Five fingers running shoes

LeslieNDH
LeslieNDH Posts: 12 Member
edited October 6 in Fitness and Exercise
Just a word of caution, I bought Vibram Five Finger running shoes, and they gave me a stress fracture. Before the injury, I loved the shoes. They were so light to wear. I broke them in slowly, walking in them for a while before running. Then slowly introducing running with the shoes to my routine. I was still mostly running in my regular running shoes when the injury started to happened. So beware, I wish someone would have told me the real story about these shoes before I shelled out $80 for them, and now have an injury that causes me to miss four weeks of work and exercise.

Replies

  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    I didn't even know you could get a stress fracture from running. There are people who even run barefoot. :frown: I'll be very careful what I replace my tennies with when they wear out!
  • ruggedBear
    ruggedBear Posts: 295
    I have a pair of Five Fingers also, but never wear them on pavement - they're really great for woodland trails (we have nice soft pine needles covering the trails this time of year). So sorry to hear about your injury - hope it heals quickly for you.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    Sorry you have an injury. I've been running injury free in mine for over a year, including many miles on pavement. Not everyone who runs in them developes injuries.
  • jeffrodgers1
    jeffrodgers1 Posts: 991 Member
    Yeah... sorry about the injury. Its been known to happen. I've had my Vibrams for quite a while. My sense is that they have actually prevented many of the recurrent injuries that I previously suffered (shin splints/it band issues). In fact, I suffered more injuries while shod, than running barefoot.

    The Vibrams just work for me (although now that its winter, I've shifted to NB Minimus to protect my toes from the elements (ice, snow, cold)). But everyone is different. What works for me may not work for others. The key with these is to go gradual and to build slowly. In my case, I built 1/4 mile per week. I now run 20 Km per week in minimal shoes.

    On a side note, many people in the Barefoot community recommend learning to run completely barefoot before you try Vibrams. or another Minimal shoe. The object is to build your tactile response and strengthen the under utilized muscles in your feet before putting the blinders on.

    Hope your injuries heal quickly and you get back to running soon!
  • LeslieNDH
    LeslieNDH Posts: 12 Member
    Thanks everyone for your support for my recovery. I can't wait to exercise again, and especially run. My doctor told me that a lot of people's feet just do not do well with the minimalist shoes. I don't have flat feet, but am on the flatter side of the spectrum, and I guess the shoes just do not have enough support for people with feet with less than regular/high arches. Except, Ruggedbear, he did mention that running on cushioned surfaces, such as soft trails, sand or grass might work. So I was just wanted to throw a word of caution out to others. Prior to the injury, I loved the shoes, and had heard so many good things about them. However, even with a very gradual adjustment period, I suffered a serious injury. So just be careful everyone, and I hope you have many many injury free running miles on ahead of you!
  • LeslieNDH
    LeslieNDH Posts: 12 Member
    Great job on the weight loss, by the way, Jeffrodgers1
  • jwintonyk
    jwintonyk Posts: 40 Member
    Yeah... sorry about the injury. Its been known to happen. I've had my Vibrams for quite a while. My sense is that they have actually prevented many of the recurrent injuries that I previously suffered (shin splints/it band issues). In fact, I suffered more injuries while shod, than running barefoot.

    The Vibrams just work for me (although now that its winter, I've shifted to NB Minimus to protect my toes from the elements (ice, snow, cold)). But everyone is different. What works for me may not work for others. The key with these is to go gradual and to build slowly. In my case, I built 1/4 mile per week. I now run 20 Km per week in minimal shoes.

    On a side note, many people in the Barefoot community recommend learning to run completely barefoot before you try Vibrams. or another Minimal shoe. The object is to build your tactile response and strengthen the under utilized muscles in your feet before putting the blinders on.

    Hope your injuries heal quickly and you get back to running soon!

