I’m very excited to bring you guys a great review of the Vibram Five Fingers Classic. This review was written for Joggers Life by Jeff Wilson, who has worked as a coach, a trainer and a personal fitness consultant. Jeff has had numerous health and wellness articles grace the pages of many popular websites and print publications, and now he’s here to school us on Vibram Five Fingers!
You may have ‘heard’ me complaining last month on Twitter about how I wanted a pair of Vibrams, but couldn’t find them in my size anywhere. Then, I received a pair of KSO’s as a birthday present, but they were sadly the wrong size. Hopefully I will receive the new ones soon. In the meantime, I’m going to read Jeff’s review and wish I had a pair of my own.
Enjoy!
_________________
Running can be a Real Pain in the…
You name it, it can finish that sentence: foot, ankle, knee, back, Achilles’, etc., etc. Running may not take a whole lot of equipment to participate in, but if you don’t have the right equipment – you can be in for a world of hurt. Despite all of the advancements in the world of the running shoe – all of the money spent on research and all of the latest and greatest technology, runners are still getting hurt and may even be getting hurt at a greater pace than they were a few decades ago.
One thing that generally creates injuries in sports is the use of poor or improper from, and to many researchers this was precisely the reason that runners were getting injured – all of the super padded, gel and micro chip filled shoe technology was allowing runners to participate in the sport without having to focus on proper form at all, which inevitably results in injury.
This theory began a movement toward minimalist running (running with as little protection as possible) so the athlete’s feet could move freely rather than be bound, which let them respond properly to the terrain and which facilitated the most natural (and safest) running form possible. As an avid runner who’d suffered his fair share of injuries, this possibility of running pain/injury free intrigued me greatly and I began to do some research of my own.
The transition from running in heavily cushioned shoes to running with zero protection for your feet is a difficult, if not impossible, one to make in one fell swoop – enter the “barefoot running shoe.” I know that the term “barefoot shoe” seems a bit contradictory, but this transitional form of footwear is a complete blessing for those who are interested in running with better form and less pain.
I tried a number of different types of barefoot running shoes in my quest to find the best and ultimately I decided on the very first barefoot running shoe that graced my feet – the Vibram Five Fingers Classic. In the past few years Vibram has become synonymous with minimalist running and for good reason – no other piece of footwear on the market allows your feet to move as much and as naturally as the Vibram Five Fingers Classic while still providing the protection necessary for running on rough terrain. Vibram Five Fingers let you experience the benefits of barefoot running, without actually having to be exposed to the potential dangers of being completely barefoot – that’s why they were chosen as the number one pick on Bestcovery’s list of Best Barefoot Running Shoes.