17/01/2018
Like most things in fitness, the answer depends on your personal choice, your health and what you want to accomplish.
If you are someone who likes being barefoot, feeling the ground underneath you and not be restricted by shoes, you probably already know what you are going to do. ;)
But, be cautious about doing any jumping or running movements and the environment though. If there are a lot of weights lying around and you are doing a lot of drills that require you to move your feet really fast on a rough surface, you may be better served doing them with shoes.
While on the other hand, if you are doing a lot of strength exercises and you want to work on improving your mobility, barefoot or minimal footwear would be the best option.
Because, most shoes aren't really designed for providing a lot of ankle mobility and may even restrict your mobility at times.
Most shoes have a higher heel, which raises your heel higher (I know right? Genius me!), limiting the amount of dorsiflexion or the amount your ankle can bend.
There's nothing inherently wrong with shoes, but if you want to work on your mobility and get the full ROM and associated benefits, try working out barefoot. Especially on exercises like squats and deadlifts.
Coming to beeryani, we have a lot of stuff lying around on some of our conditioning days and in my personal experience I've noticed that the artificial grass mat and the usual gym rubber flooring is going to be harsh on your toes if you are doing exercises like sled push and mountain climbers.
So, we recommend our folks to wear some amount of protection for the feet on conditioning days and try doing the strength days barefoot. :)
PS: Definitely wear shoes if you are diabetic or have any other health conditions that could put you in harms way.