Barefoot with Vibram Five Finger Shoes

Few weeks ago I found on the blog of Tim Ferris, the author of four hour work week, who tested out a the Vibram series Five Finger Shoes. Yes it does seem quite odd, however the reasoning behind it was very convincing.

Above: Testing out the Vibram Five Finger shoes at home.

Until the mass production of flip-flops (thongs in Australia), most of the world’s population went barefoot, however today, our feet, despite being a body part with the most amount of bones in our bodies, are becoming desensitized and numbed, enclosed in a tight space. Even up to my grandmother’s generation, it was still common to have women in bound shoes!

Above: Foot binding was a custom practiced on young girls and women for approximately one thousand years in China, beginning in the 10th century and ending in the early 20th century.

Ok, so we’re not that extreme now in the 21st century, but are we really any better?

Just prior to leaving Milan, my friend Marta arrived at my door wearing a new pair of Vibram classics, it really is something when you see it in person the first time. I had to try it out myself. Two days later in Stockholm, I hunted down a pair at Naturkompaniet and bought a pair myself.

I wore it on the same day, and gave it a city stroll test for roughly three hours. The feeling was really something I haven’t felt before, it really is like walking barefoot, but with a layer of protection. I must say however, it is slightly tight around the top elastic band around the top of my feet, and shown signs of redness. My feet is quite sensitive, and I am not accustomed to wearing shoes without socks. Even when I rockclimb, I would still put a pair of socks, as the feeling of moist and sweat just makes me go crazy, not to mention my phobia against feet odor. However, with the Vibram Classic, the shoe really does breathe quite easily, and I felt no sweating or moist develop throughout the day.

Then the feeling of tightness came in, I start to picture how squished my little toes are in there in the sock like environment, I instantly felt toe claustrophobia. It is advised that the shoe should be one size smaller than your average size, and I think I went about one and a half size smaller.

Few days later I had some time on my hands and went for a jog around the neighborhood, and they were quite amazing. They really do support the whole foot, and I feel like I was running in much better shape and control of my strides. Going downhill on the tarmac was not as spectacular however as I was not in perfect shape, and felt I was heel striking quite a bit as I built speed and momentum.

Tim Ferriss mentioned that after the first 24hrs of wearing the Vibram shoes, the heels do become sore and sensitive, perhaps even bruised, I can see how this could happen. This was not such a big problem for myself as I work from home most of the time and spend more of my days barefoot.

Above: This chart sure is convincing.

According to Ferriss, the Five Fingered shoes are supposed to build strength in your arches, while the local shoe seller suggested that the lack of arch support in these shoes could be problematic for some people. I see the point in both views on both sides, but I’m unsure which to believe. Please leave a note if anyone has tried these shoes, and how it’s working out for them. In the meanwhile, I’m keeping my Vibrams, and can’t wait to see what kind of effects it will have on my daily life.