A Feet of Nature!
I’m well aware that I wrote an entire post dedicated to a miniature dessert yesterday, but today I’m going to flip a full 180 and blog about the latest sporting equipment I’ve just purchased and can’t freaking wait to try. Are those gloves for your feet in the photos below you ask?
Nope. They are the Vibram Five Finger Barefoot Sports Shoes, and they’re apparently all the rage for folks who want to get closer to their inner caveman and run like we were all intended to: without the use of the super-cushioned, super-in soled, super-constructed athletic shoes we all spend a kazillion dollars on every few months.
Ok, you with a raised eyebrow, yeah, these shoes are totally weird looking, and I was very skeptical of them at first glance. How could less cushioning/padding/support help my feet feel better? It didn’t make any sense to me. I had a custom running evaluation done before I trained for my half marathon, and went to great lengths to get a perfect pair of shoes that would address my knee and hip problems. Perfect shoes or not though, no one can hide the fact that eight years of martial arts and running have taken their toll on my joints. No pair of shoes I’ve used for either kickboxing or running have ever improved the discomfort I have in those two spots. The thought of my feet pounding the pavement with only a thin strip of rubber between me and the asphalt seemed like an all around bad idea.
But then, I did a little research. Turns out there’s a fair amount of evidence that all those fancy shoes push us away from running naturally, and actually cause the body to compensate in ways that can easily throw your balance out whack. The result is achy, misaligned joints that have been pushed far out of their natural position. The idea behind the Vibram or any other “barefoot” athletic shoe is that it restores our posture, gait, contact of our foot, and therefore all-around alignment to a natural, pain-free positioning, and voila, knee hurt no more!
Part of me was still dubious, but part of me (mostly the painful hip and knee parts of me actually) were totally intrigued, and understood the idea behind it. We didn’t evolve wearing Nikes - we evolved barefoot and just might be built to run best that way. The modern issue though, of course, is cavemen didn’t need shoes because they didn’t have asphalt/wayward nails or glass in the road/anything other than dirt to run on. Running completely barefoot just isn’t practical these days, so the Vibram might just be the next best thing.
I’m going to try a workout this week with my new shoes - I was warned by EVERYONE that you have to start super-slow with these shoes - think maybe one short run each week the first few weeks. Since your feet and legs will be coaxed into moving and working differently, soreness is almost guaranteed because of the new posturing. Once you get used to them though, there’s no limit to the sports you can try with these bad boys.
Has anyone gotten in on the barefoot running movement, or tried these shoes? I’m so excited to give them a whirl - although I’m going to have to work up the nerve to rock these in public before anything else! Hey, maybe people will think I’m some super-special alien athlete with other worldly powers and funny looking feet. Or not. Whatever, I’m wearing them!
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Comments
I’ve used Vibrams. In the end, I couldn’t get used to them. Big mistake I made was trying them in the late fall — you’ll be hard pressed to find someone who loves them when it’s cold out!
That said, the theory is sound, and I’ve successfully moved into all minimalist shoes since then. Less is always better with running, but for me, a little support is better than none.
I’ve seen the five-finger shoes on others and have read the theories about the barefoot phenomen. Interesting, but not for me. (I wear shoes in the house.) My cycling shoes have carbon-fiber soles that are stiff as steel plates. Finished the 105-mile Gran Fondo yesterday and my feet were the only part of me without pain!
DiabetesCommunity
I weight train barefoot 2x/week.
I love the idea of these shoes- keep us posted with how you like them. I have been considering them for about a year now.