Showing posts with label vibram fivefingers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vibram fivefingers. Show all posts
Friday, July 16, 2010
Vibram FiveFingers Bikila: Learning about the Name behind the Name & Fast Shoe Look
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Abebe Bikila was a two time olympic marathon winner. In 1960, he ran barefoot - the way he had trained - when the shoe sponsor Adidas didn't have shoes that he liked. Cool is that (a) he won (b) he broke the record (c) it's the first gold medal for Africa in Olympic history. He won gold in the 64 olympics, too. What's amazing is that he died young, at 41, four years after a tragic car accident that left him a parapalegic.
Vibram has a new shoe out designed specifically for runners and for running. They could have called their new shoe anything. They've called it Bikila. When you know something about Abebe Bikila's remarkable story, Vibram picked a pretty potent person to honor. As such, however, the shoe has a lot to live up to to be worthy of the name.
This is a first post quick look at this new shoe that was initiated at the 2010 Boston Marathon.
First point - to me, and chatting with birthdayshoes Justin - they fit more like the classic than the kso with slightly more shallow toe pockets. At least one other reviewer finds them more like a "second skin" than his other VFF's. Not sure there. They are the same size no. for me as the KSO - but i'm going to check a size smaller just to confirm this is right (see what i mean by prelimnary review?)
The shoes are also stiffer in the foot bed and more contoured than other VFF's and the inner thickness of the foot bed is more Flow like than KSO. The lining is very nice. very comfy. The tread is also intriguing with additional little tread bits for traction. The uppers are designed to look like the uppers of the kso, but they're actually one piece of soft silky like material.
Another unique to this model feature is the strap in: there is one strap across the top, that pulls to the inside rather than the outside, but there is no strap running to the back. So these need to wrap around the foot like a stiff sock to stay on. And it seems to work. Everything is smooth and seemingly seamless.
Initially these were the hardest vff's to put on, but after a few attempts, they do respond to the usual toes first, rock 'em in, pull up the heal. They're pretty, too. And that's not bad.
Feel. They definitely feel like there's more shoe there than in the other VFF's - even the flow. And that may be from the stiffness of the shoe and the extra tread bits - stiffness is not a bad thing.
The buzz in the commnity about the bikila's is that they're rocking runners. That will be for a follow up post. But for now,
while i worry about sizing, i'm just thinking about Abebe Bikila from Ethiopia. Keen to learn more about not just a great athlete but a great spirit, too. May be one of the best things that VFF has done is getting more of us to learn about the inspiration for their shoe's name-sake.
(quick update on sizing here - take away: stick with kso sizing)
Related Resources
Abebe Bikila was a two time olympic marathon winner. In 1960, he ran barefoot - the way he had trained - when the shoe sponsor Adidas didn't have shoes that he liked. Cool is that (a) he won (b) he broke the record (c) it's the first gold medal for Africa in Olympic history. He won gold in the 64 olympics, too. What's amazing is that he died young, at 41, four years after a tragic car accident that left him a parapalegic.
Vibram has a new shoe out designed specifically for runners and for running. They could have called their new shoe anything. They've called it Bikila. When you know something about Abebe Bikila's remarkable story, Vibram picked a pretty potent person to honor. As such, however, the shoe has a lot to live up to to be worthy of the name.This is a first post quick look at this new shoe that was initiated at the 2010 Boston Marathon.
First point - to me, and chatting with birthdayshoes Justin - they fit more like the classic than the kso with slightly more shallow toe pockets. At least one other reviewer finds them more like a "second skin" than his other VFF's. Not sure there. They are the same size no. for me as the KSO - but i'm going to check a size smaller just to confirm this is right (see what i mean by prelimnary review?)
The shoes are also stiffer in the foot bed and more contoured than other VFF's and the inner thickness of the foot bed is more Flow like than KSO. The lining is very nice. very comfy. The tread is also intriguing with additional little tread bits for traction. The uppers are designed to look like the uppers of the kso, but they're actually one piece of soft silky like material.
Another unique to this model feature is the strap in: there is one strap across the top, that pulls to the inside rather than the outside, but there is no strap running to the back. So these need to wrap around the foot like a stiff sock to stay on. And it seems to work. Everything is smooth and seemingly seamless.
Initially these were the hardest vff's to put on, but after a few attempts, they do respond to the usual toes first, rock 'em in, pull up the heal. They're pretty, too. And that's not bad.Feel. They definitely feel like there's more shoe there than in the other VFF's - even the flow. And that may be from the stiffness of the shoe and the extra tread bits - stiffness is not a bad thing.
The buzz in the commnity about the bikila's is that they're rocking runners. That will be for a follow up post. But for now,
while i worry about sizing, i'm just thinking about Abebe Bikila from Ethiopia. Keen to learn more about not just a great athlete but a great spirit, too. May be one of the best things that VFF has done is getting more of us to learn about the inspiration for their shoe's name-sake.(quick update on sizing here - take away: stick with kso sizing)
Related Resources
- VFF article index
- Solving Calve issues when first running in VFF's
- How to Fit VFF's
- Running Barefoot vs Shoes: videos
- Running Shoes as Single Factor THinking
PDF
Monday, March 8, 2010
Vibram FiveFingers Performa Sizing Note: Go UP
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This is a wee note on sizing Vibram's newish 
Women's Performa. This is the all-leather rather slipper like VFF that's like driving gloves for one's feet. Indeed, they only have the rubbery sole bits on the toes, forefoot and heel - hence making them designed "for indoor use only."
Suggested uses are pilates, yoga and "fitness" - whacking a heavy bag is pretty cool too: no straps on top of the foot to get in the way of a good smack. For me, it's wearing indoors when i HATE wearing shoes but the floors are too cold.
The thing is, Vibram suggests that the sizing is the same for the Performa (the guy's version is the Moc) as it is for its Classic and Sprint (for reference, here's a very long post on sizing/fitting VFF's).
Personally, after trying a pair the same size as the classics/sprints - which are generous on me - i've had to go up a size from that. By the numbers, these are the largest fit VFF's i've put on.
I thought trying these that the left foot was fine, and the right foot, the big toe, was giving me the same feeling of tightness that i was experiencing in my initial KSO's - the experience that after months of wear caused me to go for a bigger size when it seemed that my feet got bigger after months and months of wearing vff's (discussed here). It's just one of those things that i KNOW if i say oh it will stretch oh it's just me will mean i end up not wearing the shoes - so back they go to see if the bigger size is better. It was.
Sole News. Not only did they fit - they were a bit snug even so to get on - but in a good way. Another fit plus that surprised is that these slightly larger foot gloves feel better on the bottoms of the shoe than the smaller, more closely fitted ones. it's hard to describe but these are different shoes than the regular VFF's. Regular VFF's have a one piece rubber sole running from heal to toe, and around the arch. In the Performa/Moc, as shown in the image above, the rubbery stuff is separately covering toes, forefoot, heal
In the intial (smaller) pair, i really seemed to *feel* the rubbery stuff on the heels. It wasn't particularly nice - it actually felt a wee bit unevent. When i put the larger size on and did up the elastic a bit, everything felt immediately more familiar and normal. Happily the same size Performa was working both bare foot and with Injinji sox. the one down side is the bit of slack in the heal i've grown accustomed to in the classic is back. sigh. still not the best fitting models of the line. The KSO's -for me anyway - still rock as the best fitting vff's
Stores. This experience surprised me since it had been the kso/flow that needed the size change - not the sprint/classic. Oh well. This kind of try it out and swap as needed is something that makes dealing with a store a Nice Thing and for me, that's what makes city sports in boston a fave vff test spot (i get nothing from city sports to say that - it's just been a good store experience - if you have a shop you like for vff's give it a go; if you're in Oregon, kayak shed is where to head - again, no recompense for saying they just do good service).
If you have a fave VFF shop, please post a comment.
Trying One On. As i said in the previous post about my ill fated efforts with fitting a men's Trek in the current absence of a women's Trek, the leather of these Performa's is delightfully one might say buttery soft - and reputedly highly durable. My road bike shoes are made from kangaroo leather and they have ruled resiliant for a decade (yes sad but i like to buy things that are good enough to only need to buy once, whenever possible). But despite how delightful they are, it's worth perhaps considering trying on a couple sizes rather than assuming that the Classic size will fit you.
