Vibram Five Fingers

[Brian McVickers]

I bought a pair for $5 at an REI garage sale.
They had slight tears along a seam on each shoe but that just took 10min with a needle and thread to fix - such a deal!

 

[mmtoy]

I just took mine on a 17.1 mile hike/run over Imogene pass between Ouray and Telluride, CO. The first time I managed to hike further than a few miles without blisters was in my VFFs.

:victory:

 

[bkrobbie]

I read Born to Run, and the basic argument made all sorts of inherent sense to me so I got a pair of Five Fingers about four months ago.

I'm frankly too big to run a lot (190 pounds of lean, rippling muscle...) but I do it anyway to keep myself in check, mostly running home after work during the week. So, that's about seven miles on New York City's finest concrete four times a week, and I do all that running in big, fluffy, Asics Kayanos.

I take the Five Fingers out once a week and do a 3.5 mile loop of a local park and try to stay on dirt pathways.

I cannot tell you guys how weird it was to run in the FF the first time - the analogy of learning how to run all over again is 100% apt. I found myself running almost entirely on the balls of my feet, while my stride got shorter and quicker.

You can literally feel the difference it makes to move your head forward and backward, to move your back forward and backward, to rotate your hips forward and back, to move your shoulders... It really is remarkable.

In a clear indication that it uses entirely different muscles and posture, I was in a huge amount of pain after running in these shoes and for the first two months it took a full two days to recover.

In particular, the muscles in my calves were in knots and the tendons in my ankles were killing me.

Now, the pain was the good pain (and not "injury pain") - the pain you feel two days after slacking for months and then hitting the gym and doing some deadlifts. Still, I had to walk down stairs backward.

The best these shoes have felt is a couple of six mile runs I did, just a couple days apart, on the grassy / mossy roadside of Fundy National Park while camping.

I think the softer ground spared me a lot of impact, and my body really got into the rhythm of running.

I don't know that they are a panacea - I suspect I would likely do a tremendous amount of damage to my body if I was to run in the city or on any kind of paved / hard surface with these shoes.

But for people who have access to softer surfaces to run on (or who weigh a lot less than me) and enjoy running, I really have to suggest trying them.

Try them, however, without the expectation that these shoes will cure all your back/knee/joint/kidney/hairloss problems... rather, expect that they are a very useful tool to teach you about how your run and a means to explore how you can run differently.

 

[TheStig]

I may give these a try sometime. They look pretty goofy to me, but if they work, who cares. The whole method makes sense I suppose. Humans have been running barefoot for hundreds of years.

 

[AFSOC]

Humans have been running barefoot for hundreds of years.

Maybe even more.....

I don't know, when I hear the justification for these I keep thinking about Bio-Pace cranksets and other common sense revolutions that history has now forgotten.

 

[hansonian]

There's a few guys in our running club that use these and I've yet to hear them complain. I keep looking at them and if I can find a pair on sale I might pick some up to give them a shot.

We all used to run around bare foot as kids and I don't think that ever did us any harm, except for stepping on the occasional cactus :Wow1:

 

[Bhos]

Just over 5 months and they are doing great. I weigh 205 and do walking, jogging, sprints, crossfit, lifting, etc. and I am still liking them a lot. It's hard getting back into dress shoes. ;-) Also for running, I heartily recommend doing trails, grass and other soft natural surfaces. Then throw in some occasional pavement.

 

[austintaco]

Much like the testimonials that are posted here. Vibrams and minimalist style running shoes are not for everyone. While one person weighing 200 + pounds can run in them regularly, another runner weighing 100 lbs has foot problems with them. It really boils down to body dynamics, stride, stride rate...and all of the other variables associated with an individuals running style and habits.
If you are thinking of trying them, be prepared that they may or may not work for you. You can change your style of running, but most people are stuck in their old habits. That's human nature.
I jumped into the Nike Frees when they first hit the scene and I love them for what they are: a training tool. I will do up to 15 miles in them, but not on back to back days. When I am training for Ironman or marathons, I use the Frees in my training, but I also rotate about 4-5 total pairs of shoes into the equation so my feet don't have the same repetitive forces applied to them.
Since Expo is not a dedicated running or triathlon site, the levels of running on here are varied so I thought I would give my opinion about the minimalist move.
I hope this helps.

 

[jdayment]

Love them great with P90X and running.

 

[Basement Yeti]

I love my Vibrams. They are all I really wear.

