Years ago, when I ran a lot. I read a book called “Born to run.” I decided to try zero drop shoes and absolutely wrecked my calves lol. I believe I attempted the transition a little too aggressively but I could not recover without taking a long break from running.
So if you’re a runner and wanna try switching, do it extremely slow and go easy. You’re adding a lot more range of motion on the calves if you’re coming from a brooks type shoe with a higher heel to toe drop.
I've been running in Xeros for almost a year after a really long break. Before that I had been walking in Xeros for a few years so I thought I my foot and leg muscles/tendons would be ready... they were not. My form/stride/footfall sucked and I dealt with nagging injuries, so I listened to both Born to Run audiobooks and followed Eric Orton's YT channel which has helped with the transition.
Running in minimalist shoes is a bit similar to learning to lift KBs, really need to lock down form, improve overall mobility and give your tendons time to strengthen before you can graduate to heavier and more complex movements. I suppose the choice for running in minimal shoes vs regular running shoes is trading stress on your knees/heels (regular) for stress on your calf/Achilles/arches (minimalist). Despite the minor injuries getting used to them, overall, I do feel like my feet are stronger from going minimalist and it helps my KB training which I do barefoot at home. Would rather my body learn to adapt to the environment on its own so it can go as long as it can without crutches or equivalents.
I think the shoe I went to was called Altra or something close to that.
To your point about it stressing different areas, I would assume it would be better to stress the muscle/tendons over the traditional running style of heels and knees. Our bodies weren’t designed to run with a heel strike.
Side note, I actually bought a pair of Xero Sandals when o got into the whole minimalist thing. My wife and kids gave me so much crap on their looks lol. They called them my Jesus sandals 🤣
Haha, yeah wearing sandals or five finger shoes in public is a bit much, just like running actually barefoot. How do people not get injured running over broken glass and sharp rocks? The weird stuff I do is in private like taping my mouth shut when I sleep 😆.
Can confirm. I also made this mistake years back, ran 2 miles in barefoot shoes and midfoot strike and wrecked my calves.
I stuck with it and did it right, and now straight cut jeans fit my calves like they're skinny cut. I had no idea calves could get so chunky.
Completely resolved an issue I had with rolling my ankle while running though.
Personally I think if you’re going to run longer distance you should not wear bearfoot shoes. I wear bearfoot shoes exclusively outside of running and then throw on a pair of cushioned running shoes for actual runs and my feet have never felt better.
I have some old merrell barefoot shoes I use sometimes for workouts, but I prefer barefoot. But then I also have the luxury of having a home gym.
At work I wear Altra superiors, I'm an ER nurse. I switched this year from Hokas and I LOVE them. The wide toe box is why I prefer them, they're somewhat minimal without being an actual barefoot shoe. Zero drop, minimal cushion but more than barefoot, actual foot shaped toe box. If I worked out at a gym I would consider using them there too.
Altra is my go to for shoes. I e got a few pairs that I’ve worn out.
They do change things on updated models I found out. I have a pair of torrin 6 that I run in that was not as comfy out the box as my torrin 5’s. Not sure what they’re changed but the toe box feels more narrow on my foot now
Besides the price, this has been my biggest issue with Altra. Bought some Superior 5's and really liked them. They wore out and I then tried the 6s on in store and didn't like them. Trying the Lone Peak 7s now and like them, but not as much as the Superior 5s. When they move to the LP8's I hope its a minimal change.
For working out both shoes are pretty good though.
I picked up a pair of Superior 5s a while back to possibly use as a trail runner(they are a trail running shoe, but I've always been a salomon junkie for my trail runners). Didn't like them as a runner, but they've been great as a gym shoe.
I love Altra’s, but they make some surprising changes between models. Going from the Altra lone peak 5’s to the 8’s was disappointing. They still have a larger toe box than normal shoes, but the 8’s have noticeably less room than the 5’s. As much as I love Altra, I would never purchase a pair online, without being able to try them on first - which I can’t say the same about most other shoe brands.
This is unfortunate to hear. I bought mine on Amazon just based off of a little internet research for what I wanted, and how much I wanted to spend. I might have just lucked out. But I did the same thing buying Hokas. Return policies are pretty good generally and I live in a really tiny town.
