'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Chris Bumstead, the five-time Mr. Olympia, is bringing the golden era to modern-day bodybuilding. He loves to lift heavy weights barefoot. In 2020, 'CBum' posted a video of him squatting barefoot. He later said he was experimenting with his training style and felt the benefits of training barefoot.
Speaking to Chris Williamson on one of the Modern Wisdom podcast episodes last year, Bumstead was questioned about his barefoot training. He said he discovered the technique by accident.
"I wore Converse my whole life up until I was like 20 years old and I started to get bunions on my foot where like my toes were just like angled way far out to like outwards and then my the side of my foot started to really hurt and I was also getting really bad knee pain. I was like what the fu*k was wrong with my feet and I realized my feet don't fit in Converse."[58:37]
CBum added that he has wide feet and wears 13 e-shoes and he once decided to take them off in the gym while training.
"Working on the gym, it just felt better it's like I was doing like toe exercises where I would spread my toes I was wearing toe spacers and then just the gym was just a place where I didn't have to wear shoes, so I could like train in socks and I just felt better and over time I didn't do a whole lot of other things a few other things but my knees just started to feel better my squats started to feel a little bit more natural." [59:16]
Chris Bumstead is not alone in training barefoot
Seven-time Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger also trained barefoot in the gym, as seen in many videos. Both Arnie and CBum share the same mentality regarding training barefoot. Exercising barefoot helps you strengthen your feet and increase your stability. Apart from this, barefoot training enables you to maintain a better form; even Chris Bumstead believes in this.
Four-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler praised CBum for training barefoot and bringing back the golden era of modern-day bodybuilding. Culter commented on one of Chris Bumstead's reels of exercising without shoes, writing:
"Barefoot is a new trend."
Would you give training without shoes in the gym a chance? Let us know in the comments.
