How to choose barefoot shoes for sports?

When it comes to everyday shoes, things seem fairly straightforward – your feet need space, freedom to move and footwear that alters their natural position as little as possible. Sport is a little more complicated, because “sport” is hardly one single activity. Running five kilometres, doing barbell squats, playing basketball and hiking over rocky terrain place completely different demands on the body, so it would be rather unrealistic to claim that the same shoe is ideal for all of them.

The most important thing is to understand what a sports shoe actually does, what you genuinely need from it for a particular activity, and when cushioning, stiffness and various technical features are useful – and when they simply do work that the foot itself is perfectly capable of doing.

Why have sports shoes become so complicated?

Look at a modern running shoe and it can be quite an impressive piece of engineering – thick cushioning, an elevated heel, various stabilising elements, gels, air pockets, sometimes carbon plates and an entire list of other technologies. Some of these have a perfectly understandable purpose: in certain sports they can help you move faster, more efficiently or with greater stability. Others are, at least partly, marketing – because it is much easier to sell a new technology at a premium than something we have already known for years.

It is worth remembering, however, that the foot itself is not a passive platform. It bends, absorbs impact, adapts to the surface, helps maintain balance and transfers force. The more of this work the shoe takes over, the less is required from the foot itself. And the shape of the shoe matters just as much. A sports shoe may be highly technical, cost hundreds of euros and be advertised as exceptionally ergonomic, but if the toe box squeezes the toes together, it significantly affects how the foot can function and is difficult to describe as truly ergonomic.

What changes when you wear barefoot shoes for sport?

A barefoot sports shoe is based on the same principles as an everyday barefoot shoe – enough room for the toes, a flat sole without a pronounced heel elevation, flexibility and relatively little material between the foot and the ground.

In practice, this means that the foot has more space, can move more freely and receives more feedback from the surface beneath it. The foot muscles also have to do more themselves instead of relying on the structure of the shoe. Research has linked minimalist footwear and barefoot training with improvements in foot muscle strength and certain measures of foot function, but I certainly would not take that to mean that everyone should immediately throw away their sports shoes and start running barefoot.

In the gym, the logic is fairly simple

If I had to name one type of exercise where the advantages of barefoot shoes are particularly easy to understand, it would be strength training.

Squatting or lifting heavy weights while standing on a thick, soft running shoe is more difficult because the cushioning creates an unstable surface and requires additional balancing, even if we have become so used to it that we barely notice. There are countless slow-motion videos on social media that clearly show how much the foot can move on soft, heavily cushioned sports shoes. Here is one example.

During squats, lunges and many other exercises, you want the foot to have stable contact with the floor, the toes to be able to spread, and you want to feel where your weight is positioned. Thick cushioning is not necessarily an advantage in this situation, because it simply places a soft layer between your foot and the ground.

For strength training, I would therefore choose a thin, flat and stable barefoot shoe with plenty of room for the toes. If your gym allows training in socks or barefoot, that is also a perfectly reasonable option for many exercises.

Running requires a little more patience

Running is probably where you hear the most enthusiastic stories about barefoot shoes – and also the most stories about unsuccessful experiments. Very often, the problem is not the shoe itself but the way the transition was made.

If you have spent years running in shoes with thick cushioning and an elevated heel, your body has adapted to that particular type of load. Switch suddenly to a thin zero-drop shoe and the demands placed on the forefoot, calves, Achilles tendon and other tissues change. Work that was previously altered or partially absorbed by the shoe suddenly has to be managed differently by the body itself.

That is why I definitely would not recommend putting on barefoot shoes and immediately heading out for your usual running distance. I would start with walking and short running intervals, gradually increasing the distance while paying attention to how the feet, calves and Achilles tendons respond. There is no achievement in being unable to walk down the stairs for two days after your first session – that does not mean your feet are “finally working”; it simply means that the load was greater than your body was ready to tolerate at that point. To help with the transition to barefoot running shoes, you can also do exercises aimed at strengthening the feet and gradually adapting muscles, tendons and other tissues to a different way of moving.

