Vibram Five Fingers shoes
About a month ago I decided to give up traditional footwear for a few reasons. I had chronic pain on the top of my foot/ankle area for close to a year, which I thought was a result of my foot being twisted oddly in my car where my legs don’t really have enough room to expand properly. While that can still flare up when I do put my feet in awkward positions, I noticed that it got better whenever I was barefoot walking around my house.
Around the same time, I started getting into The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss which I have talked about here before, and more importantly reading his blog. He posted a video of these new shoes which I initially wrote off even though I was intrigued by the science behind them, and how feet are manipulated in shoes and wind up becoming deformed because of them. Hell, as I look at my feet now, I notice that my big toes both curve inward quite a bit as a result of shoes pushing them into my other toes. When you start looking at the images and putting the pieces of the puzzle together, it became decently clear that a few issues such as bad posture weren’t necessarily caused by my shoes, but certainly didn’t help either. The constant pain in my foot usually meant I had to remove my left shoe while driving back and forth from work (a 3 1/2 hour trip from my house to my job on Mondays and then the same trip returning on Fridays).
So, I decided to jump in and buy a pair of Vibram Five Fingers shoes. There was a store about 45-50 minutes away (I have since found one that is more like 20 minutes away, though their stock was running out and I’m not sure if they will be replenishing it) that I went to, a local high-end fitness store called Luke’s Locker that is pretty much only in the major cities of Texas. I tried on a pair of Classics and the person suggested I get a size bigger because my toes looked cramped. Truthfully, they weren’t cramped, however I didn’t know better either as I looked at them kind of popping up against the top of the shoes. It turns out the reason for this is they were so used to being in shoes that they were getting stuck in a scrunched-up position.
It took a few days to get used to them, but I haven’t looked back since. The larger size felt pretty good, though there were a few issues. I figured that my feet might just be “inbetween” sizes and I’d have to stick with them being a little oversized (plus they go by European size, NOT American size, so I was really in uncharted territory), and the strap used to tighten the shoes didn’t really help keep my heel seated in the shoe, it just hurt as it dug into the top of my foot. This made me go try out a pair of KSOs, and in a rush to get to work that day, I simply tried them on for a minute or two and decided to buy them and leave, even though I immediately began to notice that there was a large amount of space between the back of the shoe and the back of my foot when I pushed my foot all the way forward in the shoe. Even the strap didn’t help tighten this up.
Here, I’m going to point out a warning. If you are buying shoes that are supposed to mimic being barefoot, yet with protection from the urban ground that has concrete, shards of glass, etc., then you need to buy shoes that perfectly envelope your feet because the idea is to let all the parts of your feet work naturally. Because the shoes were the wrong fit, I now have a good amount of pain in my left foot between my big toe and the second toe from wearing shoes that didn’t fit properly. The pressure of the shoe not lining up to my foot properly is amplified from what I can tell because your toes now take a very active part in how you walk. DO NOT just buy a pair of these online if it is your first time, and do not settle for what someone says in the store. Tell the assistant they can help another person if they want, but that you want to walk around for a few minutes to make sure the size is correct. It should feel like a tight sock with a soled bottom, almost as if it was shrink-wrapped onto your foot. I was shocked when I held up my new M43s to my previous M44-sized shoes and saw a huge difference in size. Getting this right is CRITICAL, trust me.
Another quick word of warning before I continue is that these take a few days to get used to. These are not shoes that you simply slip on and walk out of the store and wear from then on. You will notice muscles you haven’t used previously start to ache from being used for the first time as you walk around throughout the day, especially if you work on your feet (I don’t, so the impact wasn’t nearly as bad). However, aside from yesterday when I slid on my sneakers, I had not worn regular shoes in weeks. Most people say about 3-4 days before you can really start wearing them full-time, and even then it seems some people switch back to regular shoes once or twice a week, although I do not.
The pain around my ankle was gone after only 3 days(!!!), and had I gotten the correct size from the start I wouldn’t have any foot pain at all (I can feel with the new pair I bought today that fits well that the pressure on my toes is much less and once they heal I imagine it will be gone completely). I just bought my third pair, another of the KSO model (this time the grey/blue camo model), which I find to be by far the best of the available choices. The Classic is nice to slip on quickly if I have to run outside to the mailbox or hit the store real fast, but for daily use the KSO looks the most like a normal shoe and is the most comfortable in my opinion. The Sprint I haven’t bothered with as I think the strap without the added mesh-covering protection on the top would irritate me, maybe even more than the tightening cord on the Classic model (I have gotten more used to that now, and I wear it much looser and just deal with the fact that they feel a little loose constantly). It seems my fears are mostly warranted based on Tim Ferriss’ experience with the Sprint model as well. The Flow would be fine if I was using it to do white-water rafting in some cold water or something I suppose, but as I’m not there is no need for a neoprene shoe, especially in Houston during the summer (the stores here don’t even carry the Flow model as far as I can tell).
VFFs feel great. I imagined that the “fingers” (finger and toe are the same word in Italian, so the literal translation is Vibram Five Fingers even though it would be Vibram Five Toes in Italian, and Five Fingers sounds kind of cool) would annoy the hell out of me, but they actually are comfortable with the added bonus of scratching an itch inbetween my toes without having to remove my socks and shoes, or using my big toe furiously trying to create friction to make the itch stop. Even with the larger sizes that were not right for my feet, they felt comfortable to walk around in and I’m sure that will be even better now.