I own two pairs of KSO's, and one pair of classics. One pair of KSO's is for exercise. I will wear the classics pretty much all year and only break out my newer KSO's if it's cold or I am traveling somewhere where it's cold, they don't afford much insulation with the mesh but they look better when paired with socks, and quite frankly I don't like the newer models which have more substantial uppers, too thick of soles. I pair them with either a polyester or wool toe sock for colder or very cold weather. The shoes are good for cool, cold, warm, hot, and warm wet weather as they dry quickly, but poor for cold wet weather or just downright frigid weather. I don't add socks until about 40 or 45 degrees, and can go all the way down to 20 or so with the new wool socks.

I own a pair of uninsulated waterproof NEOS Trekker over shoes. They fold up very small and are incredibly versatile. I can pair them with my Vibrams and any sock combination or do without the Vibrams and pair them with a super thick pair of thinsulate socks, or the thinsulate socks on top of the polyester sport socks (thinsulate and new wool are too warm for even the harshest weather and my feet sweat a lot). They are my cold weather or cold wet weather alternative.

I also own a pair of Chuck Taylors for when Vibrams aren't appropriate.

But ultimately I prefer to be barefoot. :wings:

 

[dwh]

But ultimately I prefer to be barefoot. :wings:

x2.

I once had a housekeeper who gave me a kit with a rasp and a file and a sanding board...

I was like ****** is this for? She said it was to remove all that "unsightly" callus from the bottoms of my feet...

I told her thanks but I liked being able to walk across broken glass or sharp stones without having to fear getting injured and I was not about to grind it off.

I do however wear boots whenever I venture out into the cold, cruel world. I like boots, but I always get out of them as soon as I can.

50 years old and fat, but never had foot problems. (My chronic pains come from neck and knee injuries.)

 

[dwh]

Cause you don't wear these shoes...hehe!

Heh. That must be it!


Nah, actually the knees from playing football and spending years wearing a 40lb tool belt all day and humping up and down ladders about a million times.

The neck from the time I t-boned an IRS car with two IRS agents in it and spent 5 days in the hospital. Tore a right side scapulae muscle in half. Been 30 years and it still doesn't work right. Probably never will.

 

[Basement Yeti]

x2.

I once had a housekeeper who gave me a kit with a rasp and a file and a sanding board...

I was like ****** is this for? She said it was to remove all that "unsightly" callus from the bottoms of my feet...

I told her thanks but I liked being able to walk across broken glass or sharp stones without having to fear getting injured and I was not about to grind it off.

I do however wear boots whenever I venture out into the cold, cruel world. I like boots, but I always get out of them as soon as I can.

50 years old and fat, but never had foot problems. (My chronic pains come from neck and knee injuries.)

I can't wear shoes with raised heels. I tried a typical pair of boots before I purchased my no drop NEOS over shoes and it pushes me forward and causes bad back cramping. I also really like to feel the ground underfoot, hence why I won't wear anything with a thick sole. The only compromise is the NEOS, but I rarely have to wear them, but at least they're flat.

I run in my Vibrams on the trails and paths around here, but when I get the run on grass I ditch them. I weighed the risk of me moving at high speeds and hitting a sharp rock or glass with a little less ground contact and decided to be safe.

I try and do everything similar to what our ancient ancestors might have done in my every day life. It's just one of my oddities.

I usually keep my classics stuffed in my pocket or I hang them off my belt. Sometimes I go into establishments and they don't yell at me because of my perceived nasty feet (Think my feet are nasty? How many times a day do you wash your nasty shoes? How come sandal wearers aren't considered nasty hippies?) and I get to walk around the establishment barefoot, other times I am forced to put on my shoes.

You know those bumps at the edges of certain cross walks or parking lots? They are a guilty pleasure of mine. I LOVE the way they feel under foot, like a foot massage.

 

[bucketosudz]

Five fingers ,maybe it looks weird , but it's useful.
http://www.vibramfivefingers.it/

Poor, Poor attempt! SPAM Reported.

 

[cdiamond]

I love mine, I've had them for a few months and wore them this winger (including in the snow).

The biggest benefit I've found is with my leg--I severely broke it snowboarding a few years ago, and they had to reconstruct my ankle.

Walking long distances has always hurt after a quarter mile, but wearing the Vibram's Five Fingers, I can walk a few miles before I notice any pain.