Vibram Five Fingers!

wordena
wordena Posts: 177 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Anyone out there who also uses five figner shoes? Have 2 pairs. Love them both. The orginal and the komodo sports. Anyone notice any benefits with them? I know I have. Increased lower leg and foot strength. Not to mention NO MORE SHINSPLITS! And this is definitely because I learned very early on I had the worst running form known to man for years. Back of heel first and hard! Now I'm on my toes and much more relaxed. None of the hip, knee, shin, back pain. No more hobbling to the physical therapist. And I dont even run all the time in my vibrams. Sometimes I wear my old running shoes and use my new form. I definitely wear them everywhere in my everyday life though. So comfortable.

Replies

  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    I haven't switched to a minimalist shoe (yet) but had a similar experience running in the winter. The slippery conditions force you to shorten your stride and go for a mid foot strike, it's amazing the difference better form makes!
  • DG_Allen
    DG_Allen Posts: 219 Member
    I've been running in Merrell Barefoot shoes which are the same idea just without the little toes :smile: It cured my knee pain. The only problem is I over trained and got tendonitis in my achilles. I'm healing now however and will be back out there.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Anyone out there who also uses five figner shoes? Have 2 pairs. Love them both. The orginal and the komodo sports. Anyone notice any benefits with them? I know I have. Increased lower leg and foot strength. Not to mention NO MORE SHINSPLITS! And this is definitely because I learned very early on I had the worst running form known to man for years. Back of heel first and hard! Now I'm on my toes and much more relaxed. None of the hip, knee, shin, back pain. No more hobbling to the physical therapist. And I dont even run all the time in my vibrams. Sometimes I wear my old running shoes and use my new form. I definitely wear them everywhere in my everyday life though. So comfortable.

    You were not the worst running form - you were dead on avg and normal.

    I did true sock barefoot on treadmill for a while and that retrained even running in normal shoes on the street - help immensely.
    When I got VFF never even had the calf pain others got because of doing same form already. Cured my plantar fasciitis that I'd had for years.
    Used the VFF (Vibram Five Fingers) for a couple months, doing about 2 10K's a week. Was shocked at the weight then could run non-stop at decent pace.
    Starting increasing pace to keep HR the same. Stupid.

    Got plantar sprain on other foot, knocked me out for 6 wks solid, couldn't walk since I couldn't use calf muscle. After one year finally recovering from that stupid choice.
    Now use the Merrell Trailgloves because the VFF gave me blisters at 6 miles most times. But can only do them short distance or infrequently.

    By leg length difference requires lifts, full length lifts since landing mid-foot, so now use Saucony Kinvara 3 as minimalst shoe to put lift in.
    Will get Merrell's version next time, if there is a place to put a lift under the shoe insert anyway. Trailgloves don't, bummer.

    But barefoot on a high school artificial turf football field, or barefoot shoes, or minimalist shoes are great for training the body to run better and get stronger.

    Great reviews for other options.

    http://www.runblogger.com/2012/09/recommended-zero-drop-barefoot-style.html

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