Idiosnycratic or General? I can't give you rock solid advice here because it seems my feet no longer follow Vibram's recommendation which says that the flow/kso would be a size smaller than one's classic/sprint. WHile that's exactly how i started, i now take the same size in a Flow and KSO that i do in a Classic and Sprint. And to top that all off it seems the performa's need to be one size up from those. So *IF* you find yourself in the same boat, and would like some lovely loungers or actually want to skip the matt for yoga (like yoga in a hotel room), then travelling with a pair of Performas/Mocs is going to be far more condusive to packing than having to bring a mat as well.
I downward dogged on the hotel carpet quite a bit and was pleased that yup, one really could go without a mat: these things stick in a way that barefeet don't - they slide - and they slide more on carpet when sweaty and sheesh hotel carpets/gyms can be kinda grotty, no? So functional? yes.
Whether i use these as i hope - as a general purpose indoor vff - more than i do the classics right now remains to be seen. But they look and feel pretty durn nice.
Notes to b2d. Please let me know if you've tried Performa's what you use 'em for and what your sizing experience as been.
Related Posts
Women's Performa. This is the all-leather rather slipper like VFF that's like driving gloves for one's feet. Indeed, they only have the rubbery sole bits on the toes, forefoot and heel - hence making them designed "for indoor use only."Suggested uses are pilates, yoga and "fitness" - whacking a heavy bag is pretty cool too: no straps on top of the foot to get in the way of a good smack. For me, it's wearing indoors when i HATE wearing shoes but the floors are too cold.
The thing is, Vibram suggests that the sizing is the same for the Performa (the guy's version is the Moc) as it is for its Classic and Sprint (for reference, here's a very long post on sizing/fitting VFF's).
Personally, after trying a pair the same size as the classics/sprints - which are generous on me - i've had to go up a size from that. By the numbers, these are the largest fit VFF's i've put on.
I thought trying these that the left foot was fine, and the right foot, the big toe, was giving me the same feeling of tightness that i was experiencing in my initial KSO's - the experience that after months of wear caused me to go for a bigger size when it seemed that my feet got bigger after months and months of wearing vff's (discussed here). It's just one of those things that i KNOW if i say oh it will stretch oh it's just me will mean i end up not wearing the shoes - so back they go to see if the bigger size is better. It was.
Sole News. Not only did they fit - they were a bit snug even so to get on - but in a good way. Another fit plus that surprised is that these slightly larger foot gloves feel better on the bottoms of the shoe than the smaller, more closely fitted ones. it's hard to describe but these are different shoes than the regular VFF's. Regular VFF's have a one piece rubber sole running from heal to toe, and around the arch. In the Performa/Moc, as shown in the image above, the rubbery stuff is separately covering toes, forefoot, heal
In the intial (smaller) pair, i really seemed to *feel* the rubbery stuff on the heels. It wasn't particularly nice - it actually felt a wee bit unevent. When i put the larger size on and did up the elastic a bit, everything felt immediately more familiar and normal. Happily the same size Performa was working both bare foot and with Injinji sox. the one down side is the bit of slack in the heal i've grown accustomed to in the classic is back. sigh. still not the best fitting models of the line. The KSO's -for me anyway - still rock as the best fitting vff's
Stores. This experience surprised me since it had been the kso/flow that needed the size change - not the sprint/classic. Oh well. This kind of try it out and swap as needed is something that makes dealing with a store a Nice Thing and for me, that's what makes city sports in boston a fave vff test spot (i get nothing from city sports to say that - it's just been a good store experience - if you have a shop you like for vff's give it a go; if you're in Oregon, kayak shed is where to head - again, no recompense for saying they just do good service).
If you have a fave VFF shop, please post a comment.
Trying One On. As i said in the previous post about my ill fated efforts with fitting a men's Trek in the current absence of a women's Trek, the leather of these Performa's is delightfully one might say buttery soft - and reputedly highly durable. My road bike shoes are made from kangaroo leather and they have ruled resiliant for a decade (yes sad but i like to buy things that are good enough to only need to buy once, whenever possible). But despite how delightful they are, it's worth perhaps considering trying on a couple sizes rather than assuming that the Classic size will fit you.
Idiosnycratic or General? I can't give you rock solid advice here because it seems my feet no longer follow Vibram's recommendation which says that the flow/kso would be a size smaller than one's classic/sprint. WHile that's exactly how i started, i now take the same size in a Flow and KSO that i do in a Classic and Sprint. And to top that all off it seems the performa's need to be one size up from those. So *IF* you find yourself in the same boat, and would like some lovely loungers or actually want to skip the matt for yoga (like yoga in a hotel room), then travelling with a pair of Performas/Mocs is going to be far more condusive to packing than having to bring a mat as well.
I downward dogged on the hotel carpet quite a bit and was pleased that yup, one really could go without a mat: these things stick in a way that barefeet don't - they slide - and they slide more on carpet when sweaty and sheesh hotel carpets/gyms can be kinda grotty, no? So functional? yes.
Whether i use these as i hope - as a general purpose indoor vff - more than i do the classics right now remains to be seen. But they look and feel pretty durn nice.
Notes to b2d. Please let me know if you've tried Performa's what you use 'em for and what your sizing experience as been.
Related Posts
- Do your shoes pass the twist test?
- b2dVibram FiveFingers Article Index
- Why freeing your feet is so important athletically
Thursday, March 4, 2010
KSO Trek, Men's - fitting for women; punting to Performa
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So being once again in a town where i always 
know i can find Vibram FiveFingers, i hoofed it to City Sports to see if *maybe* a pair of men's KSO Treks would fit. The answer is yes and no: yes the length, one step down from my usual size is fine. This is indeed what @citysports had suggested on twitter when i'd asked. Nice folks. Indeed, i might have even gone for the same size as my current KSO's if they'd had them in stock. But measuring heal to toe of my women's KSO agains this mens - they looked identical in length. So that's the yes part
The No Part. The width at the heal/instep, even with sox on, felt a bit loose. Compared with my regular KSO's which i kept swapping one foot on with one or the other of the Trek, this is just not right. Now they'd probably work ok if necessary, but ya know, knowing the women's will be out in another couple months, i just didn't want to do it - i like how the VFFs fit when they fit, and it's not like these are what you'd call cheap at $125 (just don't ask what they are in GPB; you'll weep you american readers you).
Other Points: Foot Feel; it's different. These are dandy with
socks. Without sox, well, there's a lug that runs just at the top of the metatarsals, and i found myself really aware of that without sox on. With sox on it was fine. To me, the shoe felt like it was well designed for exactly what it's designed for: trails. I bet that sole would just chew up the trails. And there's the irony: that leather upper is just so NICE for the look of the shoe, it would be grand to have a regular soled KSO with this upper.
Saying that, the folks i've encountered wearing the KSO Trek like the lug sole for a bit more winter proofing. Dang though that leather/suede is nice. I'm sorry that there (has to be?) is any nylon material on the upper around the toes to allow for toe fit - that of necessity becomes a wet seep point, doesn't it?
Other Points: Insole. For some reason, and Justin Owings at Birthdayshoes.com pointed this
out in an email exchange we had about Trek fit: the insole has a stitched vibram label on it. ick in bare feet. Likewise, the leather side of the insole is up rather than the suede side. Wouldn't the suede side be nicer for the bottom of the foot? Just asking. That's the way the Performa's done: suede side up inside. Hmm. Also a point i noticed in my brief time with them, and that Justin notes: the upper feels a bit snugger around the top - me i noticed this only particularly around the big toe. Not uncomfortable, that that's the only feel difference.
If you're interested in more nitty gritty of the Trek, take a look at Justin's full Trek review birthdayshoes. I think it's safe to say he likes 'em.
Please VFF, keep women in mind for ALL your models: Anyway gals, it was supposed to be Feb; now it's slipped to may when a suede leather shoe mayn't be as desireable in the warmer weather as the regular VFF's but if Vibram keeps the same colors for the KSO Trek for women, and you're into KSO's you will want to make this model part of your wardrobe.
As Justin's review says, these are the least obtrusive VFF's - but goodness they just feel so nice. I'm so looking forward to these coming out in women's. Let's hope VFF never does the men's only model thing again.
Addenda: Performa (men's moc)
So while i was at the shop i thought what the heck, i'll try on the performa, the Other Leatherslipper, just for something to wear on cold winter floors at home. Oh my. I literally forgot i had them on at one point walking around the store.
I had sorta written these off as very rather precious VFF's - when would i wear such things as they're not outdoors at all - they're just gym/studio things: answer - when it's too cold to go bare foot on the floors but i love to go barefooting on the floors - and that's a lot of the time recently.
