Barefoot shoes

[Jimi75]

Hi friends,

Has anyone of you tried out barefoot shoes? I know it's an oximoron - barefoot and shoe - but I like the concept. I am doing a lot of sports recently and I am wearing either no shoes or very slim Kung Fu shoes when training martial arts twice a week. So I thought I'd like to give the concept of bearefoot running shoes a try. I am currently running in my Asics Nimbus 10...

The shoes I could buy in shops nearby are:
Vibram 5 Fingers
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Merell Trail/Tough Glove
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Vivobarefoot
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There are more barefoot models by Feelmax or New Balance. I think I'd go with the Merell...'cause the Vibram looks "Monkey" :-)

Let me know what you think ;-)

[sunvalleylaw]

But are we banned from wearing them whilst playing guitar much like Crocs? :D

[Eric]

I've strongly considered it, but never bought any. I've heard that they take a good bit of adjustment, because you have to run differently -- the pose position, I believe it's called (http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/pose-running-technique.html).

It seems like it could work; one of those back-to-nature ideas. I have a friend who bought a pair of the Five Fingers and was running around 3-5 miles and in very good shape. His first time out in the FF, I think he did ~1.5 miles and his calf muscles were so sore the next day that he could barely operate the clutch on his car. Point being, I think the new technique you have to use can ultimately lead to less impact, but it requires adjustment as you develop the necessary muscles.

A former colleague of mine said that there's also a cheap way to make your own. I think you can find instructions on the Barefoot Ted blog (http://www.barefootted.com/). Oh actually, it's here: http://barefootted.com/sandals.pdf

Anyway, if you do decide to buy some, please update. I'm very curious about it.

[Spudman]

They get high praise from folks in the mountain communities. From what I've heard that has been the largest market so far. Vibram makes good stuff though. I haven't tried them yet because I'm afraid my little piggies would feel claustrophobic.

[otaypanky]

I'm not a runner but I read somewhere you can do a lot of damage to yourself running in these

[Jimi75]

Cool infos here so far. I knew these shoes would be polarizing opinions. Learning a new technique isn't exactly what I intended to do, but I think it's worth doing it...why not

[omegadot]

I just run in my Chuck Taylors when I want a good calf workout. 20 bucks and it's the same idea.