Barefoot Walking? (or running I guess)

tameko2

I usually walk around in flipflops but once I started seriously walking to lose weight (And wanted to jog for small stretches too) I went out and got myself some vibram 5 fingers. I'm noticing that right now my toes and the front of the balls of my feet are the most likely to hurt - obviously I'm bending/pushing off with them more than I used to. Is this...good? Bad? Just plain odd?

wildeone4

Your foot is made to go barefoot! The problem is that our feet have gotten so use to so much support, that is take a bit to get use to it. Your foot will strengthen up..just slowly work into them

OneTonPony

i've heard of these shoes, but never tried them. I did hear that there is an adjustment period with them...but i don't know how long!

tameko2

There is an adjustment period, especially for people who are used to wearing regular athletic shoes (Which I never did so that helped a little - also was never a runner so I didn't learn to run 'wrong').

I am specifically wondering about my toes though and whether this is normal or I am overutilizing them.

JenBrown0210

The balls of your feet will hurt and probably your calves. I use Nike Free for my running shoes, which feels like running in my socks. Just be careful to not heal strike! That hurts. At first I had to think how to run correctly, now I just do it.

HoneyBadgerVin

Took me about a week and half to 2 weeks to acclimate. Loved the new aches from muscles we never use. A month into them, I donated my normal running and hiking shoes to a Haiti shoe drive.

Caveat: Maybe it's just me, but after a year of almost exclusively wearing VFFs, I developed a pain in my Achilles' Heel. My own internet research indicated that being flatfooted w/no support could have attributed to this. So I went back to wearing supportive running shoes all the time now. It seems to have helped ease the pain. The pain does come back anytime I wear any footwear with very little support, even casual shoes.

This is by no way a bad review for VFFs, because I miss wearing them tremendously. My feet and legs felt so much stronger. However, the combination of being flatfooted and maybe wearing them almost exclusively may have not been right for me. Good luck with them.

rybo

The only time the front part of my foot near my toes/ball of foot hurts, is when I've been on a run and got tired & broke form where my foot starts slapping down on the pavement. It's very noticable to me as I start making a loud slapping noise as I run. At that point I can adjust my stride or back off my pace.

Otherwise I actually find it nicer runnnig in VFF's than walking in them. It took me more time to get used to walking than running.

HoneyBadgerVin

Your foot IS made to go barefoot; two issues though. One, the body really isn't meant to run on pavement; your joints absorb some shock, as does the tissues of the forefoot and heel. but if you want to go all anthropological, our ancestors were running/frolicking/hunting on dirt, grass, etc. All of which are much softer. These natural movement shoes tend to have less cushion than traditional running shoes, so you are essentially beating your feet on the pavement.

The other issue is the support- yes, traditional shoes limit the range of motion in your foot, so those muscles and tendons are not used to the long flexing range of motion that the Vibrams require of your feet. They will adapt, though- I recommend to people to alternate between a regular shoe and the toeshoes as your feet adjust.

Yeah, I should've alternated. That probably would've avoided my current Achilles' Heel problem.

tameko2

I haaaaaaate shoes, I never wear them. Didn't wear them as a kid except when I was forced, switched to flip flops as soon as I was old enough to decide to do that on my own, I was doing my walks in flipflops but they dont' let you walk very fast and you certainly can't do a little jogging or running in them.

nursekj

I just run barefoot in the soft sand for 5-6km and thats a good burn, theres too much glass and rubbish round to run bare foot on streets but I go bare foot on the farm in summer.