74: Heidi Van Mastrigt (@thatbarefootcoach) on the Foundation Missing From Your Fitness Routine

LA FIT EXPO INTERVIEW SERIES: February is Fit Expo month on Group X Appeal, we're bringing the LA Fit Expo straight to you! Kimberly and Terry hit the expo floor to interview some of the most inspiring minds shaping the future of fitness—leaders in group fitness, strength, recovery, wellness, and performance. 

These are the coaches, creators, and changemakers whose strategies help people move better, feel stronger, and live healthier lives. Get ready for real stories, expert insights, and game-changing approaches you won't hear anywhere else.

THIS EPISODE: What if everything you've been told about working out is missing the most critical piece? Meet Heidi Van Mastrigt, known as "That Barefoot Coach", who's about to challenge your entire approach to movement. 

This isn't about reps and sets—it's about going much deeper to address the foundation most fitness professionals completely overlook. Discover why starting from the ground up (literally) might be the missing link to better performance, fewer injuries, and sustainable strength.

Whether you're an instructor seeking fresh perspectives or someone whose body hasn't been responding to traditional training, this conversation will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about building a solid fitness foundation.

Follow Heidi here: https://www.instagram.com/thatbarefootcoach/

Want to experience this energy live? Join us at the Fit Expo in Anaheim, August 29-30 at the Anaheim Convention Center! Click the link below for tickets.

https://thefitexpo.ticketspice.com/anaheim-2026?t=GROUPX

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Questions or topic ideas? Email us @ groupxappeal@gmail.com

Get your FREE Guide To Holistic Well-Being here: https://gxaguide.com/

Stay Connected with Kimberly:
- @kimberlyspreenglick on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube
- email: kimberly@theinspiredlifeuniversity.com
- website: www.theinspiredlifeuniversity.com

Stay Connected with Terry:
- @terryshorter on Instagram & Facebook
- email: terry@rippedplanet.com
- website: www.rippedplanet.com

Transcript

This month on Group X Appeal, we are bringing the Fit Expo straight to you. We hit the floor at the Los Angeles Fit Expo interviewing some of the most inspiring minds in our industry. Leaders in group fitness, strength, recovery, wellness, and performance. Yes, and these are the coaches, the creators, and the change makers shaping the future of fitness. And in today's episode, you're going to hear their stories, their expertise, and the real world strategies they use to help people move better, feel stronger, and live

healthier lives. if this lights you up, make sure you join us at the Fit Expo in Anaheim right here in our own backyard at the Anaheim Convention Center, August 29th and 30th. Yes, click the link below for tickets, DM us and come experience the energy, the education and community in person. Absolutely. All right, let's get into today's conversation.

So working out isn't all about reps and sets. We're gonna go much deeper. We're gonna get to the root of making sure that you're- foundation? Yeah, the foundation, And we have none other than Heidi Van Van Mastrigt in the house to, who's known as the Barefoot Coach, who's gonna break down some of her knowledge, background, and we're super excited to have her. Yeah. Thank you for being here, Heidi. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited. And we just found out that Heidi is like our next door neighbor. She's

Laguna Niguel, South County. And so that was awesome to find out. We're already planning on hanging out later. Absolutely. So thanks for joining us on X Appeal. by the way, I'm Terry Shorter. is... ⁓ yeah, by the way, Terry Shorter, Kimberly Spreen Glick We're so glad to be here at the Fit Expo in Los Angeles. And then we get to hang

Absolutely.

Yes, so I grew up a competitive dancer. I danced from the age of like 8 to 21. After that I had a bit of an identity crisis, right, as all athletes do when they stop, and I quickly got into fitness. Very fast. I got really passionate.

popular. Okay, we know. And so I started kind of in the bodybuilding world, decided I want to get certified as a trainer, and then I quickly got into powerlifting. So this is really where I got super passionate about lifting. I loved that it was focused on performance rather than aesthetics like bodybuilding. ⁓ So I competed in powerlifting for about five years.

I didn't really know anything about my feet. I looked back at some of my manuals and textbooks. We have literally cut the feet off. Like it didn't exist. feet. No feet. And so I started dealing with chronic pain. So I had chronic hip pain, I chronic neck pain, and I just could not figure it out. And I was in my early mid-20s, so it did not make sense to me. Like, I'm not old.

But I could not get to the root of it. It so incredibly frustrating because I just kept hitting plateau after.

Taking my shoes

I you a picture? Yeah sure. I'm going show you a picture.

Totally turned in.

functional and not really supporting any of my movements. So I went down this whole rabbit hole.

in the same way that I've treated the rest of my body.

