Five fingered shoe opinions?

[Thudman]

were you trying them out on Hamilton Mtn last Saturday?

 

Nope. There must be other adherents. My feet aren't that tough, you'd have to slow down too much for the downhill.

 

 

Mike, I agree that most of the "innovation" is marketing, but a few companies are getting the idea. I mostly run in the widest racing flats or spikeless cross-country shoes I can find. Ditching cushioned shoes and orthotics was the best thing I ever did for my knees and ankles.

 

Unfortunately, our feet appear to have evolved for dry savannah. I could go for some nice cloven hooves for the mountains.

Edited April 10, 2007 by Thudman

[rob]

Basically, you very quickly learn how to run properly, using your arch as the shock absorber it evolved to be.

 

What if I you've got no arch?

[layton]

The tension of the muscles and ligaments are what build your arch. Wearing arch supports won't force your foot to strengthen. By wearing correct footwear, you're muscles are forced to work.

 

No one ever says, I just ran a bunch and why do my legs hurt. Duh' it's because you worked your legs and they weren't used to it. But for some reason, this isn't so with the feet. It's part of the training process for your intrinsic foot muscles.

[high_on_rock]

OK Layton, you have all of the medical background so I place a lot of weight in your opinions. Skipping all the "April fools" and other jokes, are you suggesting to an uneducated person like myself that these funny looking things are actually going to be a good running shoe? You tell me that they have your stamp of approval and I will buy a pair and test them. Serious Layton?

 

Edit: Ok, I had never seen or heard of these shoes, but have just performed a little research and they seem to be coming up as legitimate. My first impression was that it was pure humor, but I am being swayed. Any more reviews out there before I go buy a pair of the funniest footwear I have ever seen?

Edited April 12, 2007 by high_on_rock

[layton]

Yes....BUT

 

1st you have to ease into them,

2nd it won't work for everyone. Some people just need orthotics and or super-supportive shoes. It's worth a try, but like I said...ease into it. If your foot is a wobbly flat disaster, you could hurt yourself. Achy feet are ok, but inversion sprains and fractures are not.

 

If I had foot, leg, hip, or back problems and already have been helped by orthotics, I wouldn't bother with these. But if nothing seemed to help or fix the problem, I'd try this:

 

-write the alphabet with your big toe...gradually add ankle weights.

-try to active mold you foot into an arch. start by passively forcing you foot into this position, and work your way up to being able to do it while weight bearing. this is called the "short foot" exercise

-do a 1-leg stand, then close eyes...all the while doing the "short foot". Progress to a rocker, then a wobble board-eyes open, then closed.

-with your heel on the ground, sitting in a chair, curl your toes. Put a towel on the ground and curl it up...then spread it back out. Add challenge by putting a weight on the end of a towel.

-Stretch your big toe out (abduction) by pulling towards your other foot on your big toe, and adding counter resistance by pressing in the other way on the head of your 1st metatarsal (the base of your big toe).

-Grab things like golf balls with your feet.

-strengthen your tibialis anterior muscle. Place your toes under a dumbell or weight, and lift your foot up. This should burn.

-Stretch your calfs. Stand on the edge of the stairs facing uphill and drop your heel down.

-Likewise, hold some weights and stand at the edge of the stairs as mentioned above, and SLOWLY lower yourself down.

-walk around the house barefoot. progress to walking outside in a safe (no glass!) environment barefoot.

 

If you can do ALL these exercises, you will not only fix a lot of foot,hip,leg,knee,back issues, you'll be a ninja master.

 

Remember, this is what I would do. I can't recommend these exercises to ANYONE.

[Dechristo]

-write the alphabet with your big toe...gradually add ankle weights.

-try to active mold you foot into an arch. start by passively forcing you foot into this position, and work your way up to being able to do it while weight bearing. this is called the "short foot" exercise

-do a 1-leg stand, then close eyes...all the while doing the "short foot". Progress to a rocker, then a wobble board-eyes open, then closed.

-with your heel on the ground, sitting in a chair, curl your toes. Put a towel on the ground and curl it up...then spread it back out. Add challenge by putting a weight on the end of a towel.

