Taking the plunge with Vibram Five Fingers

Sometimes you see something so stupid that it just might work….

There’s a lot of hype surrounding these shoes so I was reluctant to take the plunge and buy a pair, however I was on the look out for something thin soled and light to replace my Nike aqua socks, and a piece of footwear more suited to the outdoor martial arts and kettlebell training I do.

When I lived in Aus I basically lived in flipflops for 9 months of the year and since returning I’ve noticed a real reduction in foot endurance and strength – a problem for what I like to do. These purport to the be the answer. Why?

The problem with your feet

Your foot is a collection of bones (26 in all), muscles (20) and connective tissue. Just like in other parts of the body the strength, endurance and resilience of these tissues, as well as the way they work together (function) declines when you don’t train them properly. Use it or loose it applies to feet. HOWEVER it doesn’t end there of course, your feet are the bodypart that touches the ground. In almost every sporting endeavor the feet are massively important – they are the base of power transmission. Get your feet strong and your whole performance if drawn up with it. Of course equally as important is foot health for every day getting around.

Shoes are the problem, necessary since we live in a hard tarmacked urban sprawl most of the time, shoes confine the feet trapping them and not letting it function properly. Freeing them in this way by using footwear that allows the feet to spread, the toes to function and the arches to support themselves, is like a gym for the foot.

Going barefoot

There’s an ever-growing band of people who are into feet, foot function and getting a close to nature as possible. Barefooting in it’s truest form is of course living with the absence of footwear where ever possible even whilst hiking and water skiing (check barefooters.org for more info on the lifestyle) however all that takes a lot of caution an conditioning to harden the feet up.  There are many people who want the foot health advantages in their urban lifestyle but without all the pain and calluses,  and of course the world being what it is there’s a whole load of companies lined up to sell their weird and wonderful creations to them! They include:

Dopie Sandals

Vivo (note the wide fit and minimal heal)

…both by Terra Plana.

Now, I doubt you’ll be amazed to find out that these can be pretty pricey (£30 and £75 +p&p respectively) and with little choice of retailer (again, bad for price) but they may just be worth it, of course the choice is yours… you could just go for these:

Well not quite those but you know what I mean (who would have thought Krispy Kreme are now doing footwear?)

Vibrams: Fitting and fiddling
Fitting seems to be a bit of a pain in the arse; you fit to your longest toe and If that happens to be your big toes then good for you, if it’s the second (like me) then you have to go for a large size and put up with a small gap at the back.

They definitely require a little more effort here than your normal shoe so if you need more information on the sizing of these little beauties then have a look at THIS great post by MC over at Begin to Dig

The proof of the pudding is in the eating so we’ll see how it goes.  I’ll update to add my thoughts here…..

UPDATES

DAY 4

Have been following the instructions and only putting them on for an hour or two for the first few day. Feet definitely feel like they have had a workout. Strangely though I am also feeling it through the front of the hips.

Did some kettlebells in them, no real change from other thinned soled shoes at the moment.

WEEK ONE UPDATE

Wore them to Hyde Park to see Neil Young. Held up well but still getting some bite in the Achilles region from the heal tongue/tab.

Toes have definitely started to ‘wake up’ I can feel them gripping when I walk and do kettlebells. This is especially odd when you feel you little toe working again.

ONE MONTH UPDATE

My feet feel pretty much fully conditioned to them now having gradually increased the wear time but there’s still a problem with the tongue in the achilles region. I’m having to tighten them pretty far to stop this. Still sock time soon with Autumn on the way so this I expect to become less of an issue.