vibram five fingers news, reviews, and fan forums

May I present this past week's latest Vibram Five Fingers reviews (and boy there were a lot of them!). And a shout out to Pi while I'm at it.

• Why I Wear my Vibram FiveFingers at Tabata This [ KSO ]:

  So, no. They don’t hurt the soles of my feet. If anything, my feet have become stronger. All the intrinsic muscles have learned their purpose. My ankle proprioception (how the joint knows where it is in space) has increased so much, after being a basketball player with many sprained ankles throughout my lifetime – this is incredibly beneficial to me. One of the best days was a day I walked through a parking lot that had ice frozen in spots. Walking over the ice let me realize my ankles were working to keep me stable. Thus, they were getting stronger and my proprioception was increasing on its own.

  Thoughtful post from VFF fan @tarynrom
• Shoe Review: Vibram Five Fingers KSO at Iron Mom [ KSO ]:

  One of the things I like the most about the Five Fingers is that even when they're wet or muddy, they're not uncomfortable like you would be if you ran through a mud bog in regular running shoes and socks. Even after several miles in my mud-encrusted shoes, I had no hot spots or blisters at all. This makes them terrific for trail running. The only down side to these shoes for me is that on the graveled trails, you have to be constantly vigilant to avoid big chunks of gravel, because the shoes do not have enough thickness or stiffness of sole to prevent a big bruising to the foot from stepping on a rock. This makes trail runs a little less fun for me since I find my attention has to be glued to the ground. The bark trails and dirt trails are a breeze though, so it entirely depends on the surface that you're on.

  Robin enjoys running in the new black/grey camo KSOs (a men's color combo but she found them to fit better!)
• Vibram Five Fingers: I Love Them, I Love Them, I LOVE THEM at Spiek Speaks [ Classics ]:

  How to describe how overjoyed I am that my Vibrams and I have come to this place? Yes, yes, they still look as goofy as ever. And as I predicted they might, they certainly prompt plenty of conversations with strangers. Lots of folks have heard of the shoes but not seen them, and they have vague ideas (often not exactly right) about how they "work." The truth is, they "work" by letting your feet do the work they were designed to. Your arch begins arching of its own accord again, not reliant on some artificial arch in a shoe. You land more on the ball of your foot than your heel. Come to think of it, *I* don't even know the full mechanics. I just know how they feel.

  Note there is a breaking-in of the Classics — I've noticed this, too.
• Shoe Review: Vibram Five Fingers@20KMish at One Live Cat's Life [ Sprint ]:

  So why am i running in them again? I am hoping to get myself less injury prone if I get my feet and leg muscles get trained to be stronger. I say as of today i don’t think I will be breaking any PBs with the VFFs when I wear them to races this 1st year of use. I am pairing my shoes with the New Nike Frees I also just bought which is “like-barefoot-running”.

  I don’t think everyone will love them. So far? I love them I use them just not for running but for anywhere.

• Product Review: Vibram FiveFingers KSO at MMAwesome.com [ KSO ]:

  After putting them on, the first noticeable difference from normal shoes is that your toes are free to spread. That spreading really adds a lot of stability and maneuverability in walking. I felt immediately more agile than I do in normal shoes. The best way to describe the sensation is “heightened awareness.” I felt much more in contact with the environment and much more in control of my movements in it. It’s a very pleasant feeling.

Go here for last week's latest Vibram Five Fingers reviews!

About the Author — I founded BirthdayShoes.com in April 2009 on realizing just how much I enjoyed having "free feet" - I mostly wanted to use them for weights, sprints, and plyometrics (I'm not much of a runner!). I'm a Googler by day and minimalist footwear aficionado by night; you can find me 'round Atlanta. If you want to catch up with what I'm doing outside of the site here, follow me on twitter @bdayshoes or @justinno or check out my personal site JustinOwings.com.
Justin Owings+ has written 754 articles and 302 comments.