Comments | matildalucet: Using "science" to fake myself into physical activity

matildalucet

Using "science" to fake myself into physical activity

Sep 23, 2014 17:07

I needed to exercise today, but I was having trouble making myself get off the couch. I took off my sandals and strapped on the new 5-finger thingies and took them to a local track. To test them. For Science, right ( Read more... )

fitness

Comments 2

lauradi7 September 24 2014, 17:44:01 UTC

I've had my Vibram five fingers (I think of them as my toe shoes, but ballet snagged that expression first) for about five years. I only run in them on grass. I like them for the outdoor Tai Chi class, but then wearing them the rest of the day on asphalt sidewalks and in the subway and such makes my feet tired. The thing is, I don't change my gait in them - walking, I still have my usual heel strike, which isn't necessarily such a great thing.
I went to a talk by podiatrists at the ACSM convention in June. Someone asked about barefoot running (which running in vibrams basically is, without as much of a splinter possibility). They suggested starting very gradually - five minutes at a time, at the end of your usual workout when you're warmed up, and then increase VERY gradually - most western people have been walking/running in shoes nearly their whole lives, and it's a change that you have to get used to.
Also, despite careful use of sunscreen on the dorsum of my feet, I end up with unusual suntans.

matildalucet September 24 2014, 18:16:17 UTC

I've been as barefoot as I can manage for at least forty years now. I wore Birkenstocks to protect me from cold floors, splinters, gravel, and the like until I completely wore them out and couldn't find a non-leather replacement. I get interesting sun marks from wearing my Chacos out and about. I think even so, a gradual acclimatization may be called for, and I doubt I'll want to wear my foot gloves (as chiefoperator sees them) all the time. They pull my lesser toes further apart than I'm used to, they don't breath as well as I'd really like, and I'm having to be careful about how the seam allowances press on parts of my feet. Kind of too bad those aren't on the outside, leaving the inside smoother, but whatever.