They actually feel so good i can hardly wait to get home and slip out of the boots and into them. WHile they fit like the classic, they do not have the same kind of pull tab thingy elastic string that many folks just cut off so as not to cut into oneself - indeed these feel like they fit better than the classics (more on fit comparisons and FittingS at b2d here).
I can also imagine side kicking a heavy bag with them - something that is no fun to do in any VFF that has a velcro pull tab closure on it. These are just sweet. they disappear. With black sox on they go total ninja stealth feet mode. If i notice anything else about them, i'll post again, but for right now, i'd say they're definitely worth trying on to see if you want them to be part of your attire. Like butta.
Please let me know what you find if you're a gal trying the Trek or if you have the Performa what made you decide to give 'em a go.
Related Posts
know i can find Vibram FiveFingers, i hoofed it to City Sports to see if *maybe* a pair of men's KSO Treks would fit. The answer is yes and no: yes the length, one step down from my usual size is fine. This is indeed what @citysports had suggested on twitter when i'd asked. Nice folks. Indeed, i might have even gone for the same size as my current KSO's if they'd had them in stock. But measuring heal to toe of my women's KSO agains this mens - they looked identical in length. So that's the yes partThe No Part. The width at the heal/instep, even with sox on, felt a bit loose. Compared with my regular KSO's which i kept swapping one foot on with one or the other of the Trek, this is just not right. Now they'd probably work ok if necessary, but ya know, knowing the women's will be out in another couple months, i just didn't want to do it - i like how the VFFs fit when they fit, and it's not like these are what you'd call cheap at $125 (just don't ask what they are in GPB; you'll weep you american readers you).
Other Points: Foot Feel; it's different. These are dandy with
socks. Without sox, well, there's a lug that runs just at the top of the metatarsals, and i found myself really aware of that without sox on. With sox on it was fine. To me, the shoe felt like it was well designed for exactly what it's designed for: trails. I bet that sole would just chew up the trails. And there's the irony: that leather upper is just so NICE for the look of the shoe, it would be grand to have a regular soled KSO with this upper.Saying that, the folks i've encountered wearing the KSO Trek like the lug sole for a bit more winter proofing. Dang though that leather/suede is nice. I'm sorry that there (has to be?) is any nylon material on the upper around the toes to allow for toe fit - that of necessity becomes a wet seep point, doesn't it?
Other Points: Insole. For some reason, and Justin Owings at Birthdayshoes.com pointed this
out in an email exchange we had about Trek fit: the insole has a stitched vibram label on it. ick in bare feet. Likewise, the leather side of the insole is up rather than the suede side. Wouldn't the suede side be nicer for the bottom of the foot? Just asking. That's the way the Performa's done: suede side up inside. Hmm. Also a point i noticed in my brief time with them, and that Justin notes: the upper feels a bit snugger around the top - me i noticed this only particularly around the big toe. Not uncomfortable, that that's the only feel difference.If you're interested in more nitty gritty of the Trek, take a look at Justin's full Trek review birthdayshoes. I think it's safe to say he likes 'em.
Please VFF, keep women in mind for ALL your models: Anyway gals, it was supposed to be Feb; now it's slipped to may when a suede leather shoe mayn't be as desireable in the warmer weather as the regular VFF's but if Vibram keeps the same colors for the KSO Trek for women, and you're into KSO's you will want to make this model part of your wardrobe.
As Justin's review says, these are the least obtrusive VFF's - but goodness they just feel so nice. I'm so looking forward to these coming out in women's. Let's hope VFF never does the men's only model thing again.
Addenda: Performa (men's moc)
So while i was at the shop i thought what the heck, i'll try on the performa, the Other Leather
slipper, just for something to wear on cold winter floors at home. Oh my. I literally forgot i had them on at one point walking around the store.I had sorta written these off as very rather precious VFF's - when would i wear such things as they're not outdoors at all - they're just gym/studio things: answer - when it's too cold to go bare foot on the floors but i love to go barefooting on the floors - and that's a lot of the time recently.
They actually feel so good i can hardly wait to get home and slip out of the boots and into them. WHile they fit like the classic, they do not have the same kind of pull tab thingy elastic string that many folks just cut off so as not to cut into oneself - indeed these feel like they fit better than the classics (more on fit comparisons and FittingS at b2d here).
I can also imagine side kicking a heavy bag with them - something that is no fun to do in any VFF that has a velcro pull tab closure on it. These are just sweet. they disappear. With black sox on they go total ninja stealth feet mode. If i notice anything else about them, i'll post again, but for right now, i'd say they're definitely worth trying on to see if you want them to be part of your attire. Like butta.
Please let me know what you find if you're a gal trying the Trek or if you have the Performa what made you decide to give 'em a go.
Related Posts
- How to Fit vff's of all stripes
- Wearing a year on - the changing foot
- ALL b2d VFF articles
- Examples of running barefoot vs in any kind of shoe
- free your feet
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Running Shoes as Single Factor Thinking
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This is a post about Shoes not as evil, but as it seems a Great Feat of Misdirection. It's a wee bit about our biases towards single factor solutions for complex problems, and the arguments we will have around the Chosen Factor rather than pulling up and back to consider the wider view. In science, there's a strong bias towards studying the effect of a single factor in various circumstances, but you'll rarely find a scientist who will say that single factor study or finding is The Solution - as we'll see below. That's down usually to the media who tries to promote such results, or companies that like the sound of same.
We are such complex (and complicated) organisms, yet we yearn for the Single Factor Solution to complex issues. We usually see this with respect to struggles for fat loss, where single approaches - the right diet, the right workout, the right diet pill, the right diet surgery - are put to address what involves a cornucopia of issues, as described here just the other day. The same single factor thinking is evident in running shoes, too. The Shoe is the Solution. Get the Right Shoe before daring a Run. And so this post focuses around a response to a study. About sneakers.
So let's back up: why putitively are there so many durn sneakers out there such that there are studies about their effects? Selling that great shoe that's just right for your running gait peculiarities to reduce injury and let you run like blazes is of course an important thing. And of course the more you can afford the better the protection you can buy. More cushioning, more multiparts of rubber density in the sole etc etc. Or so the sales pitch goes.
But this is also a kind of single factor approach to good mechanics for running. It says let the shoe take care of any weirdness in your gait, cuz that's just the way you are, you're stuck, and so need to be "corrected" . That's a much faster solution (seemingly) than taking the more complex view of IF something is off with the gait that may be problematic for performance, how best deal with that? After all, we're plastic people, as Woolf's Law and Davis's Law have shown: bone and tissue are responsive to what we do. Is this something that can be addressed more holistically perhaps?
And so, as readers of b2d may know, there's a growing movement around "less is more" for foot wear, and indeed "free your feet" anytime of day, and in sports like running as well (with the b2d index of vibram fivefingers stories as a wee illustration) - where the emphasis is on (a) trust our own engineering and (b) work actively with our own engineering to improve it, rather than rely on prosthetics. Prosthetics *may* have knock on consequences, like reinforcing rather than solving an issue.
More Support for Less Support? So it was with happiness that i received the note from Chris from Conditioning research on a Science Daily story: Running Shoes May Cause Damage to Knees, Hips and Ankles, New Study Suggests. Ah good! a study that shoes what we of the Free Your Feet persuasion have been saying for some time. One more piece in the Trust your Foot - it's engineering is older than a shoe company's. There's a study i covered from the summer that showed as well that no matter what shoes for what supposed gait issues a person had, they didn't reduce incidence of injury. That's an important result, since of course these special shoe designs are all supposed to do exactly that: help reduce injuries.
I've written before about why any kind of thick padding and movement restricting of the joints of the food would have a hard time reducing injury when it so limits proprioceptive feedback (our positioning/speed in space), so it's not a surprise that more work is finding specific results showing other issues with running shoes.
Violent Agreement. The following day of the above post, Chris sent me another pointer, this time to Amby Burfoot, a runner's world editor at large commenting on the "dismal science" of the original study. The response is on the Runners World.com blog. And so i was taken aback when the author accused the study's author of being biased because she'd developed a flat shoe.
It's pretty hard to get more circumspect about findings that this. Indeed the study concludes with
Right. The same result does not always mean the same process is operating to get that result. And that's just force not torque. But even so, so what? And even more, how possible is it to sustain that tension in a run over time/distance? Burfoot's a runner. How long is it possible to keep up tension when running distances, if that's what's causing less of a strike force or less of a joint torque? It may be possible to psych up and hold forces for one jump at a time, but continuous running?