I have gotten comments about them and some weird looks a few times, but I couldn’t care less because for me the question is “Do I want to have pain in one foot all day long wearing regular shoes, or do I want to not have pain and wear some weird looking shoes?” Aside from the toes, they don’t really look any different than water shoes that you’d be using to go jetskiing anyway. If nothing else, they are a neat conversation starter.
If you like being barefoot or simply comfortable (I cannot stand clothes that feel tight or suffocating and don’t just lightly ‘lay’ on me) with the rest of your outfit, these are definitely worth a shot. Apparently a lot of runners and people who work out are switching to these because of both the health benefits (posture, agility, etc.) as well as the increase they are getting in production (running faster, lifting better, whatever). If you are having foot problems, these are amazing orthopedic shoes. I could have spent hundreds of dollars getting x-rays and seeing podiatrists, and instead I spent those same hundreds of dollars on three comfortable pairs of shoes that I would have had to spend anyway if I was diagnosed properly (and there is no telling if that would be the case, and I’m not sure a doctor’s first thought would be “Oh, shoes are the problem, stop wearing them!” as compared to “Here are pain pills and a Dr. Scholls insert, come back and pay me another $200 in 2 weeks”). I’ve also noticed the back pain that I’ve had for awhile now (both because of being overweight, having terrible posture sitting at my desk, and my shoes) is going away for the most part. It is still there a little bit, but I haven’t had the kind of pain where I literally need to take pain killers in order to not go crazy in weeks now.
These do require more maintenance than traditional shoes, especially if your feet sweat as mine do. Right now I’ve been wearing them for 2-3 days before washing them, but I’ve found some tricks on the forum at birthdayshoes.com to clean them more effectively and reduce the odor, which can get bad quickly similar to when you wear shoes without socks for a few days.
Aside from a few stories of people who have REALLY bad Morton’s Toe (both myself and the CEO of Vibram have this, mine is similar to the second picture on the Wikipedia page, and yes they feel fine if you get the proper size), I haven’t read more than 2-3 comments by people saying they didn’t like the shoes and returned them, compared to hundreds of others raving about them. I have to say that the people who wear these are pretty die-hard fans, much like myself now after only about a month. You will notice that you naturally begin to walk different and more normally compared to the way Nike has designed people to walk.
I cannot recommend VFFs highly enough. They are a little more expensive than normal shoes, or sometimes right on par with shoes, depending on what brands you buy. The KSO models I’m fond of cost about $90 after tax. They are apparently incredibly durable, especially during outdoor activity, so with a normal routine it seems they might last even longer than regular shoes, and DEFINITELY longer than the cheap pieces of crap you might buy at Walmart. I haven’t had mine long enough to even begin to see any wear and tear on them, so you are getting your money’s worth. And the fact that it took the pain in my ankle away and helped my back pain is priceless. These shoes are one of the best investments I’ve made in my life. As the saying goes, buy the best bed and best pair of shoes you can afford, and it is entirely true as we recently got a Sleep Number bed. I realize that could have helped with my back pain, but I sleep on it only 2-3 days a week and while I can certainly vouch that I don’t wake up in pain any longer, I imagine the shoes have played a larger role in my balance and posture. I would ammend the saying only to also include the best desk chair you can afford now that we work mostly sitting down rather than standing up.
It is nice to see that they are even beginning to make new models that are more for outdoor adventures with soles that have better traction (although the current projected price of these models, at near $250 supposedly, seems rather ridiculous to me, but it is reassuring to know that the company is moving forward with the shoes and are committed to maintaining them as a brand. I have to be honest, if they were going to discontinue them, I’d probably race to their site and buy up about 30 pairs as soon as I could to ensure I have them for the rest of my life.
I bought a pair of kso. The top of my foot hurts! Lol
Don’t pull so hard on the velcro strap then :) Then again, these shoes do take a little while to get used to and having some pain in the beginning on any part isn’t much of a shock. I wouldn’t have expected it so much with the KSOs though as they are practically just like water socks.
Through five fingers shoes of the 10 benefits
1、An increased running speed – The results show that wear it and wear ordinary shoes than you can raise the rate of 4%
2、 blood circulation – wear it, every step of every part of your feet are different degrees of contact with the ground , more muscle tissue to the blood flowing through the venous system by the shock
3、 to reduce ankle sprain – the friction with the ground in direct contact with the process, reduce the torsion forces because of a sprained ankle suffered ankle happen
4、 reduce the appearance of the folder outside the tibia – shin outside the folder ( athletes in the long toe flexor strain , the phenomenon of pain along the shin bone ), iliotibial band syndrome and peri- patellar pain is a common disorder athletes . Running barefoot on the arch of the foot ( the bottom) increased use and increased soft tissue structures of the foot support for the work to increase the strength of the foot , reducing foot injury and the emergence of this disease .
5、 to reduce back pain – heel elevation to reduce the phenomenon of so hip back to their natural course , to reduce the load on lumbar facet joint .
6 、Strengthening the role of body experience – our feet can sense and transmit data in time to return to our brain , so that we can better address the challenging terrain .
7 、strengthen the muscles – if you do not use it , it will become very loose . Wear toe shoes to walk our foot muscles to strengthen .
8 、lower toe mucocele big risk – according to our traditional shoes with toes . Five fingers shoes slowly so that they extend and encourage the work of the big toe .
9、 optimal balance – a keen perception of the information timely feedback to the brain means that means better balance and faster response . This is important for the elderly and athletes .
10 、women like to correct deformed toes and heels , but has been wearing high heels will make their feet hurt and become deformed .
Our long-term wholesale Vibram shoes, vibram five fingers shoes, price, quality assurance, welcome new and old customers to buy!