4 Places You Must Wear FiveFingers To Eliminate Aches and Pains
by Christine Skelly
on Jun 13, 2011
15
Here are a few places to consider wearing FiveFingers to avoid that mid/end of day foot & body pain!
1. The Mall
So maybe the shopaholic in your life hits you up for a day at the mall to buy that new whatever-it-is.
You’d better bring your Shoes (FiveFingers, that is).
Why: While it might be tempting to try and look decent for all of the strangers at the mall who you will soon be joining in spending valuable money, your body will thank you for wearing FiveFingers.
Slapping your soles on tile and marble and concrete every step of the way with your shopping buddy will leave your dogs tired and worn by the end of your shopping extravaganza. And more than your dogs will be barking if you are the kind friend to offer up help with the bags. For the ladies, wearing a purse all day on your shoulder will make it hard not to slump, and compound the effect regular heel-striking shoeshave of making your back cry for mercy by the end of it all.
(Please no heels! That is just asking for trouble now.)
For the men, trying to be the gallant gentleman will only backfire when the bags weigh your back down in toe-tied shoes, so just save yourself the trouble and go with your toes.
2. Conventions
Whoever decided that convention centers should be paved with smooth dense concrete should be fired. Ostracized. Something. Walking all day on a trade show floor (or even standing there as a vendor!) will take a terrible toll on one’s back, especially when holding fistfuls of giveaways provided from the vendors. And conventions are never the sort of thing you do for an hour or something. No, those are always a 5 to 8 hour affair for some reason. Besides regretting the expensive food you could have bought for $2 on the outside, why not just avoid this regret and treat your feet; your body will thank you.
3) Amusement Parks
Another concrete haven. Whether it is mobile amusements or an established park, these fun fests always seem to be held on an asphalt parking lot or paved with nothing you could walk on barefoot even if you wanted to. Why is that? Someone needs to innovate and build a barefoot park or something! (I’m looking at you, engineers).
Once again, these are rarely events where you can just dip in for a bit, especially in you have children. If little ones are anywhere in the equation then the trip will likely be a half-day day event at minimum, which will leave Mom and Dad with sunburnt and sore limbs that are crying out for a bed or a massage.
A concert I recently went to. Forgive the cell phone quality. Band: "Fun."
4. Concerts
Whether it is a three hour stint at the concert hall or a 3 day festival, music events often involve a lot of standing, which is just more time on your feet. More time on your feet in the wrong shoes means your weight will be distributed incorrectly and hurt your feet over time, make your knees ache, and tire your back. So forgo the fashion statement, and go with your gut.
While it might be tempting to don the cute shoes that will turn heads, keep your feet on track and just go with your intuition to save your joints at these events that really should be all about fun—not pain.
So there are 4 venues/events where I think FiveFingers are an absolute must. What would you add to the list?
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I was just at Kings Dominion in Virginia and saw about 10 people wearing KSOs.
Of course, they were all together and all had the black model. Maybe they were a 5Finger Cult?!
airport/airplanes – absolute must it make the travel just a little easier
I wore mine to Seaworld yesterday, and I have been wearing mine to pretty much any occasion that requires some kind of shoes. Otherwise, barefoot, baby! :)
My VFF’s are awesome (KomodoSport and Sprint) and I would not miss it for anything in the world.
—Kai
Agreed! Definitely airports.
Wore mine on the airplane and during 4 days at Disney World parks. Got lots of funny looks, as usual, but my feet and legs felt better at the end of the day than any of my park partners!
My last business trips in formal shoe wear was nothing short of horrible. I changed into suit an VFF’s as soon as I was on my way back home. What a relief!
Got blisters from formal shoes, but my VFF’s made things much better. **whew**
–Kai
I wear mine to work at the New England Aquarium and get many comments on how they are “perfect shoes for the aquarium!”
I wear my KSOs at the Summer Youth Camp I work for… the kids and parents love em!! :)
Wearing mine to Disneyland for the first time in 7 or 8 hours! :)
Got a report from a friend that he spotted tons of KSOs being worn at Bonaroo last weekend in Tennessee! Rock on.
I think it is important to condition your foot muscles before a long hike…..For me I did a long walk and sprained my left … arch? It has been aching for months. Also my left ankle has been acting up every since…Yet my back feels much better!
Have worn my Bikilas with a suit on several different occasions at tradeshows and conventions. Besides the comfort value, they are a great conversation-starter, and my boss hated to admit they ramped up traffic at our booth last year. :)
The one flaw I find in this article is that you keep saying to forgo the stylish option (heels/dress shoes, etc.).
Vibram wearers need to stop selling themselves short like this. Just because they look different doesn’t mean they aren’t fashionable. (That’s why there’s different styles and colours, isn’t it?)
I’m proud to support and endorse VFFs. Stylish and functional? What could be better than that?
One could call this tacky, but I wore mine to a friend’s wedding. I was flying in (they truly are great for airports) and had a lot to remember, and I forgot to pack the shoes I’d meant to wear (not heals, btw). At least it was the right kind of crowd for this sort of thing. They were well-received and entertained all who noticed.
I actually do know of people who bought VFFs not because they want to start running or crossfit but cos they feel it looked cool. They were actually disappointed the first couple of days that they did not get asked. Of course they keep reporting that “the shoes are generating more interest. Yay!”.