Vibram 5 Fingers - a Couple of Questions (Read 2387 times)

Really great thread. I'm not running barefoot but I'm doing one legged squats barefoot, walking around the house barefoot. Trying to improve my barefoot balance. I'm also going with a much lighter weight trainer when I can run again. (runner's knee and PF). I'm thinking of trying walking on the treadmill this week in just socks (gym will frown upon barefoot). Maybe jog a few steps to start feeling it. I'm going to experiment VERY slowly and see if I can do this as a therapy.

I'm not Ed, but I will give my advice. Yes, 1M could be OK, but listen carefully what your feet are telling to you. I think you should do only half mile per run for first month or so. Just to be sure no injuries occur. Remember that injuries are caused by overdoing something for a long period of time. You just overstep the border of healthy progress and way to injury too many times, too often and BANG one day suddenly you feel the pain. Build a proper base first and your feet will thank you for that. Also, if you run on treadmill, do not use inclination. Start on flat surface. Inclination just cause more stress on your feet.

Alright you guys......you have definately managed to get me interested....... What if I tried this out by running a mile ever other day or something like that on my treadmill --- as a starting point and to see if it works for me??? ED - Is this a good way to start??? Just to try it out??? I'm not sure that going outside will work for me because my feet are too weak.......

I've never run on a treadmill barefoot so I have no idea how that would work, but I think that 1 mile every other day is way too aggressive to start. I think that you should start out with barefoot striders after a run rather than doing a full on mile at once, and after a bit of that then start increasing the amount of barefoot running you do. Also, a treadmill is probably not a good place to run barefoot because the belt actually gets very hot and you'll probably burn your feet unless it is the first mile you are running. You never notice how hot the belt gets because shoes do a great job of protecting you from that heat, but if you run anything over a medium distance run then even vibrams can give you some hot spots on your feet from the belt. When I was a kid, I went barefoot everywhere, but then I spent a few years away from it. I think that the best bet for you would be to wait until next year when everything thaws and you have warm weather and to do barefoot striders after every couple runs. I'd work it in very gradually and not rush anything, and not do sole-barefoot type runs more than once per week. The best thing to do in the meantime is to go barefoot as often as possible. I assume pretty soon it'll be too cold to go barefoot outside (and this freak warm weather has been nice though) but walk around your house barefoot and just get your feet used to it before starting to run. There are a lot of muscles in your foot. It's not like you'd jump straight into benching 200 pounds after having never touched a barbell for 20 years, so don't rush into barefoot running too fast.

Also, if you run on treadmill, do not use inclination. Start on flat surface. Inclination just cause more stress on your feet.

I have to disagree. Never run on a treadmill with no inclination; you should always have at least 1° of inclination and I never go below 2°. Because of the way your foot is pulled backwards you can easily hyperextend your back, and having at least a minimal incline will encourage you to lean forward which prevents that from happening.

I have run barefoot for as much as four miles on my treadmill, but never noticed the belt get hot - not even warm. And I kept the incline at 1% (my usual with shoes is 1.5%). It feels really good, and it's difficult not to overtrain like this! I started BF by walking short distances outside on this handy combination: dirt double track (power line road), 100' of gravel/dirt, and some asphalt road surface. Sadly, I had developed PF before I even started BF training, and will pretty much have to start over when I'm able to run again... I also bought Nike Free 5.0's to wear mostly at work - not neccesarily to run in (I walk a lot & am on my feet a lot at work) I'm hoping this will conveniently strenghten my feet 40 hours a week! So far, so good!

Since I've noticed quite a few questions and discussions lately about barefoot and nearly-barefoot running, I created a new discussion group. Come join!

I walked a couple miles in my VFF today. My feet were definitely hurting while walking on pavement, but whenever I had the chance I walked in grass and it was great. I could actually feel the grass under my feet, which is weird since I had "shoes" on. I ran about 0.7 miles on grass today and it was great.