I fall in the category of people who have been enamoured by the science behind barefoot running, but are terrified of stepping on broken glass or nails and getting the tetanus shot to prevent infections. I have been running in Vibram FiveFingers for almost 2 years now and the journey has been amazing. I know for sure that the way forward on my running journey is using minimalistic footwear (sometimes referred to as barefoot running shoes, a term I find paradoxical). In this post, I will give some details about how things changed from when I discarded my modern running shoes
In a year and a few months of running in Vibrams, I shaved
off over 10 minutes from my best timing in the half marathon. Let this
statement not trick you into thinking that Vibram FiveFingers will magically
make you fly. They may slow you down initially to unlearn a few things you
would have taught your body by running in conventional shoes. But once you are
done with that, you can train to get a lot stronger and faster. Stronger here
doesn’t mean a muscular beast like person pounding the pavement with his feet like
Thor’s hammer. Here are a few changes I have personally experienced after my
switch to the FiveFingers
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| The first day of the Vibram FiveFingers |
With one’s feet in shoes through most of the day, the feet tend to go dead. The muscles in the feet get weak, stiff and immobile due to lack of use. I used to encounter many situations where I would be writhing in pain after a little bit of plantar flexion while stretching myself out at the end of a long day. Today, my feet are a lot stronger, more flexible and I have a lot more control over subtle movements which I forgot I could do with my feet. These are the tiny micro adjustments which can be done when your feet can move around with freedom. I can move about my toes independently and spread my foot around to get better grip/balance.
There are some people you may meet who say that we are now “supposed to run landing on our heel”. Please don’t believe them. The most efficient and natural way to run is to have one’s feet landing on the forefoot or the mid foot, have the heel kiss the ground and take off. It is one thing to imagine this happening. When you are running minimalistic or barefoot, you can feel exactly how your feet are landing. Try running a few 100 metres barefoot the next time and I am sure you will feel this difference. This sensory perception automatically activates the right muscles in your feet as you run. Over time, I have seen that the arches of my feet are also better defined now than they were a few years ago.
The conventional logic when it comes to underdeveloped or weak foot arches, is to use orthotics. Orthotics may give relief from pain. But they do nothing to strengthen the arch of the foot. They serve the same purpose as crutches. If you are using them, please consult a medical professional before disposing them off.
Calf muscles
Normal shoes of all kinds tend to have the heel higher than
the toes. Running shoes tend to have a metric known as the “Heel to toe drop”
to describe this difference in height. That would mean that the angle between
your foot and your shin when you are standing would be an obtuse angle as
opposed to the natural right angle. How do I call this natural? You’ll get the
answer when you observe the feet of an infant who has just started walking. An
extreme version of this increased angle could be seen in the ancient Chinese
“art” of foot binding. Thankfully modern shoes are not as demonic as those shoes
designed to get “lotus feet” but they do reduce the level of calf extension one
gets.
Modern running shoes normally have a heel to toe drop of around 5-10 mm which is up to about a centimeter. One of the things which people complain about initially when they transition to barefoot/minimalistic running is pain in the Achilles tendon or the calf. This is soreness caused by the tendon and muscle going through the full range of motion. This may only be a few millimetres, but over 10000 steps, it becomes equivalent to almost 50 metres of extension which is a lot of time under extra tension. That is why the transition needs to be gradual.
A few months into running minimalistic, I could see the
improvement in the definition of my calf muscles. A result of thousands of reps
where each foot went from a small amount of plantar-flexion to some
dorsi-flexion, with the calf muscles getting worked through the entire range of
motion.
But what value do these Vibram FiveFingers add? Can a few
millimetres of rubber provide any comfort?
Of course, it takes time to get used to the increased
freedom of movement for your feet. But once you get used to them, nothing feels
better. These shoes will ensure that you have some protection from your feet
rubbing against the tough tarmac. But if you step on little stones, pebbles,
etc., your feet will feel them underneath. It is not a pleasant feeling. You have no choice but to run with quick, light strides and be careful while running over a bad, uneven surface. You need to run in the moment! Your feet and the entire body adapts!
The Vibram FiveFingers feature probably the toughest sole
I have ever seen. Even after 2000+ km, they are doing what they did all those
kilometres ago. Protecting my feet and letting me enjoy running!
