As an editors note, I wrote this post about five weeks ago. I'm sharing it here now because I still agree with everything I wrote now, and more time in the shoes only serves to strengthen my love for them.
Initial impressions on the Vibram Five Fingers.
I got my first pair of VFF’s this weekend, so let me give my initial impressions while they’re still fresh.
I won’t go into detail on why minimalist toe shoes are good for you (though I think they are) as there are already lots of websites talking about that. I’m just going to let you know how they feel, as a first time wearer and what you might experience.
Fitting
Get fitted! Then, double check the fitting because it’s the most important part. VFF’s don’t use standard sizing, they go by European sizing but even then you need to actually try several pairs on. No other shoe fits like these. It literally needs to fit “like a glove” for comfort, and being off a single size in either direction will make them unwearable.
Also, make sure your toenails are trimmed when you try them on. Yeah, even something as simple as that will matter.
Walking
If you just walk around the store in them it doesn’t seem too different. You definitely feel more barefoot than walking around in regular shoes, but it’s not a feeling you’re unfamiliar with. It’s probably similar to how you walk around at home most of the time. You might notice you’re walking a bit differently than when you had your shoes on, but that’s normal. With no heel drop and no padding, you’re walking such that your foot is absorbing the impact, not your shoe.
Running/Working out
I went for a four mile trail run the day after I got mine and didn’t have any problem at all. One thing that helped was that I took my nephew along, so the pace was a lot slower, we took frequent breaks, and I didn’t over do it. Nonetheless I managed to start a blister on the bottom of each big toe. For some reason the shoe has a seem right there, and with the constant pushing off you’ll be doing in these shoes it created a hot spot. Vibram recommends you start slowly in these things, like 1/10 of your normal mileage. I suspect that’s to let your feet grow calluses on areas that never really had any contact or pressure before, encased as they were in traditional shoes.
I also did a bit of running on concrete and pavement, and some dynamic exercises on grass wearing them. Running on concrete you DEFINITELY notice a difference. Trail running hills led to a natural forefoot strike even in a regular shoe, so it wasn’t really all that different. On flat concrete you could really feel the difference between a proper forefoot strike in the VFF’s and a heel-toe strike as in a traditional running shoe. Heel-toe strikes in VFF’s are painful, and you feel the shock straight up through your heels, knees, hips, and spine. A proper forefoot strike has very little impact, and isn’t uncomfortable at all. If you intend to run on pavement of concrete, start slow… really slow and learn the proper foot strike. It’ll come naturally, you just have to give your body time to adapt and let it become second nature.
By contrast to running on concrete working out in the grass was AMAZING. I could really feel my toes gripping in, finding purchase in the soft ground. I felt ‘connected’ to the ground in a way you really never do in shoes. At the same time I was protected from sticks, rocks, and other debris that would have been uncomfortable in truly bare feet.
I did bear crawls, standing long jumps, burpee push-ups (jumping between), lunges, squats, and sprints. All felt great in the VFF’s though it did take a little getting used to when landing. Traditional shoes have a much larger heel, not only is it raised, but it’s also wider and more squared off, making a bigger surface to lean back on when landing from a jump. With just the natural heel of the VFF you have to actually place the foot correctly or you’ll be off balance. You’ll also notice you are using muscles in your foot and lower leg that normally don’t get much use. This leads to my last thoughts,
The Day After
Quite often when working out, especially something new you don’t really feel it until the day after. By them muscles have had time to swell up, get stiff, and generally make you think “I’ll never do that again.” There was actually some of that with the VFF’s, but maybe because I didn’t push it too hard it wasn’t that bad. I could definitely feel the muscles in my feet had been used. Ha! I bet you didn’t even realize you HAD muscles in your feet! In traditional shoes your foot is sort of a dumb club, just sitting there in a shoe designed to do all the work. In VFF’s your foot has to retake that dynamic aspect it was meant to, flexing with terrain, stabilizing the upper body, and becoming that link with the ground that delivers and transmits all force from the body. I could also feel some muscle use in the front of the shins, using muscles that had previously not been used much in traditional shoes. Nothing was bad, in fact it was a great feeling realizing there were muscles all through my feet that were finally getting a workout.
Conclusions.
I had originally planned on just using my VFF’s for working out, something I do on average between 1-3 times a week. I’m actually even more excited about working out since getting them, as the running and work on grass feels even better. I’m also planning on wearing them out a lot more during regular activities too now, even to the point that I might buy another pair soon so I can have a dedicated work out pair, and another ‘casual pair’.
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