I realized, wow, I'm like regaining this level of function that I didn't even know existed.

release the feet, we use it for balance. I personally love to bring it into the gym. So I'll deadlift on it. I'll do some more like push

So you can better get...

So with the corrections that you've made through your research, through just exploration, how has that improved your strength? How has it improved your stability? How has it improved your balance? And the pain you're in. And the pain! Yes, yeah. So, my strength, it's hard to quantify because my numbers as a powerlifter were so much higher. Sure. Right? I don't powerlift anymore. It doesn't resonate with me. Sure.

Sorry.

Congratulations. Thank you.

and two and

Take it in the direction of

you get a client or a friend who has never been to the gym?

Not something you do right away. You have to incorporate

Right balancing straightening the feet and that's another big pick up

shape to grab something great. So your feet should change shape as you step on something that's not flat.

So that's where the Soulmate comes in. And I love that name by the way, the Soulmate. I it. That is And we actually have a full training protocol. So we take you through, first we'll do a balance screen. So it'll actually give you a score and tell you exactly where to start based on your score. And then it walks you through a program where you do about 20 minutes a day. And you use the Soulmate, the Haki, the bands to mobilize the feet, strengthen the feet.

take you on this journey where at the end, it's not saying it'll be like, oh, restore all your foot function in 15 weeks, right? This stuff doesn't really exist. But you can be in a much different, much better place, 15, week 15, for 60 years. So I would start with really basic things like, yeah, let's do some relief work, but let's make sure we can spread our toes. Let's make sure we can lift our big toe in the behind of us, right? Let's make sure that when we step on

in highly efficient, restrictive shoes and then we walk on nothing but hard flat ground. So super important. ⁓

trainer and people have started going barefoot on the Bosu and I've had people get rid of knee pain, hip pain, it's fascinating. And the mobility and everything. Those are all such important longevity markers that people don't think about. So, so glad you're doing this. Absolutely. Yeah. And so you mentioned the programs that you have. Yeah.

So there's a few ways. So with the Foot Collective, all of that is online. I also have my own personal app that I created with Foot Strength and Mobility.

I love to bring the soulmate into the gym and balance on it in between heavy sets of a squat or an imporet or lunge something. So that's more on my own app and my Instagram. ⁓

nice! ⁓

Other foot issues, injuries, if you have a history of surgery.

experience with your training. Where are you looking to take your training now at this point? Like kind of future-based?

training and ground movements. So the next endeavor, vision that I have is to bring in more of that into the fitness space, but also making the bridges of foot health and fitness. So my biggest goal is to bring feet into fitness. We have to start treating our feet as if they are a part of our body.

We're to things like the basics of strength training.

or whatever and their bodies hurt. They're limited in some way.

for 15 years. There's these patterns you pick up on. And I've worked with a lot of those, like, you know, ones where high level

to like well like you find them on the ground they're actually not very good

Repeat

I can throw all those things.

Exactly! And so that's really my goal, my bigger mission and purpose is connecting all of those missing pieces and integrating it so that people can feel confident, feel strong, and be able to do the things they want to do for as long as they want.

That's exactly right. We're almost there.

My dad was like, wow, you're real close to 50. No. No, we're still a baby.

Wow. ⁓

I love the work that you're doing. I love that you're bringing it all together and want to integrate it. The philosophy is so important.

accessible as well. And we also love the fact that you're local too. Oh yeah, so cool. Gotta connect. Absolutely, absolutely. So share one more time if you would, Heidi, with our listeners and for viewers as well. Where can they find you? Whether it's on social media, where can they find Website, any other information, your app too that you developed, let them know and that would be awesome. Okay, so I'll let you know where to find the

So

can find them at TheFootCollected on Instagram and all the platforms. Websites are the same, thefootcollected.com. For my personal Instagram and platforms, it's thatbearfootcoach. My website for my app is app.thatbearfootcoach.com. So those are the main places that you can find me. Fantastic. And will we see you at the next FitExpo in Anaheim, closer to home? That's great question, I don't know. Alright, we'll talk to you

We appreciate you joining us today. We know she's about to go up on stage in just the next couple minutes and teach her class.

I appreciate you time to join us on Group X Appeal Thank you for sharing your expertise and your passion with our visitors. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely. Appreciate it. So that wraps us. Make sure you follow Ms. Heidi and the next year from SoCal from South Orange County. thanks for joining us. I'm Terry Shorter. I'm Kimberly Spreen Glick And as always, we wish you a great day. Why? Because it's a great day to have. Yeah, it is. Peace out.