Is there a Problem Here? Well, the big question is which approach is better for less injuries. Thing is, we don't know. We have lots more data on footwear than on minimal footwear or no footwear. It's a current area of research. AND KERRIGAN'S STUDY ISN'T OVER CLAIMING ANYTHING. It's: here's the data; in the discussion, we THINK this is what it might mean. There are limits to these results, and we may need to check that further.
Burfoot doesn't like that Kerrigan says that the forces at the knee measured in this study of sneakers are higher than those measured comparing highheels to non. He says walking is different than running. True. But the comparisons are RELATIVE. Walking is compared to walking and running to running. And that does indeed as Kerrigan says "represent substantial biomechanical changes" and Kerrigan's paper also states "However, given the substantial increases, there may be other factors as well." How about that. Multifactor thinking.
What Kerrigan's work has done is provide some data to have for later correlations when we start to get bare or near barefoot running population study results.
Anecdotally i know more folks than not who say going to things like vibram fivefingers has improved their experience of stability and confidence and speed and movement and...
Burfoot says he's in favour of as little shoe'ing as possible,
But all that aside, there's a few more things to think about here in a post finally about single factor thinking. And unlike Kerrigan's speculation about her team's results and their meanings for injury, burfoot has certain certanties, like the last point about "that's the only shoe that will work for them"
Which finally brings me back around to Single Factor Thinking. Here, it's the shoe is the solution. Maybe that's not what Burfoot meant entirely, but when we consider the context of Runner's World again, that's certainly what Runner's World's content is about. The Shoe is the Solution.
Final Fallacy? Let's ask the question WHY would that Beast be "the only shoe that would work for them"? Burfoot doesn't say what "works" means. Is it because their foot position is shite according to some norm, and this shoe is trying to oh i dunno correct stride? to maybe oh reduce injuries? when we KNOW that no specific shoe design does that? It seems that such an assertion is kind of at least partially crap.
Burfoot talks about "an experiment of one" quoting running guru George Sheehan. Well ok, what's the value of an experiment of one? In most cases in science it's zip. zero. nada. And a poorly designed experiment with such a tiny population is even worse. So what IS the experiment of one here supposed to be to determine "works"?
To go try on a bunch of shoes and say "this is the shoe hat 'works' for me" is a pretty crap trial if the Shoe is the Single Factor in the assessment - and if all what one is going for is a comfortable feeling shoe. Unless of course you're not trying on a bunch of shoes, but the sales person has already said "you overpronate; you should only try these" so your selection has just gone down. How many people have said those spring loaded Nikes are the best shoe that works for them? Or what about those totally inflexible Masai's? What are the measures of the experiment there as one's back continues to ache? But they feet feel great so heck you have the right shoes?
That's just poor study design - if you're interested in the performance of an entire system, not just the foot.
If the Shoe Fits as More Single Factor Thinking Kerrigan's group's study's conclusions aren't my happy place either, personally, but close. Their take away is that shoe design has focused on the foot's mechanics to the exclusion of the rest of the gait - or at least the knee. One joint further up the chain. Her work is saying that for good or ill those designs are having knock on effects up the chain. And for her, designing a shoe that minimizes those effects seems like a good idea.
Ok, what potentially debilitating effect of switching to barefoot running? The "potentially debilitating effect of switching to barefoot running" sounds so much like the same old rationales for selling cushy sneakers in the first place. Be afraid. Be very afraid of putting your foot down in a running gait without some kind of Protection.
Getting Shod of Being Shod Here's an idea: start with your bare feet. Are you happy walking around in your bare feet? Neutral? Great. Why not move more that way? Why not find shoes that will enable that to happen? Some folks even recommend progressions - from whatever one is in now, to Nike Frees, and from there to thin soled shoes like running flats, and then to Vibram FiveFingers, and THEN - gosh, ya just gotta try au naturale as PART of a program of enhanced mobility?
In my experience working with athletes who have running issues, the ONLY time i've seen going to a no shoe (what Burfoot prefers) is when they've had some particular issue with a bone or otherwise that requires more often than not some cushioning and some support TEMPORARILY as they work out of PAIN AND work on other parts of their movement.
The Non Single Factor. In one case, this working towards let's call it raw or natural movement involved strategies to address inflamation (some diet changes in that case), some movement work, AND some foot orthotics and very neutral shoes with cushioning as said to help move the person out of pain.
In other cases, dealing with achiles issues, i've seen folks slowly, progressively moving into shoes that pass the twist test (bend from one end to the other, not just at the ball; twist like ringing out a tea towel) as PART of their rehab experience accelerated recovery.
And more, folks who have switched to twist test passing footwear as PART of a program to better global movement also seem to report other aches etc going.
So i'm not going to claim that better quality of physical life is all down to twist passing footwear - that would be single factor - but why that footwear seems to help is that it lets us find a truth about our movement, work with that movement, improve that movement, and not have a device like a shoe type mess up that work. In fact by using the most flexible footware possible for the person, it seems, we get a whole lot more reps for our bodies to practice that movement.
I say this typing having hoofed it up to work in a pair of vivo boots (snowing outside) and having changed into a pair of VFF's for the office. So it is possible to respect our feet even in winter weather. Snow shoe boots with rubber grips are also awesome possibilities.
So my combo? As i've suggested many times now:
The above list does not take into account all of the other factors that can play havoc with movement quality/injury suseptibility like nutrition, rest, stress, recovery etc. All of these things need to be considered as well as part of the whole system. My wee combo set is that a more rich place to begin thinking about running, is to think about running, the whole movement - and moving well - and looking at how to enhance that for ourselves rather than hitting a crutch first - especially one that has been shown to have no effect on the very thing it's been claimed to do: reduce injuries.
citations
Kerrigan, D., Franz, J., Keenan, G., Dicharry, J., Della Croce, U., & Wilder, R. (2009). The Effect of Running Shoes on Lower Extremity Joint Torques PM&R, 1 (12), 1058-1063 DOI: 10.1016/j.pmrj.2009.09.011
Knapik JJ, Swedler DI, Grier TL, Hauret KG, Bullock SH, Williams KW, Darakjy SS, Lester ME, Tobler SK, & Jones BH (2009). Injury reduction effectiveness of selecting running shoes based on plantar shape. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association, 23 (3), 685-97 PMID: 19387413 Tweet Follow @begin2dig
This is a post about Shoes not as evil, but as it seems a Great Feat of Misdirection. It's a wee bit about our biases towards single factor solutions for complex problems, and the arguments we will have around the Chosen Factor rather than pulling up and back to consider the wider view. In science, there's a strong bias towards studying the effect of a single factor in various circumstances, but you'll rarely find a scientist who will say that single factor study or finding is The Solution - as we'll see below. That's down usually to the media who tries to promote such results, or companies that like the sound of same.We are such complex (and complicated) organisms, yet we yearn for the Single Factor Solution to complex issues. We usually see this with respect to struggles for fat loss, where single approaches - the right diet, the right workout, the right diet pill, the right diet surgery - are put to address what involves a cornucopia of issues, as described here just the other day. The same single factor thinking is evident in running shoes, too. The Shoe is the Solution. Get the Right Shoe before daring a Run. And so this post focuses around a response to a study. About sneakers.
So let's back up: why putitively are there so many durn sneakers out there such that there are studies about their effects? Selling that great shoe that's just right for your running gait peculiarities to reduce injury and let you run like blazes is of course an important thing. And of course the more you can afford the better the protection you can buy. More cushioning, more multiparts of rubber density in the sole etc etc. Or so the sales pitch goes.
But this is also a kind of single factor approach to good mechanics for running. It says let the shoe take care of any weirdness in your gait, cuz that's just the way you are, you're stuck, and so need to be "corrected" . That's a much faster solution (seemingly) than taking the more complex view of IF something is off with the gait that may be problematic for performance, how best deal with that? After all, we're plastic people, as Woolf's Law and Davis's Law have shown: bone and tissue are responsive to what we do. Is this something that can be addressed more holistically perhaps?And so, as readers of b2d may know, there's a growing movement around "less is more" for foot wear, and indeed "free your feet" anytime of day, and in sports like running as well (with the b2d index of vibram fivefingers stories as a wee illustration) - where the emphasis is on (a) trust our own engineering and (b) work actively with our own engineering to improve it, rather than rely on prosthetics. Prosthetics *may* have knock on consequences, like reinforcing rather than solving an issue.
