in trouble if we _wore_ shoes. (of course, ‘inside slippers’ were permissible, but not required!
Pingback:Readers’ Workouts April 3 | Joy's Book Blog