[quote]el0gic wrote:
Sxio wrote:
You have to wear shoes man. Noone wants to smell your toe jam.
Actually, toe jam is something of a delicacy here in England, as I’m sure renton will confirm.
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Absolutely right mate. Well it’s no worse than many other things we eat. Black pudding anyone?
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Vibram 5 fingers.
Bushy[/quote]
I’ve still got to pick a pair of these up. They do look great for deadlifting.
[quote]el0gic wrote:
Because you aren’t allowed to clobber people in this country anymore, I’m venting my frustration here.
Today I was barefoot deadlifting in the free weights room at my gym [sic]. It was fairly quiet, couple of other people in the room. Then this PT comes in with his client and keeps staring at me over 5 mins or so - I thought he might be watching my form or something. But then:
“You shouldn’t be barefoot.”
“Why?”
“You might drop a weight on your foot.”
“And a thin shoe is going to help that?”
“You might think you’re being smart (damn right I did), but it’s a general gym rule not to be barefoot around weights.”
“Well, I really don’t think that’s the case.”
At this point I just ignored him and carried on. He leaves the room. 10 mins later, a pair of droogs from the sports centre came in and told me I could either “put your shoes on, leave, or take it up with the manager. Health and safety.”
I took it up with the manager. He claimed that it was an insurance thing. I think it was just a knee jerk reaction against people without shoes.
I finished my session in nike frees, pissed off that I was having to lift extra distance on top of my already long legs.
Anyone else had experience with this? Does he actually have aleg to stand on with insurance / health & safety (I’m in the UK. The gym is the Oxford uni gym @ Iffley Road)? It’s not even a chromey cardio place. I’m trying to find a small gym.
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Ya know,I would have agreed with the guy telling you to wear shoes but your argument (“A thin piece rubber”) does ahve its own merits too. I just cant beilive you guys call each other “Droogs”,what do you go around raping girls and beating up homeless drunks too?
Cut off the bottom of your shoes so it looks like you’re wearing shoes while you’re actually barefoot. 
It’s not a big deal to wear some shoes. I wear chucks. I used to wear wrestling shoes to deadlift. And as for regular sneakers not helping if they get hit by a plate, they will a little. At least they might prevent a cut or laceration.
But for me barefoot is the beach. I don’t know if you have athletes foot or whatever. Just get some chucks.
I wouldn’t want to see folks walking around without shoes and socks in my gym. Athlete’s Foot and other fungal problems are hard enough to control in the locker rooms without spreading it all over the weight room. A shower area can be easily hosed down with disinfectants; you can’t do that in the gym.
What about those cheap rubber things they sell everywhere (Walmart, Target, the drug store) called Water Socks or Aqua socks? I think those are pretty darn flat.
[quote]mr_slick wrote:
Ya know,I would have agreed with the guy telling you to wear shoes but your argument (“A thin piece rubber”) does ahve its own merits too. I just cant beilive you guys call each other “Droogs”,what do you go around raping girls and beating up homeless drunks too?
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Pretty much. It’s the toe jam - sends you mental. They weren’t my friends. Maybe ‘a couple of vecks’ would be a better usage.
The extra 1/2 inch you would have to pull the bar with shoes on is pretty negligible if you’re not testing a 1RM or in a competition.
Why would you want to be barefoot anyway? There is so much bacteria and other weird shit on gym floors. Here’s a few of them - athlete’s foot, ringworm, staff infections. BTW, the staff don’t know if you have any of these. By going barefoot, for all they know you’re increasing the chances of another member getting something. Suck it up and put your damn shoes back on.
[quote]georgeb wrote:
The extra 1/2 inch you would have to pull the bar with shoes on is pretty negligible if you’re not testing a 1RM or in a competition.
Why would you want to be barefoot anyway? There is so much bacteria and other weird shit on gym floors. Here’s a few of them - athlete’s foot, ringworm, staff infections. BTW, the staff don’t know if you have any of these. By going barefoot, for all they know you’re increasing the chances of another member getting something. Suck it up and put your damn shoes back on.[/quote]
I dont think it’s so much about the ROM, but the fact that you get better “heel drive”, stability, grip and I read from somewhere it might even help with flat feet (or was it squatting barefoot…), which are a huge problem for me personally.
I pull with my socks on though because I’d rather avoid the extra bacteria and the socks keep the floor from becoming slippery of sweat.
[quote]Zomg wrote:
Cut off the bottom of your shoes so it looks like you’re wearing shoes while you’re actually barefoot. ;)[/quote]
Hahaha great idea!
ballet shoes
This is a standard rule. Just buy some proper lifting shoes. If Andy Bolton can deadlift 1003 pounds in shoes and Mariusz Pudzinowski can win the Worlds Strongest Man in shoes, then you can suck it up and live without whatever miniscule advantage it gives you.
I agree with everyone else about it being plain nasty having someone sweating their stinking feet all over the gym floor.
I also wonder what big difference it makes being able to deadlift about 1/4" closer to the ground?
I would think it is both an insurance issue and a health issue. Shoes will offer some protection, whether it will make much difference or not. If you don’t believe me, try the following: roll a 25 lb plate over your toes with and without shoes. I bet you will feel a difference. While you may sign a waiver releasing the gym from responsibility of injuries caused by your own stupidity, if you get injured by some other patron’s idiocy, they can still be liable. It may be a pin-hole risk for the insurer, but it’s one that can be avoided by a simple rule.
Healthwise, I concur with what others have said on here about foot fungus and bacteria. Are you allowed in other places of business in the U.K. without shoes? Probably not. Even if I could, I wouldn’t want to go barefoot in a gym strictly because of the nastiness factor of the floor. Also, if they let you do it, they have to let others do it and before you know it, the floor will start to look like a log in the forest with big fungi all over it. I don’t even go barefoot in the showers in public gyms, preferring tongs (flip-flops). My feet aren’t disposable and foot funguses can take a long time to eradicate.
The bottom line, if it’s a gym rule, you need to follow it or find another gym.
DB
I made the mistake of not wearing shoes in an old gym one time, got the athletes foot something awful, never again, I won’t even shower at a gym anymore. I’d rather go home stinking than take anymore chances.