More Support for Less Support? So it was with happiness that i received the note from Chris from Conditioning research on a Science Daily story: Running Shoes May Cause Damage to Knees, Hips and Ankles, New Study Suggests. Ah good! a study that shoes what we of the Free Your Feet persuasion have been saying for some time. One more piece in the Trust your Foot - it's engineering is older than a shoe company's. There's a study i covered from the summer that showed as well that no matter what shoes for what supposed gait issues a person had, they didn't reduce incidence of injury. That's an important result, since of course these special shoe designs are all supposed to do exactly that: help reduce injuries.
I've written before about why any kind of thick padding and movement restricting of the joints of the food would have a hard time reducing injury when it so limits proprioceptive feedback (our positioning/speed in space), so it's not a surprise that more work is finding specific results showing other issues with running shoes.
Violent Agreement. The following day of the above post, Chris sent me another pointer, this time to Amby Burfoot, a runner's world editor at large commenting on the "dismal science" of the original study. The response is on the Runners World.com blog. And so i was taken aback when the author accused the study's author of being biased because she'd developed a flat shoe.
This from an editor of runner's world, where the companies best selling issues are their seasonal reviews of new shoes? Likewise, Kerrigan's disclosed company's technology is not what's studied in the reported experiments. It's pretty hard to find a scientist who doesn't formulate a hypothesis or an objective before beginning a study. What was Kerrigan's?
I'm not calling Kerrigan and Richards liars. Far from it, I agree with Richards's conclusion. But we should understand the motivation behind their writing and their research projects.
Objective: To determine the effect of modern-day running shoes on lower extremity joint torques during running.And what were the conclusions?
The findings at the knee suggest relatively greater pressures at anatomical sites that are typically more prone to knee osteoarthritis, the medial and patellofemoral compartments. It is important to note the limitations of these findings and of current 3-dimensional gait analysis in general, that only resultant joint torques were assessed. It is unknown to what extent actual joint contact forces could be affected by compliance that a shoe might provide, a potentially valuable design characteristic that may offset the observed increases in joint torques.Ok - knees are places that are more prone to a certain type of nasty arthritis. You'd think that more force at the knee would be problematic. We don't know, but we can say that there's more force with running shoes than not, but heck we only have the start of a partial picture here, and something more we'd need to know to enhance footware design we still don't have.
It's pretty hard to get more circumspect about findings that this. Indeed the study concludes with
Although increased repetitive loading has been shown to be a critical factor for the degeneration of articular cartilage at the knee, the forces experienced by distance runners have not been consistently found to increase the risk of onset of knee OA.But it seems Burfoot is not happy, saying that you can't make connections between forces and injuries. Kerrigan isn't saying that, but Burfoot points to a study where supposedly athletes were asked to jump onto matts they were told were of varying thicknesses, when they were all the same, and the forces measured varied according to one hypothesis goes - expectation - so various degrees of relaxation rather than tensing pre jump had effects on forces. Remember - this is an hypothesis of what's going on. But Burfoot instead says that the same thing is happening in Kerrigan's study BECAUSE the results are the same in terms of more padding; higher forces; less padding more tensed forces. etc.
Right. The same result does not always mean the same process is operating to get that result. And that's just force not torque. But even so, so what? And even more, how possible is it to sustain that tension in a run over time/distance? Burfoot's a runner. How long is it possible to keep up tension when running distances, if that's what's causing less of a strike force or less of a joint torque? It may be possible to psych up and hold forces for one jump at a time, but continuous running?
Is there a Problem Here? Well, the big question is which approach is better for less injuries. Thing is, we don't know. We have lots more data on footwear than on minimal footwear or no footwear. It's a current area of research. AND KERRIGAN'S STUDY ISN'T OVER CLAIMING ANYTHING. It's: here's the data; in the discussion, we THINK this is what it might mean. There are limits to these results, and we may need to check that further.
Burfoot doesn't like that Kerrigan says that the forces at the knee measured in this study of sneakers are higher than those measured comparing highheels to non. He says walking is different than running. True. But the comparisons are RELATIVE. Walking is compared to walking and running to running. And that does indeed as Kerrigan says "represent substantial biomechanical changes" and Kerrigan's paper also states "However, given the substantial increases, there may be other factors as well." How about that. Multifactor thinking.
What Kerrigan's work has done is provide some data to have for later correlations when we start to get bare or near barefoot running population study results.
Anecdotally i know more folks than not who say going to things like vibram fivefingers has improved their experience of stability and confidence and speed and movement and...
Burfoot says he's in favour of as little shoe'ing as possible,
That said, I agree with her apparent position on one important point: Much of what we put under our feet has the potential to do more harm than good. You can't "raise the platform" without increasing instabilities. When you build one of those house-of-cards structures, the higher you go, the closer you get to collapse.Wow, so all that article comes down to agreement about the main tenants of the "interested party"s findings. Strum and Drang in a teapot?
I believe many of us should buy the lowest-tech running shoe we can get away with. For the few who live in Shangri-La, that might mean no shoe at all. For others, it might mean a simple racing flat. For others, the very Brooks Adrenalines that were used in Kerrigan's study.
But some runners shouldn't even look at any shoe other the Brooks Beast, or a similarly built-up shoe. Because, in their experiment of one, that's the only shoe that will work for them
But all that aside, there's a few more things to think about here in a post finally about single factor thinking. And unlike Kerrigan's speculation about her team's results and their meanings for injury, burfoot has certain certanties, like the last point about "that's the only shoe that will work for them"
Which finally brings me back around to Single Factor Thinking. Here, it's the shoe is the solution. Maybe that's not what Burfoot meant entirely, but when we consider the context of Runner's World again, that's certainly what Runner's World's content is about. The Shoe is the Solution.
Final Fallacy? Let's ask the question WHY would that Beast be "the only shoe that would work for them"? Burfoot doesn't say what "works" means. Is it because their foot position is shite according to some norm, and this shoe is trying to oh i dunno correct stride? to maybe oh reduce injuries? when we KNOW that no specific shoe design does that? It seems that such an assertion is kind of at least partially crap.
Burfoot talks about "an experiment of one" quoting running guru George Sheehan. Well ok, what's the value of an experiment of one? In most cases in science it's zip. zero. nada. And a poorly designed experiment with such a tiny population is even worse. So what IS the experiment of one here supposed to be to determine "works"?
To go try on a bunch of shoes and say "this is the shoe hat 'works' for me" is a pretty crap trial if the Shoe is the Single Factor in the assessment - and if all what one is going for is a comfortable feeling shoe. Unless of course you're not trying on a bunch of shoes, but the sales person has already said "you overpronate; you should only try these" so your selection has just gone down. How many people have said those spring loaded Nikes are the best shoe that works for them? Or what about those totally inflexible Masai's? What are the measures of the experiment there as one's back continues to ache? But they feet feel great so heck you have the right shoes?
That's just poor study design - if you're interested in the performance of an entire system, not just the foot.
If the Shoe Fits as More Single Factor Thinking Kerrigan's group's study's conclusions aren't my happy place either, personally, but close. Their take away is that shoe design has focused on the foot's mechanics to the exclusion of the rest of the gait - or at least the knee. One joint further up the chain. Her work is saying that for good or ill those designs are having knock on effects up the chain. And for her, designing a shoe that minimizes those effects seems like a good idea.
The development of new footwear designs that encourage or mimic the natural compliance that normal foot function provides while minimizing knee and hip joint torques is warranted. Reducing joint torques with footwear completely to that of barefoot running, while providing meaningful footwear functions, especially compliance, should be the goal of new footwear designs.Gosh, that sounds like vibram fivefingers - for example - to me. Just get out of the way of the foot. But then we have tricky words like "compliance " as "meaningful footware functions." Hmm. One can now go to kerrigan's company's page for what she thinks is a good compromise answer for the problem that, "The use of athletic footwear in running as a means to protect the foot from acute injury and the potentially debilitating effect of switching to barefoot running on foot health excludes such an alternative"
Ok, what potentially debilitating effect of switching to barefoot running? The "potentially debilitating effect of switching to barefoot running" sounds so much like the same old rationales for selling cushy sneakers in the first place. Be afraid. Be very afraid of putting your foot down in a running gait without some kind of Protection.
Getting Shod of Being Shod Here's an idea: start with your bare feet. Are you happy walking around in your bare feet? Neutral? Great. Why not move more that way? Why not find shoes that will enable that to happen? Some folks even recommend progressions - from whatever one is in now, to Nike Frees, and from there to thin soled shoes like running flats, and then to Vibram FiveFingers, and THEN - gosh, ya just gotta try au naturale as PART of a program of enhanced mobility?
In my experience working with athletes who have running issues, the ONLY time i've seen going to a no shoe (what Burfoot prefers) is when they've had some particular issue with a bone or otherwise that requires more often than not some cushioning and some support TEMPORARILY as they work out of PAIN AND work on other parts of their movement.
