“The typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 muscles and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised.”
That’s the first thing you’ll read at the Vibram FiveFingers website. I prefer weightlifting barefoot, and have been known to refuse to put on my shoes at the gym. I don’t have stinky feet, but they consider it a liability issue.
I believe many of the problems runners experience today are because of the poor design of shoes. For all of you runners out there: if you are a heel striker, you are doing it all wrong. Learn to run on the balls of your feet; don’t even let your heels touch the ground. After your calf muscles get used to this, you will experience greater speed, endurance, and overall efficiency. For most, joint pain is virtually eliminated. The wonderful thing about Vibram’s FiveFingers shoes is that for runners, they naturally promote this style and reduce the desire to land on your heel. You will also work those calf, toe, and many other muscles you never knew existed in your feet harder than ever. But work past that, get used to it, and these funky looking shoes will reward you. In fact, some claim a higher level of overall health results from wearing these shoes, and we don’t dispute that. When one’s body is allowed to work the way it’s naturally designed to function, one’s health does tend to improve.
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