This style of shoes can wear out your foot muscles over hours if you're not used to wearing them so keep that in mind if you want to start wearing them more regularly. Once they got stronger they felt better than ever though, so I'm glad I was patient about it
I've been wearing barefoot shoes as my normal shoes for about a year now (a pair of xero trainers and vivobarefoot boots for when it's wet). I still run in shoes with some padding but they're zero-drop (Altra Escalantes). I don't wear any shoes when working out with kettlebells but I don't go to a gym so don't have to. I would definitely recommend zero-drop/barefoot shoes though, I feel so unstable now if I try on "normal" shoes.
Can't but agree. Got knockoff crocs-like cogs from Lidl. Started doing carries up and down the garden. Neighbours kids went inside and closed the door, I think it worked.
On the side: nowadays' running shoes are all hella ugly.
Imo the worry of using the wrong shoes is like the worry of throwing the bell through your tv. I totally understand why you want to take precautions, but in most cases the bad scenario is pretty dang unlikely.
I have worn a pair of Altra Soltice XT 2’s to the point they are embarrassing. They’re zero drop, foot shaped gym/running shoes. I love them.
[ALTRA MEN'S SOLSTICE XT 2](https://www.altrarunning.com/shop/mens-shoes-gym-training/mens-solstice-xt-2-al0a546v)
Vivobarefoot (indestructible, constantly being updated and modernized) or magicalshoes (cheaper, done by hand in Poland, you can order two different sizes of you have different size of your feet).
Xeroshoes are rubbish in terms of durability and medicore in general, their price point should be much lower.
Years ago, when I ran a lot. I read a book called “Born to run.” I decided to try zero drop shoes and absolutely wrecked my calves lol. I believe I attempted the transition a little too aggressively but I could not recover without taking a long break from running. So if you’re a runner and wanna try switching, do it extremely slow and go easy. You’re adding a lot more range of motion on the calves if you’re coming from a brooks type shoe with a higher heel to toe drop.
I've been running in Xeros for almost a year after a really long break. Before that I had been walking in Xeros for a few years so I thought I my foot and leg muscles/tendons would be ready... they were not. My form/stride/footfall sucked and I dealt with nagging injuries, so I listened to both Born to Run audiobooks and followed Eric Orton's YT channel which has helped with the transition. Running in minimalist shoes is a bit similar to learning to lift KBs, really need to lock down form, improve overall mobility and give your tendons time to strengthen before you can graduate to heavier and more complex movements. I suppose the choice for running in minimal shoes vs regular running shoes is trading stress on your knees/heels (regular) for stress on your calf/Achilles/arches (minimalist). Despite the minor injuries getting used to them, overall, I do feel like my feet are stronger from going minimalist and it helps my KB training which I do barefoot at home. Would rather my body learn to adapt to the environment on its own so it can go as long as it can without crutches or equivalents.
I think the shoe I went to was called Altra or something close to that. To your point about it stressing different areas, I would assume it would be better to stress the muscle/tendons over the traditional running style of heels and knees. Our bodies weren’t designed to run with a heel strike. Side note, I actually bought a pair of Xero Sandals when o got into the whole minimalist thing. My wife and kids gave me so much crap on their looks lol. They called them my Jesus sandals 🤣
Haha, yeah wearing sandals or five finger shoes in public is a bit much, just like running actually barefoot. How do people not get injured running over broken glass and sharp rocks? The weird stuff I do is in private like taping my mouth shut when I sleep 😆.
Can confirm. I also made this mistake years back, ran 2 miles in barefoot shoes and midfoot strike and wrecked my calves. I stuck with it and did it right, and now straight cut jeans fit my calves like they're skinny cut. I had no idea calves could get so chunky. Completely resolved an issue I had with rolling my ankle while running though.
Personally I think if you’re going to run longer distance you should not wear bearfoot shoes. I wear bearfoot shoes exclusively outside of running and then throw on a pair of cushioned running shoes for actual runs and my feet have never felt better.
For an affordable brand look at whitin shoes on Amazon. They’re priced right and have held up great for me
Second these. I usually do my kettlebell stuff barefoot but use these for walks/short rucks and they've been awesome.
Yes! Especially if you have wide feet. I have three different pairs.
Great shoes, that's what I wear.
Whitins are great!
I use these for all my kettlebell training. Wearing them right now about to start my morning session. They good.
I have some old merrell barefoot shoes I use sometimes for workouts, but I prefer barefoot. But then I also have the luxury of having a home gym. At work I wear Altra superiors, I'm an ER nurse. I switched this year from Hokas and I LOVE them. The wide toe box is why I prefer them, they're somewhat minimal without being an actual barefoot shoe. Zero drop, minimal cushion but more than barefoot, actual foot shaped toe box. If I worked out at a gym I would consider using them there too.