-Stretch your big toe out (abduction) by pulling towards your other foot on your big toe, and adding counter resistance by pressing in the other way on the head of your 1st metatarsal (the base of your big toe).

-Grab things like golf balls with your feet.

-strengthen your tibialis anterior muscle. Place your toes under a dumbell or weight, and lift your foot up. This should burn.

-Stretch your calfs. Stand on the edge of the stairs facing uphill and drop your heel down.

-Likewise, hold some weights and stand at the edge of the stairs as mentioned above, and SLOWLY lower yourself down.

-walk around the house barefoot. progress to walking outside in a safe (no glass!) environment barefoot.

 

If you can do ALL these exercises, you will not only fix a lot of foot,hip,leg,knee,back issues, you'll be a ninja master.

 

Remember, this is what I would do. I can't recommend these exercises to ANYONE.

 

That's the toughest roadside sobriety test I've ever heard.

[high_on_rock]

Thanks Layton. I am going to see if I can scrape the money to buy a pair and see what happens. I will share any feedback I get.

E

[high_on_rock]

OK, I have a pair of these foot-mitten things. I will try running a short distince in them tonight, and if all goes well I will test them for about a week and give the feedback.

 

I feel stupid walking around in them.

[layton]

cool! let's hear about it. are they noticeable from a distance..i.e. just how stupid do they look.

 

I hear from a VERY reliable source (famous podiatrist) that plain old Crocs are one of the best running shoes out there!

[Sherri]

Toes are hot, so hot. I wanna watch you run in them.

[high_on_rock]

Mine are completely black on the outside, not one of the bright colors as are some; thus only noticable if you look. The feel is like walking barefoot, with a thin pad under to keep thr sharp gravel and stuff from hurting as much. I can still feel everything on the ground as though I was barefoot, but it does not hurt. They say to ease into wearing them so that your feet have time to adjust. I of course wore them most of yesterday, and ran a mile (with my 6 year old son, so the pace was slow). They felt great all day yesterday, but when I put them on today my toes are somewhat tender, not used to having stuff surrounding each toe. Overall, I think I am going to like them.

 

The one aspect that I did not expect, is that they are nearly erotic on the toes. It is almost like putting each individual toe in it's own banana hammic. Kind of an odd and unexpected feeling. And walking in them, you feel enough to actually have sensations in your feet, rather than just forget yoiu have feet. Cool stuff. Like sherri, I love feet!

E

[high_on_rock]

They are comfortable.

[layton]

the ankle bracelets detract from how stupid the shoes look at least!

[high_on_rock]

at least the shes hide the new coat of bright blue toenail polish that my daughter just applied.

[olyclimber]

oohh la la I like pigeon toes! this great shoe experiment has had me riveted. keep it coming!

[layton]

I gotta get me a pair!

[UW_climber]

Layton how do you feel about the nike frees?

I've looked into them & heard a lot of good things about them.

Recently I just switched to some $4 puma knockoffs from Thailand that just have a hard sole on the bottom to protect your foot; good stuff!

[layton]

I think they are a huge step foreward, but they still have a narrow toebox and a toe spring. The good thing is you can bend out the toe spring and stretch out the toebox. That's what I was going to buy for my next running shoe.

[high_on_rock]

OK, I tried climbing in the "shoes" today. As can be expected, they suck in a crack. they were better than my sandles on slab, but still far from a good rock shoe on slab.

 

I do love the shoes though. comfortable for walking and jogging on somewhat smooth surfaces.

 

[cj001f]

there's more quacks than a duckpond in this thread.

[Sherri]

But you should have seen those shoes climb! It was a sight to behold. You get an "A" for effort, High!

[high_on_rock]

[archenemy]

I'll bet there are some sexy toes under those babies

[Sherri]

Painted toenails, maybe?

[tthirloway]

Thanks for all the good advice here. Since I started having some running-related foot/knee/ankle problems last year, I've been looking more into the type of shoes described here; that is, wide toe boxes and little or no arch support.

 

Is there any more literature that someone can recommend about problems associated with over-engineered footwear, benefits of simpler, "barefoot style" footwear or recommendations for running/athletic shoes that haven't been mentioned here yet?

Also, I've heard of shoes being widened before, but how or where is that done?

 

Thanks,

tyler