Vibram five fingers

I've been running the New balance minimus trail shoes for about 6 months now, Vibram soles but without the silly avatar/batman toes... its sorted out a few knee/hip issues... been great for olympic lifting.... but any sustained running I've still used asics to protect my legs/back...

horses for courses, but i have rated the "bare foot" shoes for day to day casual wear, running intervals 400m/800m and for weight training
smudge-out
 
Yeah I must be honest, I don't cover great distances in mine (4-5k tops and not as often as I should), and at the moment I'm mainly running on an indoor track so i can gauge distances but I've found them fantastic as a general work-out shoe, particularly for squats/leg press etc, I found that I had some discomfort in my lower calf (only whilst running in them) for a few weeks until I got used to them but thats fairly common from what I understand, I certainly won't be attempting half marathons in them anytime soon.
 
have you played with any "pose running" technique drills... the "bare foot running" shoes will tend to put you on to your toes, hence the calf soreness... there are some pose running techniques that teach a slight "kissing" of your heel to ground on each strike, relieving the calves a little... and giving more shock absorbency leading to longer distances...

here is a little theory of mine, half proven, so modern running shoes provide shock absorbency, which is one of the jobs of the calf muscle, so by running and walking in supportive shoes we reduce workload on the calves, leading to less shock absorbency in our legs, thus leading to more injuries and then a greater reliance on shock absorbency of the shoe...
then add the shoes doing the work of the foot arch, and as the shoe wears, the arch support and the cushioning fail... leading to strain on both front and rear lower leg injuries... aka the myriad of problems covered by the name "shin splints"...
then add weight in the form of belt rig and/or bergens/large packs...

its a cycle that if not 100% in all cases seems to be anecdotally true in some chronically injured soldiers/operators... I've seen these problems mirrored in triathletes, getting compartment syndrome/shin splints/knee problems/back soreness when running... due to the legs being quad dominant and "good" running shoes, they then often can't do 25 body weight calf raises, but will run 5-42km off the bike...

ok soap box away... i'll end up talking piss on this for hours bahahahaha
smudge-out
 
Im fairly comfortable now running the distances I tend to run do, it was only in the 1st few weeks of having the vibrams that I had the soreness which I believe is common due to the way they encourage you to run, My brothers having a go at a half marathon later in the year and I'm thinking of giving it a go so I'll take a look at the running techniques, thanks
 
Daz

I have Fivefingers and I am now on my second pair. I use them mainly in the Gym. I am a CrossFit affiliate owner and find these great for Workouts where Olympic lifts are involved. Using a pair of normal, cushioned running type shoe, loses around 17% of the power through your heels when lifting due to the sponginess of the sole. Barefeet or weightlifting shoes as just as good but if you are doing other stuff, Box jumps, shuttles, skipping or whatever, the fivefingers are great.

NED
 
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