Vibram Five Fingers

L

legggooo

New member
Ok...I wanted to see what the collective running knowledge on this board could come up with. I ran with Vibrams a good amount this past summer and fall (1-2 times a week), and I love them. One of the best things about them is that they promote a more "natural" gait when running which leads to less running-related injuries. They worked well for mid-long distances (4-6 miles), but I wouldn't wear them for anything for than 6 or 6 and a half.

Seeing as they naturally provide more stability strength (something the cushioning in the shoe usually does) what kind of benefits would this provide for sprinters if any at all? Would you recommend using them for short sprinting days or stick to mid distance-ish recovery days? I know a lot of people are knowledgeable about running so I am curious to hear what everyone thinks. Maybe even some of you use them yourself and could provide testimony to their benefits?
 
 
legggooo said:
Ok...I wanted to see what the collective running knowledge on this board could come up with. I ran with Vibrams a good amount this past summer and fall (1-2 times a week), and I love them. One of the best things about them is that they promote a more "natural" gait when running which leads to less running-related injuries. They worked well for mid-long distances (4-6 miles), but I wouldn't wear them for anything for than 6 or 6 and a half.

Seeing as they naturally provide more stability strength (something the cushioning in the shoe usually does) what kind of benefits would this provide for sprinters if any at all? Would you recommend using them for short sprinting days or stick to mid distance-ish recovery days? I know a lot of people are knowledgeable about running so I am curious to hear what everyone thinks. Maybe even some of you use them yourself and could provide testimony to their benefits?
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Injuries that what i think they are good for.....and i dont mean preventing them. At least most of the high school kids i know who attempted them tried to make the transaction into them way to fast such as doing 5 to 6 miles the first day they wore them. If we used to wearing trainers and switch to those they will do nothing but cause injury.
 
I use them like you did, lego. Nothing over 6. Sorry I can't answer your question, but I just wanted to say I love em.
 
RunFL said:
Injuries that what i think they are good for.....and i dont mean preventing them. At least most of the high school kids i know who attempted them tried to make the transaction into them way to fast such as doing 5 to 6 miles the first day they wore them. If we used to wearing trainers and switch to those they will do nothing but cause injury.
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Agreed, its one thing if you try slowly switching over to them in the off season, but i wouldnt try switching to these and put in high mileage. I have heard a lot of bad things about shoes like these
 
I don't have Five Fingers, but I do have a pair of New Balance Minimus Trails. They're only used for easy 3 milers on the XC course since I don't have enough access to unpaved surfaces for my other runs.

Instead of telling kids to shell out all the money for some minimalist footwear (in addition to trainers and possibly spikes which they'll still need to buy whether or not they get the minimalist footwear), just spend more time on form drills.

There are too many kids out there who have naturally poor form or just haven't grown into their bodies yet that I could foresee a lot of injuries occuring if you put all of them in minimalist shoes. Those kids still need to improve their form and learn how to use what they've got before I'd put them in less of a shoe.

One thing that bothers me about the minimalist footwear is that we hear from so many people about how they helped prevent injuries and such, but we never hear about the injuries that minimalist footwear can cause. There's a reason my Minimus Trails came with a disclaimer about the importance of gradually incorporating them into my running schedule.
 
Like Mr. Slippery, I have some Minimus Trails. I find that my back bothers me less when I run in them. Of course my problem is not form (mine is still pretty good) but the extra couple dozen pounds I carry now that I didn't back in the 80s. Also the longest distance I have ever run in them is 8 miles. Living in the middle of the city I don't use them all that often.

I have had three athletes who wore minimalist shoes (whether Vibrams, Minimus or others) who ran 45-50 miles per week in them without injury. All three were already strong runners with good form when they started. I had two kids in track last year who were second year runners who abandoned their Vibrams part way through the season because of shin and other ailments. Neither one was a strong runner. After switching back both got better.
 
mathking said:
I had two kids in track last year who were second year runners who abandoned their Vibrams part way through the season because of shin and other ailments.
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Sometimes my legs do hurt more after running with them because of the extra work in stabilization. But after running with them for a few months I feel like those muscles should strengthen enough to run consistently with them.