The Non Single Factor. In one case, this working towards let's call it raw or natural movement involved strategies to address inflamation (some diet changes in that case), some movement work, AND some foot orthotics and very neutral shoes with cushioning as said to help move the person out of pain.
In other cases, dealing with achiles issues, i've seen folks slowly, progressively moving into shoes that pass the twist test (bend from one end to the other, not just at the ball; twist like ringing out a tea towel) as PART of their rehab experience accelerated recovery.
And more, folks who have switched to twist test passing footwear as PART of a program to better global movement also seem to report other aches etc going.
So i'm not going to claim that better quality of physical life is all down to twist passing footwear - that would be single factor - but why that footwear seems to help is that it lets us find a truth about our movement, work with that movement, improve that movement, and not have a device like a shoe type mess up that work. In fact by using the most flexible footware possible for the person, it seems, we get a whole lot more reps for our bodies to practice that movement.
I say this typing having hoofed it up to work in a pair of vivo boots (snowing outside) and having changed into a pair of VFF's for the office. So it is possible to respect our feet even in winter weather. Snow shoe boots with rubber grips are also awesome possibilities.
So my combo? As i've suggested many times now:
- - get a movement assessment to check out your WHOLE way of moving so you're not, as gray cook says, putting strength on top of dysfunction. Such an assessment will give you some strategies/movements to practice to optimize your athletic movement. Here's a list of z-health movement coaches (i do video consults too via skype - email me, link end of post)
- - take up a mobility practice to support and enhance full joint well being for better movemen and injury prevention. Some folks like t'ai Chi and related. Sure. i like z-health. Here's why in comparison with those other approaches.
- - move towards footwear that increasingly passes the twist test (gets closer to letting our feet be our feet without interuption). CAVEAT If anything causes pain/discomfort, stop, go back a step, slow down. Check with your movement specialist. Pain is a signal to change. So worth attending.
The above list does not take into account all of the other factors that can play havoc with movement quality/injury suseptibility like nutrition, rest, stress, recovery etc. All of these things need to be considered as well as part of the whole system. My wee combo set is that a more rich place to begin thinking about running, is to think about running, the whole movement - and moving well - and looking at how to enhance that for ourselves rather than hitting a crutch first - especially one that has been shown to have no effect on the very thing it's been claimed to do: reduce injuries.
citations
Kerrigan, D., Franz, J., Keenan, G., Dicharry, J., Della Croce, U., & Wilder, R. (2009). The Effect of Running Shoes on Lower Extremity Joint Torques PM&R, 1 (12), 1058-1063 DOI: 10.1016/j.pmrj.2009.09.011
Knapik JJ, Swedler DI, Grier TL, Hauret KG, Bullock SH, Williams KW, Darakjy SS, Lester ME, Tobler SK, & Jones BH (2009). Injury reduction effectiveness of selecting running shoes based on plantar shape. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association, 23 (3), 685-97 PMID: 19387413 Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The Changing Foot of the Vibram FiveFingeres Wearer: Review of feet size change over time
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I've been wearing Vibram 
FiveFingers (VFF's) for about a year now. Yup, a year. While the challenge of what to do out doors when either sub zero or wet wintery are still a mystery, wearing these shoes for this length of time has let me observe/experience an intriguing phenomena about which i've seen little (ok no) comment: feet changing size.
I'll say right now that i measure my feet by my second toe - happens to be the longest (tips on fitting VFF's here). Thus i have room in my VFF's in the big toe pocket. So much so that wearing the same size VFF's with or without socks was no problem. Initially. Something happened in mid may after wearing VFF's indoors from nov - march, and then just all the time from march - may. My vff's with sox started to feel small. On the right foot only and mainly pulling on the big toe. Where i'd had room.
I didn't know how to make sense of this. At a z-heath s-phase cert talking with DC Eric Cobb, i asked if one's foot size could change in shifting shoe types. Oh yes, he laughed. Great. Fortunately summer weather was coming and the sox could be dispensed with and the shoes were ok again.
Now it's getting cold, sox are coming back on and funny thing, the vff's (mainly the kso's) do not seem to be as tight now. Have they stretched out?
I asked z-health master trainer Zachariah Salazar at another recent z-health ho down - and a guy who's almost as footwear fanatical as i am - and he said that he's watched his feet change in both directions: as his shoes got flatter and more open, the feet got longer/bigger. But now, he says, as his muscles seem to be readapting in the feet again, they're pulling back in as his shoe size has come back down again. Perhaps that's what's happening with my feet - a re, re-adjustment.
Dunno. But it's interesting. I recently got to try on a pair one size up in the kso with socks. i'm sure this is what the current size *used* to feel like. time to think upping the size for winter wear - but they don't even feel that big without the sox. yup there's been a change in me, as the song goes.
Any other VFF wearers out there had any similar experiences?
Please post your foot size changing experiences.
Related Posts:
FiveFingers (VFF's) for about a year now. Yup, a year. While the challenge of what to do out doors when either sub zero or wet wintery are still a mystery, wearing these shoes for this length of time has let me observe/experience an intriguing phenomena about which i've seen little (ok no) comment: feet changing size.I'll say right now that i measure my feet by my second toe - happens to be the longest (tips on fitting VFF's here). Thus i have room in my VFF's in the big toe pocket. So much so that wearing the same size VFF's with or without socks was no problem. Initially. Something happened in mid may after wearing VFF's indoors from nov - march, and then just all the time from march - may. My vff's with sox started to feel small. On the right foot only and mainly pulling on the big toe. Where i'd had room.
I didn't know how to make sense of this. At a z-heath s-phase cert talking with DC Eric Cobb, i asked if one's foot size could change in shifting shoe types. Oh yes, he laughed. Great. Fortunately summer weather was coming and the sox could be dispensed with and the shoes were ok again.Now it's getting cold, sox are coming back on and funny thing, the vff's (mainly the kso's) do not seem to be as tight now. Have they stretched out?
I asked z-health master trainer Zachariah Salazar at another recent z-health ho down - and a guy who's almost as footwear fanatical as i am - and he said that he's watched his feet change in both directions: as his shoes got flatter and more open, the feet got longer/bigger. But now, he says, as his muscles seem to be readapting in the feet again, they're pulling back in as his shoe size has come back down again. Perhaps that's what's happening with my feet - a re, re-adjustment.
Dunno. But it's interesting. I recently got to try on a pair one size up in the kso with socks. i'm sure this is what the current size *used* to feel like. time to think upping the size for winter wear - but they don't even feel that big without the sox. yup there's been a change in me, as the song goes.
Any other VFF wearers out there had any similar experiences?
Please post your foot size changing experiences.
Related Posts:
- a year's worth of VFF articles at begin2dig
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Vibrams FiveFingers Update: Airports and Running up that Hill - in winter?
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Well, after months of successful walkthroughs through security at international airports in VFF's with no footwear removal requests, i finally hit an airport - Phoenix Arizona - where the staff said "those are classified as shoes; take them off" Is there no end to the in(s)anity? Is it ridiculous to see thin-soled foot wear as possible explosive material? is there a rationale for this? or have these folks jumped the shark? So just to note, at least one airport is catching wise to VFF's. Drat. What's your experience been? On the plus side more positive running experiences:
Of late i've been trying to gate my runs to be able to maintain breathing in through my nose throughout. I dunno, but they sure feel less stressful, easier, when this becomes the limiter for
just transport runs (getting from a to b). Anyone else tried this? The pattern seems to go so well with the forefoot touch of VFF running
And what about hills and running up them? The VFF barefoot run pattern also seems to make hills less obdurate, smoother. I know that VFF is just enabling this style; it's not because of the shoes. I know i know. But. Without these i'd nay have discovered these changes.
As to those changes no doubt most of you have seen this comparison video on an evil treadmill, but in case not, here goes again.
Winter Wet and VFF Strategy?
I have a question as well: what are VFF faithful going to do for footwear when winter hits? Whether that's winter in Seattle/UK where the rain it raineth every day (and of personal interest), or in the Great White North where it's just dam cold (at least there are rubber footed snowshoe boots that can be brought to bear on city streets - effectively cheap moccasins with some tread). But what are you all doing? Post a comment and please let me know.
thanks
mc
ps
Thanks to birthdayshoes.com Justin for the early alert about women's KSO Trek's making it to The Rest of Us in early 2010. If any gals have experience fitting the boys Treks, please share.