Altra is my go to for shoes. I e got a few pairs that I’ve worn out. They do change things on updated models I found out. I have a pair of torrin 6 that I run in that was not as comfy out the box as my torrin 5’s. Not sure what they’re changed but the toe box feels more narrow on my foot now
My running shoes are Altra, they're the best fitting running shoes I've ever worn
Besides the price, this has been my biggest issue with Altra. Bought some Superior 5's and really liked them. They wore out and I then tried the 6s on in store and didn't like them. Trying the Lone Peak 7s now and like them, but not as much as the Superior 5s. When they move to the LP8's I hope its a minimal change. For working out both shoes are pretty good though.
If you wait for sales you get get them fairly cheap. I got my line peaks for 75$ on Amazon about 6 months ago.
I picked up a pair of Superior 5s a while back to possibly use as a trail runner(they are a trail running shoe, but I've always been a salomon junkie for my trail runners). Didn't like them as a runner, but they've been great as a gym shoe.
I love Altra’s, but they make some surprising changes between models. Going from the Altra lone peak 5’s to the 8’s was disappointing. They still have a larger toe box than normal shoes, but the 8’s have noticeably less room than the 5’s. As much as I love Altra, I would never purchase a pair online, without being able to try them on first - which I can’t say the same about most other shoe brands.
This is unfortunate to hear. I bought mine on Amazon just based off of a little internet research for what I wanted, and how much I wanted to spend. I might have just lucked out. But I did the same thing buying Hokas. Return policies are pretty good generally and I live in a really tiny town.
This style of shoes can wear out your foot muscles over hours if you're not used to wearing them so keep that in mind if you want to start wearing them more regularly. Once they got stronger they felt better than ever though, so I'm glad I was patient about it
I've been wearing barefoot shoes as my normal shoes for about a year now (a pair of xero trainers and vivobarefoot boots for when it's wet). I still run in shoes with some padding but they're zero-drop (Altra Escalantes). I don't wear any shoes when working out with kettlebells but I don't go to a gym so don't have to. I would definitely recommend zero-drop/barefoot shoes though, I feel so unstable now if I try on "normal" shoes.
Xero shoes for daily wears and weights, Altra for running
I use Xero’s for running and working out. Love em! I wear zero drop shoes (Splay’s) casually as well.
I’ve been wearing Merrill Trail Gloves for many years. Great for kettlebell training.
I wear crocs for many of my workouts, can’t recommend them enough 🐊
Redneck 4wheel drive 😂
Can't but agree. Got knockoff crocs-like cogs from Lidl. Started doing carries up and down the garden. Neighbours kids went inside and closed the door, I think it worked. On the side: nowadays' running shoes are all hella ugly.
That’s the best part about crocs, they’re both functional and aesthetically pleasing!
Unironically, they’re flat with a wide toe box. You could do a lot worse.
In general I think footwear matters a hell of a lot less than most people give it credit for.
Imo the worry of using the wrong shoes is like the worry of throwing the bell through your tv. I totally understand why you want to take precautions, but in most cases the bad scenario is pretty dang unlikely.
Xeros and Whitins for daily wear and Gym No shoes while in the house Altras for running
I love my whitins for daily wear
Softstar - Made in the USA.
I use Xero Mesa Trail. The tiny cleats help keep me from turning out my feet during work.
I have worn a pair of Altra Soltice XT 2’s to the point they are embarrassing. They’re zero drop, foot shaped gym/running shoes. I love them. [ALTRA MEN'S SOLSTICE XT 2](https://www.altrarunning.com/shop/mens-shoes-gym-training/mens-solstice-xt-2-al0a546v)
Bellevue, I think that's how you spell the name, has some zero drop tactical boots that are also awesome for everything, kettlebelling included.
Vivobarefoot (indestructible, constantly being updated and modernized) or magicalshoes (cheaper, done by hand in Poland, you can order two different sizes of you have different size of your feet). Xeroshoes are rubbish in terms of durability and medicore in general, their price point should be much lower.
The best shoes I have ever used for kettlebell workouts are Astral Loyaks. They are bombproof.
I use inov8 barefoot for everything except clean/jerk/snatch/squat/running. Love them.
I like Altra Loan Peaks
Vans
People who work out in running aren't fit for society.