VIBRAM FIVE FINGERS (KMD SPORT)

I used to train barefooted as I felt it would benefit me more. I ended up feeling more comfortable without footwear in the gym due to training without them for so long. I decided I needed some type of footwear, so my feet would stop getting dirty and so I could get abit more protection so minimalist shoes were the answer. Now before I talk to you about these magical shoes I’d like to quickly tell you about some of the benefits of barefooted exercise.

-It's more natural

-Better ventalation

-Stabilizing muscles in the foot and ankle are strengthened

-Improved balance

-Flexibility in the foot can be improved

-Arches can become stronger 

-Muscle alignment can be improved

I brought the KMD sport lace due to its universal and versatile nature, I have worn these shoes to the gym, work, and sprint training. They can even be used for swimming. . As soon as they turned up I put them on and off I went to try them out. Straight away I discovered they aren’t the easiest shoes to get on your feet due to each toe being in its own little ‘pocket’. However unlike most shoes we buy, the heel is rubber and can be bent in any way possible and it will not break compensating for the fact they are a struggle to get on (until you get used to it). I had already decided after five minutes of my work out that they were the comfiest shoes I ever had. 

FIVE FINGERS IN THE GYM

Many people try to go for flatfooted footwear when in the gym, this is so when your squat and deadlift you are closer to the ground making your work the muscle harder but we'll get to that later. These shoes which that are commonly worn in the gym have cushioning though which actually takes away the stress you can put on the muscle. Vibram five fingers have almost no cushioning at all so to mimic your barefoot.

These shoes actually improve many aspects of your workout for example when you are performing deadlifts. Due to the shoe having a extremely thin sole you are in fact closer to the ground and actually makes it slightly easier to get the bar all the way to the ground giving a more effective set than if you were wearing conventional running shoes.As you get down lower, you also manage to get more stress on the muscle promoting to to grow more in time.

Conventional running shoes can make the set less effective, such as when doing a seated leg press. The sole will compact down and push back out as that is what the are designed to do (to prevent shinsplints when running). See it as like jumping on a trampoline, the trampoline being the shoe. As you weight gets pressed down on the sole it will push back up which could actually help lift the weight.

FIVE FINGERS WHEN RUNNING

I found when I was sprint training with these shoes compared to my new balance 610 v2 running shoes much better. I could feel my stride had improved due to more pronation of my foot which made me run more efficiently. When you wear conventional running shoes due to the high cushioning (its aim to spread the load of the impact over the whole foot) encourages you to in fact perform a heel strike. This creates a large impact on the heel due to the vertical deceleration of the leg going straight down.

When running with running shoes you actually infact slam your heel on the ground due to the cushiony sole taking away some of the force but this means you use more energy. This heel strike can actually cause damage to your foot and cause shin splints because of the amount of force struck on the heel. Vibram five fingers forces you to run like you would run barefooted like our cavemen counterparts elemintaing this heel-stike.

Personally I ran on the balls of my feet which drastically decreased the force of the heel-strike.
Running on the balls of your feet drives your momentum forwards carrying your body weight in front of you improving speed and efficiency. You do have to get used to them though, you end up changing your running style which is a good thing in the long run. So while going through this change your feet ache a little bit because of the changing process. This is all your tendons/ligaments/muscles strengthening. As these things are getting stronger your chances of injury decrease.

Below are two images of how the pressure changes due to the type of running shoes you wear. The first image will show conventional running shoes the second will show barefooted running which is very similar to minimalist shoe running.

(Graphs sourced from Joe Maller.com)

With running shoes

Without running shoes

We can see from the graphs above that with running shoes there is a much bigger spike of impact with initial impact to the ground than there is without running shoes. This is due to the heel strike. The peak of the impact on both graphs is about the same however  we can see that in the image below in the barefooted runner that the impact does not spike as much due to more rotational energy rather than vertical deceleration of the leg causing a dead stop.  

There are a few minor issues with the product:

-The price (as a student  £125 is a lot of money for me) but you do pay for what you get and come along with a two year warranty.

-The style which I have are the lace up ones and I find that when you pull the top to tighten it. When you do this the top of the shoe tightens leaving the bottom half of the lace loose. You then have to tighten the lower part bit by bit by hand which again is not too much of a problem but a pain if you have to be somewhere quick. 

-They are also designed with a lock to stop the elasticated laces coming undone when in use. Although the idea is theoretically sound. The lace loosens off, I have put this down to the lock on the lace as I find it comes undone rather easy but it is still tight enough to keep your foot in.

The product is brilliant, it helps alot for my use when exercising. I would highly recommend these.

My Overall Rating: 9.8 out of 10  

Review written by Tom Millar.