Related Posts
Well, after months of successful walkthroughs through security at international airports in VFF's with no footwear removal requests, i finally hit an airport - Phoenix Arizona - where the staff said "those are classified as shoes; take them off" Is there no end to the in(s)anity? Is it ridiculous to see thin-soled foot wear as possible explosive material? is there a rationale for this? or have these folks jumped the shark? So just to note, at least one airport is catching wise to VFF's. Drat. What's your experience been? On the plus side more positive running experiences:Of late i've been trying to gate my runs to be able to maintain breathing in through my nose throughout. I dunno, but they sure feel less stressful, easier, when this becomes the limiter for
just transport runs (getting from a to b). Anyone else tried this? The pattern seems to go so well with the forefoot touch of VFF runningAnd what about hills and running up them? The VFF barefoot run pattern also seems to make hills less obdurate, smoother. I know that VFF is just enabling this style; it's not because of the shoes. I know i know. But. Without these i'd nay have discovered these changes.
As to those changes no doubt most of you have seen this comparison video on an evil treadmill, but in case not, here goes again.
Winter Wet and VFF Strategy?
I have a question as well: what are VFF faithful going to do for footwear when winter hits? Whether that's winter in Seattle/UK where the rain it raineth every day (and of personal interest), or in the Great White North where it's just dam cold (at least there are rubber footed snowshoe boots that can be brought to bear on city streets - effectively cheap moccasins with some tread). But what are you all doing? Post a comment and please let me know.
thanks
mc
ps
Thanks to birthdayshoes.com Justin for the early alert about women's KSO Trek's making it to The Rest of Us in early 2010. If any gals have experience fitting the boys Treks, please share.
Related Posts
- the entire B2D VFF article index
- and of course birthdayshoes.com
Sunday, October 4, 2009
B2D Readers: b2d slight reorg & invitation for you
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Hello b2d readers, grok'ers, folks who've subscribed by reader or email, and folks dropping by. Just wanted to let you know i've reorganized b2d a little bit to make it into what i hope will be a more efficient resource for you: adding Related posts to the end of articles for browsing a larger context, adding standing article indices to make browsing b2d easier, and casting an open invitation for your queries.
Related Posts
lately, i've been adding links at the end of new posts to other sources of info related to that post to provide a broader context. As i hit previous articles, i'm working on inserting related posts into older articles, too.
Indices
The main change to b2d has been to create several standing indices of b2d articles. They seem to have gathered around about 5 topics, soi've moved and extended the rather truncated article listings that used to be in the right hand column into these persistent reference pages, on these five topics:
Related to these more neurological emphases are the more pragmatic fitness and nutrition articles. These are in the large, i think, articles that review research literature around best practice. Within fitness, the remarkable mechanism of the kettlebell, the practice of which seems to lead to so much incredible performance self-knowledge is its own topic. That's one place i feel a little more comfortable reflecting on my own experiences, and hope they may prove useful for others, too.
These new indices are listed in the right hand column, under "b2d Article Indices" just a wee bit of a scroll down from the top of the page.
Search & Browse Too.
While the new "it's in here somewhere" Google-based blog Search makes it easy to find articles you suspect are in b2d, the article indices are planned as ways to let readers browse around a bit to get a sense of what's in b2d - they're not likely exhaustive but indicative.
They'll stay fresh as i'll update them regularly as newer material is posted.
This standing list of article lists also saves some space on the right hand column so that the column can be scrolled through a little more effectively too, i hope.
Other ways of browsing are by the month links at the bottom of the right hand column. IF you're curious to the road dug so far a person can click on the earliest month/year posted. I think the article indices may be easier to browse for content however.
Invitation to B2D readers: what's your question
More than anything, each index comes with an invitation: if you have a query about one of the index topics, and it's not covered in the articles in one of the related indices, please post a query in a comment for that index.
For instance, if you have a kettlebell question that's not covered in a b2d article in the kettlebell index, please post a question in the comments, and i'll put it on the stack for an article, or try to reply on the spot - i have the happy good fortune to know far more knowledgeable people in these topics than myself and will be pleased to try to find a reply.
Thanks again for visiting &/or subscribing to B2D.
best
mc Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Related Posts
lately, i've been adding links at the end of new posts to other sources of info related to that post to provide a broader context. As i hit previous articles, i'm working on inserting related posts into older articles, too.
Indices
The main change to b2d has been to create several standing indices of b2d articles. They seem to have gathered around about 5 topics, soi've moved and extended the rather truncated article listings that used to be in the right hand column into these persistent reference pages, on these five topics:
- vibram fivefingers - from fitting to wearing and the neural adaptations in between
- z-health - what is it, what are the various certs/dvds/phases about and its application
- kettlebells - firing the lats, press clean up, vo2max work and so on
- general fitness - mainly research overviews and reflections
- nutrition (forthcoming)
Related to these more neurological emphases are the more pragmatic fitness and nutrition articles. These are in the large, i think, articles that review research literature around best practice. Within fitness, the remarkable mechanism of the kettlebell, the practice of which seems to lead to so much incredible performance self-knowledge is its own topic. That's one place i feel a little more comfortable reflecting on my own experiences, and hope they may prove useful for others, too.
These new indices are listed in the right hand column, under "b2d Article Indices" just a wee bit of a scroll down from the top of the page.
Search & Browse Too.
While the new "it's in here somewhere" Google-based blog Search makes it easy to find articles you suspect are in b2d, the article indices are planned as ways to let readers browse around a bit to get a sense of what's in b2d - they're not likely exhaustive but indicative.
They'll stay fresh as i'll update them regularly as newer material is posted.
This standing list of article lists also saves some space on the right hand column so that the column can be scrolled through a little more effectively too, i hope.
Other ways of browsing are by the month links at the bottom of the right hand column. IF you're curious to the road dug so far a person can click on the earliest month/year posted. I think the article indices may be easier to browse for content however.
Invitation to B2D readers: what's your question
More than anything, each index comes with an invitation: if you have a query about one of the index topics, and it's not covered in the articles in one of the related indices, please post a query in a comment for that index.
For instance, if you have a kettlebell question that's not covered in a b2d article in the kettlebell index, please post a question in the comments, and i'll put it on the stack for an article, or try to reply on the spot - i have the happy good fortune to know far more knowledgeable people in these topics than myself and will be pleased to try to find a reply.
Thanks again for visiting &/or subscribing to B2D.
best
mc Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Vibram FiveFingers and Longboarding. Cool!
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Hello begin2dig readers! do any of you Longboard? Isn't it wild? What do you wear on your feet? It seems this is another application for Vibram FiveFingers.
Flat shoes i understand are de rigeur for longboarding, skateboarding, but i figured, what the heck? since balance is such a big deal with skateboards, it seemed sensible to try to get as much proprioceptive response
to my brain as possible to keep me from crashing, so why not keep those feet as flexible as possible?
Et voila! success. The concept of hanging 5 or 10 is a reality with these things.
I am literally gripping the side of the board with my toes to help maneuver it - it's instinctual: ya just grip the deck with yur toes.
Now i'm a total longboarding newbie, with thanks to Z-Health Master Trainer Lou McGovern for helping me figure out a board to begin to get to grips with skating in the 21st C. If you're in san diego and want to improve your sport performance or get outa pain so you can improve your movement generally and athletically, Lou is awesome, smart, gentle, super duper knowledgeable jedi.
Just FYI, the board is a highly transportable (fit in overhead bin of plane oh yeah) sector9 bambino board. Made of bambo. This is kinda cool as instead of being a long growing hardish wood like the redoubtable canadian maple used in most boards, bambo is effectively a weed. It grows fast.
SO far i've stayed on the board, or been able to run ahead of it for stopping. I've
learned quickly there's a difference between being thrown off and running to stay upright and running off at my own choosing. I am also learning how to put my foot down in the approved foot breaking fashion to stop, but that seems harder on the knee/ankle than just a controlled run off? I must be doing it wrong :( sigh.
Flat shoes i understand are de rigeur for longboarding, skateboarding, but i figured, what the heck? since balance is such a big deal with skateboards, it seemed sensible to try to get as much proprioceptive response
to my brain as possible to keep me from crashing, so why not keep those feet as flexible as possible?Et voila! success. The concept of hanging 5 or 10 is a reality with these things.
I am literally gripping the side of the board with my toes to help maneuver it - it's instinctual: ya just grip the deck with yur toes.
Now i'm a total longboarding newbie, with thanks to Z-Health Master Trainer Lou McGovern for helping me figure out a board to begin to get to grips with skating in the 21st C. If you're in san diego and want to improve your sport performance or get outa pain so you can improve your movement generally and athletically, Lou is awesome, smart, gentle, super duper knowledgeable jedi.