Do any of you think that the extra leg strength they take to run in them could have noticeable benefits to running performance? I.E. could the extra work actually make us get more out of the workouts?
 
I got a pair of Saucony Hatori's. I haven't put a lot of miles on them but the ones I have put in haven't had a negative effect on my legs like I expected. What I have found is that I haven't adapted my form completely and still heel strike a little bit which has led to some problems with my heels and my Achilles. Consequently I spend far more time in my Kinvara's.

There have not been any scientific studies that I know of on the potential performance benefits of training in minimalist shoes. It stands to reason that working a different aspect of the primary movers could prove beneficial but it's all speculation until somebody does an some independent (i.e. not funded by the shoe companies) research on the matter.
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The Saucony Rep was at my local shoe store this summer, so I had the opportunity to wear test both the Cortanas and the Hatoris. The Cortanas felt great on pavement, but they're way out of my price range. The Hatoris felt incredible on the crushed limestone/dirt surface. At 4.4 ounces per pair (according to the rep), they made my Minimus Trails feel clunky, and at $20 less to boot. I really liked the Hatoris but couldn't justify the expense of having a 2nd pair of minimalist footwear.

Oddly enough, I had purchased my Minimus Trails last spring after wear testing them when the New Balance rep came to town. I also wear tested the road version of the Minimus at that time and did not like them. They felt extremely clunky to me. IIRC, the rep told me that the Minimus is the only shoe New Balance does not make in the USA, but that they were planning to bring the production stateside if sales were strong enough.
 
Not sure about the 5-finger shoes but would love to get a pair of Newton Motus, their motion stability shoe......bringing myself to spend $175 on running shoes will be a while.

The Newton's promote mid/forefoot strikers. I'm "cursed" to wear out the middle of my shoes a lot quicker then heels. Checked out the Newton's while at the AF marathon expo....very comfortable.



But $175 a pair......woah!
 
Good for Beach Volleyball and Vacations

I only use them on vacations and on the beach. I also use them to walk around the hotel or after the race. I tried to run in them, would rather have my stable trainers any day. Just a trend. Never could understand how people run long miles or race marathons in them. I would have no legs left.
 
Personally I have extremely un-flat feet. I wear shoes that have a lot of arch support. Wearing Vibrams even for a couple of miles destroys my legs. I am a collegiate runner and have been running since 7th grade. I have gone through my fair share of injuries. I think shoes like this do not provide any extra benefit from training in them. You should train in whatever is comfortable for you and gives you the best feel. With that being said, I do know someone on my high school team who wore these with success. His times didn't improve when he switched over to these shoes but he also didn't suffer any injuries. The first day of practice, my college cross country threw a freshman out of practice wearing them. He was joking, and let the kid back in, but he had the kid order new shoes. The program has been very succesful, posting a record of 171-30 (boys) and 153-45 (girls) since this coach has come in. He is also in charge of indoor and outdoor track posting about a 95% winning pct in these. He does not like these shoes at all, and he has never seen success from them.
 
Thr Five Fingers are a running tool IMHO.

My son has been "training" in them for about 4-6 months. He tended to be a slight overstrider (therefore heel striker) in previous years when running at accelerated pace or starting to tire. His stride rate was also about 20/min lower than we wanted because of this.

Recently we've started running some intervals again (after recovering from mono and missing last 1/2 XC) and I've noticed he has a good neutral foot strike. We haven't changed any thing else in the training to cause this other than the Five Fingers.

We use them daily (4-6 times per week) for the initial warm-up (1 mile) and another (1-2 miles before/during training) at target speeds (9 to 10MPH). I suppose you can run in them more (longer distances), but why? We use them for form training and they work very well for that. In connection with this change we switched his primary training shoes from high heel to toe drop shoes to a somewhat more even full cushion running shoe (i.e. Nike Structure to Sauchony Mirage) which helps support the form change. We bought him a pair of Hattori's for Christmas, so we'll see how they work.

In summary, they are a good training tool for some people. I wouldn't dream of letting him train in them full time, since some of his runs can be > 10miles, but they do have a place.
 
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