I love Vibram FiveFingers I have not encountered a single piece of equipment or apparel that has given me such a change in my attitude towards movement and provided my with so much fun along the way.
It used to feel like I was a bit of a minor celebrity when I first started wearing them around 7 years ago or so. Complete strangers would come up to me asking where I got my shoes from. “Are the comfortable?” I was always asked. I have ended up owning 5 pairs myself and recommended them to anybody that would care to listen.
It used to feel like I was a bit of a minor celebrity when I first started wearing them around 7 years ago or so. Complete strangers would come up to me asking where I got my shoes from. “Are the comfortable?” I was always asked. I have ended up owning 5 pairs myself and recommended them to anybody that would care to listen.
But earlier this month Vibram lost a £2.2 million case after Vibram customers filed a suit in 2012 arguing they had been misled by claims over the health benefits of the shoes (Read the BBC article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27335251). Is this the end of the barefoot movement? Was it all a big con? As you can imagine I have received a lot of questions relating to this as an early adopter had I been duped?
The details of this case are pretty clear though once you cut through the headlines.
Firstly no matter the equipment you pick up, ride on, run on or wear the equipment in itself won’t fix you. If you cannot ride a bike buying a new super duper speed racer bike won’t make you able to do the Tour De France overnight!
Well of course not you say but what has this got to do with VFF?
All footwear is not created equal. The theory of the barefoot movement is that the human foot has evolved to be a supreme piece of engineering that has helped us hunt and thrive for thousands of years before the invention of the massive soft cushioned heel that was invented to protect the foot whilst running. I completely sign up to this theory and if you want to know more about this argument read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (It might change your life!).
The problem with the claims that VFF made was that although it can make your feet stronger and we have evolved to run barefoot. What most of us have done for years in our huge cushioned trainers is starve the foot of the training and exposure that it needs to be strong enough to cope with strains of barefoot running.
For example anybody that has broken their arm or leg and had to put themselves in a cast for six weeks or so while the bones fix themselves will know that when they take the cast off the arm or leg will be noticeably smaller than the other arm or leg. The muscles have atrophied out of lack of use. The same goes for the muscles in the foot, when we wear big cushioned soles the muscles in our feet don’t have to do anything to help us stabilise. So if you went from cushioned soles to VFF the forces that your trainers thane been taking for all those years will now be taken on by an untrained weak foot with very little muscle strength.
When people have been barefoot training for years in martial arts or running their feet look very different from the rest of the population, you can see muscles and veins and the toes are generally a bit further apart as they have not bee stifled by socks and tight fitting shoes.
There is also a skill when it comes to barefoot running. Trust me you have to almost relearn the mechanics of running you can’t just go out for a barefoot run as you have done before your knees would explode after a few steps. You must change from being a heel striker to a forefoot striker, you take quicker yet shorter strides, you can’t over extend your hips.
Just by changing your footwear does not make you a barefoot runner. And that is the mistake VFF have succumbed to marketing on the basis that their awesome shoes are a cure all. No they are a stepping stone towards learning a new skill. This is the same with all equipment, as with the bike example above it won’t fix you overnight.
If anything the barefoot movement is all about getting back to a basic approach to fitness and health. I will still be wearing my VFF, I still love them and still talk the ears off anybody crazy enough to ask me about them, but as always I will be listening to my body, training effectively and not relying on a piece of equipment for my fitness and health.
JOD
PS - If you want to buy a pair of Vibrams Click Here
The details of this case are pretty clear though once you cut through the headlines.
Firstly no matter the equipment you pick up, ride on, run on or wear the equipment in itself won’t fix you. If you cannot ride a bike buying a new super duper speed racer bike won’t make you able to do the Tour De France overnight!
Well of course not you say but what has this got to do with VFF?
All footwear is not created equal. The theory of the barefoot movement is that the human foot has evolved to be a supreme piece of engineering that has helped us hunt and thrive for thousands of years before the invention of the massive soft cushioned heel that was invented to protect the foot whilst running. I completely sign up to this theory and if you want to know more about this argument read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (It might change your life!).
The problem with the claims that VFF made was that although it can make your feet stronger and we have evolved to run barefoot. What most of us have done for years in our huge cushioned trainers is starve the foot of the training and exposure that it needs to be strong enough to cope with strains of barefoot running.
For example anybody that has broken their arm or leg and had to put themselves in a cast for six weeks or so while the bones fix themselves will know that when they take the cast off the arm or leg will be noticeably smaller than the other arm or leg. The muscles have atrophied out of lack of use. The same goes for the muscles in the foot, when we wear big cushioned soles the muscles in our feet don’t have to do anything to help us stabilise. So if you went from cushioned soles to VFF the forces that your trainers thane been taking for all those years will now be taken on by an untrained weak foot with very little muscle strength.
When people have been barefoot training for years in martial arts or running their feet look very different from the rest of the population, you can see muscles and veins and the toes are generally a bit further apart as they have not bee stifled by socks and tight fitting shoes.
There is also a skill when it comes to barefoot running. Trust me you have to almost relearn the mechanics of running you can’t just go out for a barefoot run as you have done before your knees would explode after a few steps. You must change from being a heel striker to a forefoot striker, you take quicker yet shorter strides, you can’t over extend your hips.
Just by changing your footwear does not make you a barefoot runner. And that is the mistake VFF have succumbed to marketing on the basis that their awesome shoes are a cure all. No they are a stepping stone towards learning a new skill. This is the same with all equipment, as with the bike example above it won’t fix you overnight.
If anything the barefoot movement is all about getting back to a basic approach to fitness and health. I will still be wearing my VFF, I still love them and still talk the ears off anybody crazy enough to ask me about them, but as always I will be listening to my body, training effectively and not relying on a piece of equipment for my fitness and health.
JOD
PS - If you want to buy a pair of Vibrams Click Here
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