Being barefoot can feel liberating, exhilarating and fun. Some people even practice a barefoot lifestyle, avoiding shoes as much as possible. It’s also tempting to exercise barefoot as the weather gets warmer.

The Society for Barefoot Living touts the “joy of barefooting,” including barefoot walking, running, hiking and bicycling.

Mack Hollins, a professional football player, has been getting attention for his “barefoot mentality” — going shoeless whenever he can, even while training or walking outside in the snow.

The NFL wide receiver strolled in barefoot for a news conference welcoming him to the New England Patriots in March.

Hollins says he’s been mostly barefoot for about five years, crediting the lifestyle with creating healthier feet.

“It’s been great for me. Everyone should be barefoot. You don’t see people walking around in mittens,” he told NBC Sports Philadelphia.

“We have shoes on our feet and people wonder why their feet don’t look the way they should or they’re not strong and why people have ankle and knee problems,” Hollins added in an interview with an Atlanta sports radio station.

What do foot doctors think about the barefoot lifestyle?

“I’ll just be honest, my feet don’t hit the floor barefoot, even in the house,” Dr. John Roy Senatore, a podiatrist at MedStar Health in Baltimore, Maryland, tells TODAY.com. “Because all I see are injuries, I am a big proponent of good shoes and supportive ones, too.”

“You could get cuts, calluses, ulcers and blisters. You need protection with an insole, sock and shoe,” adds Dr. Brad Schaeffer, a New York podiatrist featured on TLC’s “My Feet Are Killing Me.”

“I would run barefoot on a beach. I would do barefoot yoga. That’s it.”

Is going barefoot good for your health?

There’s a joy aspect that comes with being barefoot, the doctors note. People are connecting with nature and to the earth — they’re feeling grounded and feeling good.

Being barefoot also improves proprioception, the body’s ability to sense its position in space, Senatore says.

The Society for Barefoot Living notes human feet are designed for walking barefoot and “continue to be totally efficient” for that purpose. It believes going barefoot is healthier than wearing shoes and feels great.

What are the risks of going barefoot?

Podiatrists advise against being barefoot all the time. Good shoes offer comfort, cushioning and protection from injury, infection and extreme temperatures, they say.

Unless you’ve been living barefoot all your life since childhood, your feet are accustomed to some support and are not adapted to function without shoes all day long, they caution.

“We live in a society where socks and shoes are commonplace, so we’re not used to doing that,” Schaeffer says.

“During COVID, when people weren’t working and they were at home … I saw more issues with plantar fasciitis, muscle strains on the foot than any time in my practice,” Senatore recalls. “Just because people were at home not wearing shoes.”

Is it healthy to work out barefoot?

It depends on the exercise and whether a person has any foot ailments or health issues.

People with diabetes should never walk barefoot, even around the house, because of diabetic neuropathy, a complication that can cause a loss of sensation in their feet, Senatore warns. He once had a patient who walked around with a roofing nail sticking up through his shoe and into his foot, but didn’t notice the wound because he didn’t feel it.

“Diabetics absolutely cannot walk barefoot or stocking foot,” Senatore says. “They have to protect their feet.”

If you don’t have any foot or health problems, here’s what podiatrists think about doing specific sports barefoot:

Yoga

It’s fine to practice yoga barefoot. “In fact, I got kicked out of a yoga class because I refused to take my shoes off,” Senatore recalls. “I went back and I did it barefoot and it was fine.”

Walking

It’s OK to walk barefoot on a grassy field or the beach as long as the environment is clean. But even then, there can still be safety issues.

“There are things out there that can cut you,” Schaeffer warns.

“You name it, I’ve pulled it out of someone’s foot — splinters, the pins, the nails, everything,” Senatore says.

The doctors would never walk barefoot in a city where there’s potentially glass, garbage, needles and other dangerous debris.

Hot pavement in the summer can burn the soles of the feet if they're not protected.

Running

The doctors advise against running barefoot because the high-impact exercise requires support and cushioning.

“You can get stress fractures. You can develop hammer toes, bunions, things like that, that are going to mess up every step that you take,” Schaeffer says.

“There’s going to be a cascading effect to your knees, hips, ankles, lower back because you’re not supported properly.”

When running, the body's force on the feet increases to several times your body weight, depending on your speed and the surface you’re jogging on, Senatore adds.

He advises against running on the beach or even long walks on the beach because the foot sinks in the sand, so the muscles have to work harder and can become overstretched, leading to Achilles tendonitis.

It’s best to limit any barefoot running to short strides, he notes.

“I treat a lot of runners and I will (tell) them, ‘If you want to go barefoot, do strides on a football field, someplace where you’re kind of protected,’” Senatore says.

Weightlifting

It’s generally OK since weightlifting is usually done in a stationary position, so people are not moving and not experiencing any friction on their feet, Schaeffer says.

Both doctors were OK with squatting barefoot if a person feels comfortable doing it.

One risk may be inadvertently dropping a dumbbell and injuring a bare foot that way.

Biking

Pedaling barefoot might hurt, but it’s fine if you like bicycling without shoes, Senatore says.

“There’s less force (on feet) on a bicycle than walking,” he notes.