Just FYI, the board is a highly transportable (fit in overhead bin of plane oh yeah) sector9 bambino board. Made of bambo. This is kinda cool as instead of being a long growing hardish wood like the redoubtable canadian maple used in most boards, bambo is effectively a weed. It grows fast.
SO far i've stayed on the board, or been able to run ahead of it for stopping. I've
learned quickly there's a difference between being thrown off and running to stay upright and running off at my own choosing. I am also learning how to put my foot down in the approved foot breaking fashion to stop, but that seems harder on the knee/ankle than just a controlled run off? I must be doing it wrong :( sigh.I am also curious to learn how pushing all the time with one side affects the body. Is it better to spend time learning how to skate ambidextrously? or simply always move downhill.
Z-Health: the Proprioception connection
I'm also interested to know if practicing proprioceptive stuff like z-health (about z-health) and wearing vff's (all the time) means that i may be getting the hang of this skill a little quicker than i would have otherwise. I haven't fallen off, but that may mean i'm just cautious. SO dunno, but things seem to be going better and faster than i'd anticipated, and wow it's fun. It's even fun to look up at the same time as moving forward.
Related Posts:
Z-Health: the Proprioception connection
I'm also interested to know if practicing proprioceptive stuff like z-health (about z-health) and wearing vff's (all the time) means that i may be getting the hang of this skill a little quicker than i would have otherwise. I haven't fallen off, but that may mean i'm just cautious. SO dunno, but things seem to be going better and faster than i'd anticipated, and wow it's fun. It's even fun to look up at the same time as moving forward.
Related Posts:
- Z-Health: what is it article index
- Vibram Five Fingers: how to fit them, reviews after months of wearing and more article index
- video of what longboarding's supposed to look like:
Monday, September 7, 2009
The Vibram Five Fingers B2D Article Index
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How fit VFFs? How do they feel after months of real wear? Is there any science behind why going this close to bare is a good idea? What's the relation between vibram fivefingers and pose running? Can you get through an airport security check with them on?
It occurred to me i've written a few articles about Vibram FiveFingers - from fitting them to wearing them in various conditions.
Thought it might be useful to have an article that keeps tabs of them all in one place:
How to Fit Each of Vibram's FiveFingers models (as of summer 2009) - and with Injini socks.
Changing Foot Size of the VFF wearer. 1 year on.
Keep your Vibram FiveFingers ON.
Vibram FiveFingers and Pose running.
This leads to an invited article at birthdayshoes.com on connecting Z-health practice with VFF benefits, and kinda circles back to that VFF five months on review.
Vibram FiveFingers and Longboarding
Barefoot Running - More Vid and Scholarly Analysis (it's da bomb)
Hope this proves a useful index.
Looking forward to the new models coming out in another month or so for Oct 09.
Related Posts:
How fit VFFs? How do they feel after months of real wear? Is there any science behind why going this close to bare is a good idea? What's the relation between vibram fivefingers and pose running? Can you get through an airport security check with them on?It occurred to me i've written a few articles about Vibram FiveFingers - from fitting them to wearing them in various conditions.
Thought it might be useful to have an article that keeps tabs of them all in one place:
How to Fit Each of Vibram's FiveFingers models (as of summer 2009) - and with Injini socks.
This article started it all: facing the conundrum of figuring out fit when in a mail order situation, and then figuring out some good shops for mail ordering these awesome shoes.Review after five months of Vibram FiveFingers daily wear
I'm still pretty astounded by the affect of these things on gait and sense of well being.VFF free foot massage
Changing Foot Size of the VFF wearer. 1 year on.
has your foot changed size - more than once - with vffs?
Keep your Vibram FiveFingers ON.
Cold weather dry is cool. And VFF's still prove the best way to get through airport security without being asked to take off your shoes.What to do in Winter; Airports Catching On; Running Up that Hill
Vibram FiveFingers and Pose running.
Beyond how it seems VFF's just lend themselves to pose running, yes, you can run in these on sidewalks and concrete and feel just fine.The biggie: *why* going barefoot in VFF's is such a good idea for neurological well being.
This leads to an invited article at birthdayshoes.com on connecting Z-health practice with VFF benefits, and kinda circles back to that VFF five months on review.
Vibram FiveFingers and Longboarding
Wearing VFF's while longboarding? why not? Proprioceptive goodness.
Do running shoe TYPES reduce injury? How bout no.
Do running shoe TYPES reduce injury? How bout no.
sneakers good; sneakers bad - maybe that's the wrong question.Do your shoes pass the Twist Test
Do try this at home
Barefoot Running - More Vid and Scholarly Analysis (it's da bomb)
Hope this proves a useful index.
Looking forward to the new models coming out in another month or so for Oct 09.
Related Posts:
- z-health: not your daddy's joint mobility
- z-health i-phase: practicing for the strain
- reps: practice makes reflex
- from rannoch of simplestrength.com: motivation based on non-alternative footware
- in the context of footware for deadlifting (pre-vff discovery :) ) with Pavel comment
Friday, July 17, 2009
Vibram FiveFingers and Pose Running and Running on Concrete
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Wow, i've had so many folks ask me about POSE running with respect to Vibram FiveFingers (a few vff articles here), and i've had to say, i know nothing about POSE but i can tell you you won't heal strike wearing VFF's. Does that help?
Just found an awesome Sports Injury Bulletin Pose Running for Beginners. I gotta tell you, that little pose running stance dude sure looks like the way someone running barefoot or in vff's looks.
Now there are a lot of drills on how to do Pose running, and prepping to run in this stance, but again, seems to me, just get out of your trainers, and how else could you run? Again, i'm not someone who knows pose so i'm just looking at these drills thinking, hmm, just take your shoes off and go for a run in the grass.
Actually, of course i'm thinking do some Z-health drills, like I-Phase ankle tilts, and lunge position foot work, and go for a run in your VFF's
Oh, another question/statement combo i've gotten lately:
[question] you run in those (vff's)?
yes
[statement] not on concrete, surely.
yes. really :)
On concrete or tarmac or whatever the hard surface is. Preferably the surface is below 114F, but other than that. Why not? In a box, with a fox; give it a try; you'll be surprised. And if you want a little more than 3mm of rubber sole plus the additional 2-3mm of insole, add another couple mm with a sock. Life's perfect :)
If running on concrete in VFF's feels too threatening/scary for you right now, that's cool. No worries. Find somewhere that feels safe, like a carpeted floor - seriously - or a gym. or a lawn. No one has to run in these after all, but it's really fun if you do :)
It's no fun if it's no fun, after all. so whatever works for you; and if you *want* to make it work for you, and need help, give me a shout. As Lucy's sign says in peanuts "the Dr is in" I wonder what her rate would be these days? Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Wow, i've had so many folks ask me about POSE running with respect to Vibram FiveFingers (a few vff articles here), and i've had to say, i know nothing about POSE but i can tell you you won't heal strike wearing VFF's. Does that help?Just found an awesome Sports Injury Bulletin Pose Running for Beginners. I gotta tell you, that little pose running stance dude sure looks like the way someone running barefoot or in vff's looks.
Now there are a lot of drills on how to do Pose running, and prepping to run in this stance, but again, seems to me, just get out of your trainers, and how else could you run? Again, i'm not someone who knows pose so i'm just looking at these drills thinking, hmm, just take your shoes off and go for a run in the grass.
Actually, of course i'm thinking do some Z-health drills, like I-Phase ankle tilts, and lunge position foot work, and go for a run in your VFF's
Oh, another question/statement combo i've gotten lately:
[question] you run in those (vff's)?
yes
[statement] not on concrete, surely.
yes. really :)
On concrete or tarmac or whatever the hard surface is. Preferably the surface is below 114F, but other than that. Why not? In a box, with a fox; give it a try; you'll be surprised. And if you want a little more than 3mm of rubber sole plus the additional 2-3mm of insole, add another couple mm with a sock. Life's perfect :)
If running on concrete in VFF's feels too threatening/scary for you right now, that's cool. No worries. Find somewhere that feels safe, like a carpeted floor - seriously - or a gym. or a lawn. No one has to run in these after all, but it's really fun if you do :)
It's no fun if it's no fun, after all. so whatever works for you; and if you *want* to make it work for you, and need help, give me a shout. As Lucy's sign says in peanuts "the Dr is in" I wonder what her rate would be these days? Tweet Follow @begin2dig
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