• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

The return of barefoot running....now with Five Fingers!

MrSaturn

Well-Known Member
Contributor
I wear toe socks with my vibrams to beat the Navy regs. Plus it stops these blisters that kept forming after 3 miles.

Why are all the people who gripe about those regs fat bodies?
 

CommodoreMid

Whateva! I do what I want!
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Our CFLs haven't put out anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

A couple weeks ago I bought a pair of New Balance Minimus trail shoes. They have a thin Vibram sole, but are slightly thicker than the five fingers, plus it looks like a normal shoe with a toe box. I love them and they're great if you're transitioning a lot between running and lifting, since you can't really go heavy in running shoes since your weight won't be in your heels.
 

PropAddict

Now with even more awesome!
pilot
Contributor
CFL= Command Fitness Leader

I ran my last 2 PRTs in my KSO's. Ran Sub 9:00 both times.

Wore injinji socks both times, just to be "in compliance". Our Doc said he'd write me a note to wear them for the PRT if they get in-house banned, for the joint relief that's in it.
 

HuggyU2

Well-Known Member
None
On the subject of the Minimus,... I was in a New Balance outlet store, and the gal there told me that new version of the Minimus is coming out around October, and it will be more of a "cross trainer" version of the shoe. Also, they will add 2E widths to their Minimus line... the lack of the wider shoe is the reason I have not bought a pair yet.
 

SWACQ

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor

Recovering LSO

Suck Less
pilot
Contributor
^ running in traditional running shoes isn't going to ruin your knees. Being overweight, running twice a year, and running in poor fitting or worn out shoes will. Barefoot/minimalist shoes are not the answer for an overwhelmingly large portion of the population - moving, with anything on their feet is.
 

phrogdriver

More humble than you would understand
pilot
Super Moderator
Concur on the lack of fitness being a bigger contributor to bad knees and such.

However, for a big segment of the population, minimalist shoes may help prevent injury. It's stupid for the Army to ban them just because they don't look like traditional running shoes. They "look unprofessional?" You know what really looks unprofessional? Fat soldiers.

I am a firm believer in "use it or lose it." Just like the people who don't squat because they have "bad knees," or they've heard squats are bad on their knees. That's usually crap. Their knees are weak because they have weak muscles surrounding them. Same with using the muscles of one's lower leg in VFFs/minimalists. I'm not a militant on the issue--I generally use my VFFs for walking, weights, etc, but run with NBs.
 

beaverslayer

Member
pilot
Concur on the lack of fitness being a bigger contributor to bad knees and such.

However, for a big segment of the population, minimalist shoes may help prevent injury. It's stupid for the Army to ban them just because they don't look like traditional running shoes. They "look unprofessional?" You know what really looks unprofessional? Fat soldiers.

I am a firm believer in "use it or lose it." Just like the people who don't squat because they have "bad knees," or they've heard squats are bad on their knees. That's usually crap. Their knees are weak because they have weak muscles surrounding them. Same with using the muscles of one's lower leg in VFFs/minimalists. I'm not a militant on the issue--I generally use my VFFs for walking, weights, etc, but run with NBs.

For me VFFs work wonders at eliminating knee pain. I have been running a lot for the past 6 years, and with regular shoes my knees still are in agony after about 5 miles. When I wear my VFFs, I can run for quite a bit longer without any pain at all--either at the time or afterwords. So while being overweight and running twice a year could definitely be a contributing factor to bad knees it's not the only one.
 

usmarinemike

Solidly part of the 42%.
pilot
Contributor
I can't believe the people at HQ Army really felt so impassioned about the idea that they had to officially ban it. If it's for looks, then they need to ban those assinine knee socks that I'm sure they're still handing out just like the Marine Corps.

I have lots of other opinions about the issue, but I have to go to my 3 hour "don't light the dog, house, your hands, your car, your wife, or your hair on fire" preholiday safety standdown.
 

phrogdriver

More humble than you would understand
pilot
Super Moderator
You should go to my safety brief. It's the same as my SPC's was, 15 years ago. "If you drink don't drive, if you drive, don't drink. Safe sex, no sex, don't have sex with each other." I do, in a nod to the times, put a pitch in for the buddy system and having a plan. 2 minutes and out the door.
 

scoolbubba

Brett327 gargles ballsacks
pilot
Contributor
My squadron did the did the safest thing they could by sending me to the desert.

3 beers a day. No fireworks anywhere close. This war on terror is a fucking prison, on planet bullshit!

I may have to jettison all my flares at takeoff if I fly on the 4th. That's what I call Patriotism.
 

MasterBates

Well-Known Member
I am a firm believer in "use it or lose it." Just like the people who don't squat because they have "bad knees," or they've heard squats are bad on their knees. That's usually crap. Their knees are weak because they have weak muscles surrounding them. Same with using the muscles of one's lower leg in VFFs/minimalists. I'm not a militant on the issue--I generally use my VFFs for walking, weights, etc, but run with NBs.

Agree with Phrogdriver on the use/lose.

According to my orthopedic surgeon "your knees are fucked, but you don't seem to notice/care".. The only thing that fucks them is running. I can run barefoot with less pain than with shoes.

I have shot knees, have a plate in my left ankle, snapped my femur and I've broken 4 vertebrae over the years. Squats and deadlifts should be the most bad thing I do, but I can do it anyways, because I keep the muscles strong and don't depend on the joints alone (and I use my head when lifting.. If my back is not up to a 405 deadlift or 315 squat, I DON'T DO IT THAT DAY).

So of course, if then Navy makes me stop doing the WUBA Chariot for the PRT, they've now taken my running option that wont' have me in a room with swollen knees and icy hot fumes peeling paint off the wall.
 
Top