Minimalist Footwear

[GRV]

I've been wearing XA Pro's for just over a year and a half as my all-around shoe. For the past few months, I've been lifting in them (yea, I know, bad idea).

I've had issues with driving my big toe into the ground on various exercises, e.g. squats, and I have a strong tendency to roll my feet onto their outer edge at the bottom of squats and such, often so far as to cause my inner edge and big toe to lift off the ground. There are probably more factors at play here than just footwear, but I'm noticing that the XA Pros put me in this sort of position throughout the day. The high arch makes me strongly favor the outer edge of my foot as I walk around and sit. Over the past few days I've started to notice some mysterious knee pain on my off days, and when I mentioned it to my trainer we started suspecting the footwear and my foot form during lifts.

For workouts, I'm going to experiment with some wrestling shoes I have. But, I'd like to try more minimalistic shoes for general lifestyle too, as that's where most of my time on my feet is spent. I don't really have a sense for the market here, any recommendations?

Some preferences:

- Definitely not doing the Five Finger thing. The edge of my tolerance for that direction right now would be something like the split-toe Zemgear, but I'm not thrilled by the idea of having to wear special socks for everyday shoes. I'd only go that way if it offered really substantial and relevant benefits.

- Has to hold up to a fair deal of walking in urban communities, broad weather spectrum, provide enough protection (whatever that means), etc. I could tolerate having a summer shoe and a winter shoe, but I'd prefer something all-weather. Waterproof would be a big plus, but not absolutely necessary.

- Something that's fit to run in, mostly on tracks. I haven't been running much lately, and it might be another month or two before I start back up, but I don't know if there's any transitioning I have to worry about there, or if a month or so of living in minimalistic shoes is enough.

Some stuff on my radar is the New Balance Minimus, Merrell Barefoot, Zemgear, and the Nike Free which I wore years ago when they came out. But I really don't know anything about any of them.

[orionz06]

Vivobarefoot is worth looking into.


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[GRV]

Vivobarefoot is worth looking into.

Thanks, checking them out.


Oh, and they have to have enough traction to dart around action pits for USPSA and such.

[Le Français]

A few years ago I wore New Balance Minimus Trail shoes as everyday off-duty summer shoes.

I've moved on to Vans and chukkas, but I still use that same NB pair for lifting, and I've found them to be surprisingly durable. After about five years of use, the tread is showing some wear, and that's about it.

They are not waterproof, but are very comfortable and breathable.

[James_f]

I know it's not what you asked for.. but for lifting I love my Nike Romaleos. Perhaps check out the new Nike Metcons. I also have an old pair of Reebok Nano 2.0s that I've done a mix of cardio and lifting in (much prefer the 2.0 vs newer versions for my foot).

[JDM]

You may find this thread helpful:

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....nimalist-shoes

I have been wearing Vivobarefoot shoes exclusively since shortly after I started that thread. Best thing I have ever done for my body.

[GRV]

I'd be willing to trade waterproof for quick drying. I know it sounds paradoxical, but they either have to be water tight or super breathable. The middle ground that leads to wet feet all day after a shallow puddle is what I'd like to avoid.

orionz06 and JDM, which Vivobarefoot models are you wearing? Do they have enough traction on USPSA style action pits? I'm currently looking at the Primus and Stealth, but wondering if it makes more sense to go with the trail versions or not. Also, thanks for the link!

Le Français, what do you wear on duty?

James_f: Yea, I've thought about getting lifting shoes but I've been new enough and lifting light enough that it seemed silly. But, I've bested enough dedication hurdles with it now that I'm pretty convinced it will be a very long term habit, so maybe it's worth reconsidering now.


ETA: Holy crap, how did I not find that thread when I tried searching!?

[BobLoblaw]

The Merrell Trail Glove is a solid minimalistic running shoe. They're on the Trail Glove 3 now and my original Trail Gloves are still in good shape.

You should probably know that you can feel everything you walk on in these types of shoes. It's kinda strange at first.

Personally, I'd buy a performance-oriented shoe for work out/running/competing and a casual shoe for everything else. I wouldn't bother with minimalist shoes in real cold or wet/cold.

[taadski]

Over the past few days I've started to notice some mysterious knee pain on my off days, and when I mentioned it to my trainer we started suspecting the footwear and my foot form during lifts.

I'd look really closely at this. Success doing olympic lifts and squatting in a minimalist shoe can, for some folks, be really challenging. In particular if they don’t have the flexibility to stay on their heel at full depth in them. Your comment "...driving my toe into the ground...e.g. squatting" makes me think you might already be having a bit of difficulty in this realm?

Depending on your particular biases, a less supportive solution may help. Or it may make things substantially harder for you. I’ve been a pretty devout follower of the minimalist shoe “movement” over the years. And while I’ve seen some great benefits from them, squatting (in particular with weight overhead) is one of the areas where I’ve personally had to backpedal some to a more traditional shoe in order to maintain good technique.

There’s good reason why Oly shoes are made the way they are is all I’m saying.


t

[GRV]

I'd look really closely at this. Success doing olympic lifts and squatting in a minimalist shoe can, for some folks, be really challenging. In particular if they don’t have the flexibility to stay on their heel at full depth in them. Your comment "...driving my toe into the ground...e.g. squatting" makes me think you might already be having a bit of difficulty in this realm?

Depending on your particular biases, a less supportive solution may help. Or it may make things substantially harder for you. I’ve been a pretty devout follower of the minimalist shoe “movement” over the years. And while I’ve seen some great benefits from them, squatting (in particular with weight overhead) is one of the areas where I’ve personally had to backpedal some to a more traditional shoe in order to maintain good technique.

There’s good reason why Oly shoes are made the way they are is all I’m saying.


t

Yea, fortunately I have a really top notch strength trainer so we're definitely going to examine the form issues and test footwear changes carefully. He told me that he does all his lifts in grippy socks, but that yea, it can be a real steep learning curve getting there for a lot of people and that it's unwise to jump too quick. As it is we do a lot of warmup, body weight, and mobility stuff barefooted, and I spend all my time at home and other people's houses barefooted (and have my whole life), combined with a not insignificant amount of mat time throughout my life. So, overall, my feet are probably slightly on the more tolerant side for this, but it'll be worked carefully.

I'm more concerned here with the all-day side of things. There were periods of many years (each) where I wore Chuck Taylors, Nike Free's, and Puma kart racing shoes. So, I have some history with the flat shoe thing. However, more recently, there was a period of a few years where I wore nothing but boots and, most recently, the XA Pros. I have to say, I gave the XA Pros a shot because they looked cool and I heard a lot of people raving about them, but they're super high on the restrictive and over-supportive side relative to what I'm used to.