I like training in the gym doing squat with barefoot, because of better balance and a more stable contact surface with the floor, normal running shoes with soft mid-sole often cause wobbly balance . Until the gym staff came and said to me for hygiene and safety reason, do not train on barefoot, (come and think about it afterwards, it is gross to step on others’ sweat, spit, germs, even dog poo from other’s shoes when training barefoot in the gym, not even with socks on, same as other classes, like yoga, Pilate, you don’t know what is on the floor), then I went to try some of the flat shoes or minimal shoes on the market, none is comfortable, and I saw a lot of squatters and deadlifters train with socks, (Socks don’t give the training purpose of the barefoot training due to the design and knitting technology, socks is also a bit slippery when training with weights)
I thought that maybe I could try making one myself to combine training shoes and socks together, that is what I have designed my indoor training shoes Xtreme Kinetic minimal shoes.
The idea of my design looks like socks, wears like a shoes, and much comfortable than shoes when training, probably the most comfortable minimal shoes in the world, because it is knitted, very breathable and light, others just moulded plastic.
The shoe itself is a very simple design, I need a shoe with sole that wears as comfortable and thin as a sock but much tougher and durable for indoor training purpose.
Everything started from scratched.
Normally it needs a sock machine (circular machine) to knit a sock, and a flat machine to knit a shoe surface, it is very hard for shoe surface material (high elastic yarn) to knit on a sock machine, but a normal flat machine cannot knit a sock-like shoe with limit gauge.
I need a flat machine that is capable of doing both jobs, with a lot of study and research, using world latest cutting edge knitting technology, that is where my design come from, world first feather light 3D knitted seamless sock-like indoor training shoes. The shoe is knitted as whole seamlessly, no mid-sole, only a 4mm thin out sole attached to give the balance and stable when training, the design is to give the foot a tight and breathable environment during training, and the shoe is washable,
and most importantly, the shoe is environmentally friendly, no much industrial wasted during manufacturing as it came out as whole, no more cutting and sewing on the top part.
sizing chart
The following videos are some of the training excise taken with my shoes, you can see the feet stayed on the ground at all time, no more wobbly balance, no slippery, better posture, keep all your strength on your heel, not your toe, minimize the chance of injury, most importantly, keep your feet clean.
Deadlift, look at the shoes, keep your feet on the floor.
leg press,
better griping power when doing squat, this makes sure the heel stay on the ground, not tipping toe.
better posture
The good thing of training with barefoot are:
1)
Physiology – Simple fact, we were born without shoes. As babies we learnt to walk without shoes. As kids we walked, ran, jumped and climbed bare foot. We didn’t care if we had shoes on or not, why? Because we were great without them!
2)
Better Balance and Stability. As I mentioned earlier, there are thousands of nerve endings in your feet and 18 muscles in each of your feet! The Nerve endings provide all the sensory information about the surface underneath us, to the rest of our body. Whilst the muscles are responsible for loading and unloading the weight of your body. Constant use of shoes weaken our feet and desensitises it.
3)
With an Improvement in Balance and stability you are better able to develop strength and power and that is great! Particularly if you are actively trying to gain strength and muscle. By also not having a thick sole underneath your heel you have a better range of motion through your ankles and your hips, which could see immediate improvements in lifts such as dead lifts and squats. You never see anyone doing yoga with shoes on, because your feet need that grabbing power from the ground.
The shoe have 2 versions, mono colour and poly colour
