Happy Easter everyone

Happy Easter!

Barefoot time off for holiday

Hello to every wonderful reader of Almost Barefoot! I'm grateful to all who come to visit and read!

I'm taking some badly-needed time off for this holiday weekend. No matter what your religious or social persuasion, I urge you to take a bit of time out for yourself and your loved ones as well.

Many blessings!

Catch you barefoot.....on Monday!

Barefoot=Awareness

IF YOU'RE ABLE TO FEEL, YOU'RE LIVING FOR REAL..............

There are more nerve endings in the feet than anywhere else in the body. To be barefoot is to heighten you entire level of awareness.

Go barefoot every day and you will be more aware of everything, and therefore more alive.

Barefoot fitness training-a fun, meaningful challenge

 Above: Stacey Lei Krauss leads a transitional pose that fuses a cardio section with Yoga stretches in the Willpower & Grace barefoot fitness sequence.  Below: Stacey Lei leads foot foundation exercise.

Combine two regular ingredients that have never been mixed before, and you may get something really special that's worth reproducing. The instructors at willPower Fitness, one of Denver's newest fitness studios, have cooked up a new recipe that stands out boldly amidst the crowded market of work-out instruction.

I attended two classes this week, on Monday and Tuesday night. I loved the fact that I could do a very full work out without wearing shoes, but it was more than the barefoot factor that made this training an excellent experience that I recommend.

The barefoot factor is important, though, becasue one needs to have strong feet and ankles as a foundation for the rest of the body, and that's something that can't happen with shoes on since shoes don't let your ankles and feet move freely, and thus make many of those muscles dormant. But the willPower workout combines every important aspect of a workout, starting with the feet and going all the way up.

WillPower workouts weave Yoga poses into a  series with cardio work and strength training, but it is more than "Yogarobics".  There are also moves designed especially for building strength fin the feet and the rest of the body from the feet first, a concept ignored in most exercise boot camps or other classes. And the instruction method combines the gentle approach from traditional Yoga with traditional exercise instruction to create a hybrid that is neither wimpy nor overbearing.

These classes are excellent for general strength and cardio training, for the Yogi who wants to move, and as preparation for one of my favorite ways to work out: barefoot running.

As there is more to come on barefoot running, there is more to say about willPower Fitness. If you don't want to take my word for it, then take the class. I have more to say in the coming week as I'll be following this studio closely.

This new fitness opportunity makes me even more excited for a new season of barefoot running classes I'll be scheduling soon.  

Barefoot Fitness

Barefoot fitness is a new and growing trend that is expanding beyond the already-popular realm of Yoga and the increasingly-popular method for running, which I'll discuss in the next posting.

Tonight I'll be visiting a new fitness studio in Denver, CO called willPower FIT Studio which opened in January. The willPower (yes, this is how it is spelled) method was created by Stacey Lei Krauss, and combines many techniques to make an ideal cardio/muscle fitness workout.

And all of it is done barefoot. Need I say more?

The scientific basis for barefoot exercise is well respected here in the numerous programs that are offered. I'm excited to learn this method that blends Yoga with different techniques, and I'll be sharing my experience.





Above: willPower Fit Instructor and creator  Stacey Lei Krauss. Source: Barefoot Education by Virbam FiveFingers

Essenetial advice for every barefoot runner

For every person considering running barefoot......I certainly do recommend doing it, but do heed this advice: take it easy at the beginning.

Taking it easy is a contradiction for most runners, and that includes me and my esteemed coach, Michael Sandler, barefoot running extraordinaire.

If you're accustomed to running with shoes, then keep doing most of your mileage in shoes at first. Pull your shoes off for the last hundred yards or so. It is essential for the skin on your feet to thicken.

I had no coaching when I started barefoot running, and I had only my addiction to it to go on. (I met Michael Sandler and Jessica Lee a few months later) I felt so free, liberated from my joint aches and plantar fasciitis as I ran pain free like a child on the beach in summer.  Then came the big blisters.

I limped for a while once the big blisters showed up; obviously, they took time to heel. I was forced to ease back into it slowly, and in little time, the skin of my feet was like leather, and pebbles on the path were afterthought.

You will likely become addicted to barefoot running once you start because you will feel so good in so many ways, but do give your feet time to adapt. This was the simplest of concepts, and yet it was the hardest for this runner to understand.

More to come on the wonderful sort of barefoot running!

Photo of Vincent by "Barefoot Scott" Jones, Boulder Barefoot Running Club

 

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Barefoot Running-Easier than you think!

With spring coming, I'm excited to get back to teaching runners the tricks to running in minimalist shoes, and better yet, running without shoes at all. If you're into walking without shoes, running isn't much different.

One difference, it's easier on your feet because when running, your step is actually lighter. There are other thing you need to know before taking it up full time.

I'll be sharing Technical Tidbits about barefoot running from time to time, as well some extensive information on my personal favorite-Yoga. The first programs you'll will be aimed at walkers and runners but are beneficial to every practitioner, even ones who don't even think about running.

Photo of Vincent by "Barefoot Scott" Jones at the Metro State College Veterans' 5K 2009
 

For some great running lectures from the nation's most famous barefoot runner, and the coach who trained me, check out Runebare company's website. Michael and Jessica will be touring and lecturing soon!