the Informer

SPENCER ALLAN BROOKS

Hartford Hawks’ star-runner, Eric Flaman, says he would never compete without sporting FiveFingers on his feet.

The minimalist footwear by Vibram is made of lightweight rubber, and designed to fit like a glove, for your feet and toes.

A member of both Hartford track and cross-country teams, Flaman swears that running in Vibram FiveFingers has allowed him to transcend his own personal best.

The junior from Walpole, Mass., began training with FiveFingers on his feet last spring. Prior to trying out minimalist footwear, Flaman ran the 8,000 meter with a time of 27:33, but when Flaman returned this fall, he was thrilled to discover he had shaved off more than 1:30 in the race, averaging 26:00.

“The first time I ran in them my calves felt like they were on fire,” Flaman admits. After gradually conditioning his body to run in the minimalist shoes, Flaman felt incredible on the racecourse, and was amazed to find that post-run knee-pain (manifested by a wakeboarding injury), ceased to bother him with Vibram Finger Fives.

“The point of FiveFingers are not to give your foot a ton of support like sneakers do,” Flaman said, “but to build strength and condition muscles in your leg and foot that you never even felt before.”

The concept behind Vibram FiveFingers was to use as little material as possible in order to allow the foot to work in a more natural way, without going completely barefoot, “to create something that would be solid but flexible, follow the shape of the foot and allow the toes to work individually,” said Tony Post, CEO of Vibram USA.

While further research is needed to more accurately predict the potential effects of minimalist footwear on the body, studies that illustrate the detrimental effects of modern sneakers on the runner’s form and body are increasingly common.

Many proponents of minimalist footwear offer proof that suggests runners who wear sneakers subject their bodies to increased wear, tear and are more prone to injuries than barefoot runners.

A Harvard University study illustrates that sneakers are detrimental as they cause runners to land heel-first nearly 80 percent of the time; conversely, the natural foot-strike for humans is actually toward the middle or front of the foot.

This is a big problem because of the “sledgehammer” impact heel-first foot strikes induce on the body, the extra energy required to run with sneakers on, as well as the potential for injuries.

According to a Popular Science article, “The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation found that running shoes can increase joint torques at the hip, knee and ankle. Their study suggested that even going for a run in high heels was better for preventing joint injury than tennis shoes.”

The number of runners who choose minimalist footwear is increasing at a rapid rate, however, there are still many researchers who caution that too little information is known about this technology to fully understand the potential benefits and risks.

The “unknown risks” associated with barefoot running strikes me as an ironic point of contention, especially when pitted against the research of Harvard Professor of human evolutionary biology, Daniel E. Lieberman.

“Two million years ago, our ancestors’ ability to run long distances helped them outlast their prey, providing a steady diet of protein long before the spears and arrows,” according to the New York Times.

Although I agree that humans are biologically engineered to run the best on their own two feet, I also agree with Flaman that this type of footwear may not be for everyone, and those interested in switching over need to be extremely cautious as they gradually transition from cushioned heels to FiveFingers.

While top brands like Nike boast Hyperdunk basketball sneakers, guaranteed to make you jump higher because of Nike’s Fly Wire technology, Lunar Foam (developed by NASA) and “lightweight Nike Flyfit tensile fibers” for extra support – whatever that means – Vibram FiveFingers boasts biological design and that “less is more.”

I would argue that minimalist athletic shoes, like Vibram FiveFingers, are both the past and future in ultimate athletic footwear; conducive to supreme form, efficiency and running ability.

As Americans push for a more natural, organic and green way of life, it is surprising that minimalist footwear is a hot topic of debate.

To people like Flaman and myself, it would only seem logical that when strengthening the muscles in our feet, improving agility and restoring balance in the body, you would need to first have the soles of your feet touching the ground.