    I love my NB Minimus...I use them more for running than my Five Fingers...but I love them both
  • xsmilexforxmex
    xsmilexforxmex Posts: 1,216 Member
    I love my 5 fingers but haven't been using them lately due to an illness keeping me from running. I used to get severe shin splints and when I started using my 5 fingers they went away. I saw a podiatrist who actually said they are probably the reason they went away BC I walk and run very 'heel first' in regular shoes. (side note I have flat feet and have orthotics for my work shoes but he recommended I dont use them to work out BC the achillies needs to lengthen for barefoot running) the 5 fingers remind me to run more on my toes and less on the heels.
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    I've heard pluses and minuses about those shoes. I'm sorry you hurt yourself.
  • sjcply
    sjcply Posts: 817 Member
    I just purchased a pair and tried to use them yesterday and it felt like I was a penguin running! It was really strange! I took them off and put on my asics! I am going to try again and hope it works better!

    Do most people alternate between vibrams and running shoes? It seems it will be hard to adjust to using both!?
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    I just purchased a pair and tried to use them yesterday and it felt like I was a penguin running! It was really strange! I took them off and put on my asics! I am going to try again and hope it works better!

    Do most people alternate between vibrams and running shoes? It seems it will be hard to adjust to using both!?

    When you are starting out, it is going to feel really weird, especially if you have been a heel striker for a long time. REALLY REALLY ease into the vibrams. Even if it means running 1/4 mile at first. Alternating should not be a problem and if you want to keep any sort of mileage up as you transition, you pretty much have to. As you get more use to mid/fore foot striking you will run that way even in regular shoes.
  • brittbergh
    brittbergh Posts: 130 Member
    from what Ive read you have to ease yourself into running with a bare shoe like that or barefooted...like really ease into it as your body is used to wearing supportive shoes for so long that if you dont you can get injuries

    hope it heals quickly for you.
  • thecrossfitter
    thecrossfitter Posts: 424 Member
    When you are starting out, it is going to feel really weird, especially if you have been a heel striker for a long time. REALLY REALLY ease into the vibrams. Even if it means running 1/4 mile at first. Alternating should not be a problem and if you want to keep any sort of mileage up as you transition, you pretty much have to. As you get more use to mid/fore foot striking you will run that way even in regular shoes.

    This. I've had my vibrams for about 6 weeks. I was looking for a minimalist shoe for crossfit and had narrowed it down to a couple pairs. Ultimately I picked the five fingers because I found them on sale for $50 haha (I have the speed ones that lace up.) For the first couple weeks, I only wore them for crossfit to adjust.

    I recently started running outside in them. My friend is a running coach and asked me if I'd be interested in doing the barefoot/minimalist running thing with him and I agreed. I've been following the schedule he made. It starts off only running 1/4 of a mile and running it on GRASS. We increased very gradually. The plan goes through until March, and over time we will move to running on limestone and then running on blacktop.

    But yeah - there are of course risks with this, so I'd recommend researching it out first. I'm running an 8K in them this spring, but I'm not sure I'll ever run farther than that (I can't personally imagine a marathon in them - but I know people do it!) They've actually gotten me OUT of the heal strike and I've focused a bit more on form. I totally get the argument about how people used to run barefoot and we were built to blah blah blah (obviously - I'm doing it) but it's really important to realize that people back then weren't running on cement! They were running on grass and dirt.. totally different haha (Also I'm not sure how often they were really running 20+ miles in one go lol)
  • Roadie2000
    Roadie2000 Posts: 1,801 Member
    I've been getting used to my minimalist shoes lately. The main things I've learned is how to not be a heel striker and I now take shorter strides and land more softly. When breaking them in it's not as important how far you run in them, but how slow you run IMO. When you first get them you really have to slow down and focus on your form for a while. If you try running in them exactly like you were running in your other shoes you are likely to get injured. Especially if you do it on pavement.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
    I didn't even know you could get a stress fracture from running. There are people who even run barefoot. :frown: I'll be very careful what I replace my tennies with when they wear out!

    barefoot is actually much safer than the vibram five finger shoes because it causes you to be much lighter on your feet. Whereas, the VFF's often to lead to slamming your tiny metatarsal bones over and over on the concrete => stress fracture.
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