Not every runner necessarily needs to aim for the thinnest shoe possible. Some people do very well in fully minimalist footwear, while others prefer a compromise – a foot-shaped toe box, little or no drop and slightly more cushioning. There is now a very wide range of options available. A thinner sole provides more sensory feedback about how your foot is interacting with the ground, and many barefoot and natural-running advocates argue that, once an efficient and natural running technique has been developed, the body itself can manage impact remarkably well. There is also ongoing discussion and research around the relationship between sensory feedback, cushioning, running mechanics and the loads placed on the knees, hips and other parts of the body. Christopher McDougall’s book Born to Run is one well-known introduction to this way of thinking.

Basketball, tennis and other sports that place different demands on the foot

Running rhythmically in a straight line places one set of demands on footwear. Rapid changes of direction, jumping, landing and braking sideways place very different demands on a shoe.

In basketball, tennis, floorball and similar sports, grip and lateral stability become particularly important. For that reason, I would not be dogmatic about trying to find the thinnest and most flexible shoe possible for these activities.

At the same time, barefoot footwear is developing quickly in this category too. Xero Shoes have already created a basketball-specific barefoot shoe, which has even been worn and positively received by NBA players. It keeps a wide toe box and a lower, more natural foot position, while the construction is designed to cope with rapid lateral movement and the demands of basketball. It is still a fairly unusual product, but other manufacturers are likely to explore similar ideas. Shoes like these may also be worth considering for other sports that require similar footwear characteristics.

I think this is a good example of why barefoot principles should not be turned into a religion. A shoe needs to suit what you are actually doing in it, but that does not mean an anatomically freer shape suddenly stops being relevant simply because you are doing sport.

Explore barefoot shoes suitable for sport at Sajust.lv

And what about hiking?

Hiking is one of my passions, so this is an area where I can also share my personal experience with footwear I have used for years. Hiking shoes are one of the categories where I sometimes hear people say that a barefoot shoe surely cannot be a “proper” hiking shoe. It absolutely can.

Barefoot hiking shoes can be high-cut, water-resistant, have a good tread and provide enough protection around the toes to perform all the functions we expect from hiking footwear. At the same time, they can retain something that is personally very important to me – enough space for the toes and an anatomical shape that does not squeeze the foot into a narrow toe box.

I have now walked the Camino de Santiago four times, and every time I have done it in barefoot shoes, as have my walking companions. I have never had serious problems with my feet. On long-distance walks I particularly appreciate the wide toe box, because after many kilometres the feet tend to swell slightly and that extra space becomes especially valuable. In my experience, having enough room also greatly reduces the pressure and friction that contribute to blisters. Combined with toe socks, it has been an excellent combination for long hikes.

And, of course, “barefoot” does not mean that you should head into the mountains in winter wearing a shoe with a three-millimetre sole. The principle remains the same – footwear should perform the function required by the particular sport or activity, without restricting the foot more than necessary. How structured or minimal that shoe should be is ultimately a matter of individual needs and preference.

Explore barefoot shoes suitable for hiking at Sajust.lv

So what should you actually look for when choosing sports shoes?

I would start by looking at the shape of the foot inside the shoe. Is there enough room for the toes? Can the big toe continue along its natural line? Is the forefoot being squeezed? This is one criterion I would not compromise on in any sport. One of the simplest ways to check is to remove the insole, place your foot on top of it and spread your toes – ideally trying to imitate the way the foot moves during a step – and see whether your whole foot and all your toes remain within the outline of the insole. If your toes or any part of the foot extend beyond its edges, that gives you a very good indication of how much the foot is being compressed inside the shoe.

After that, the requirements depend on what you plan to do in the shoe. For strength training, I would want a thin and stable sole. For running, gradual adaptation to the particular amount of drop and cushioning becomes important. In sports involving rapid lateral movement, I would also look closely at lateral stability and grip. For hiking, protection from the terrain and weather matters too – whether that means waterproofing, breathability or something else will depend on your own priorities.

And, of course, do not buy a sports shoe simply because the word “barefoot” appears on the box. That word is gradually becoming a marketing tool too. Pick the shoe up, look at its shape, bend it and, most importantly, put it on your feet. Even if it is a genuine barefoot shoe, that does not automatically mean it is right for your foot or for what you intend to do in it. The differences are not only between brands – they can be significant even between different models from the same manufacturer.