I own 3 pairs of Vibram FiveFingers. And I like wearing them on shorter hikes, during my own training and client's training sessions. And yes, some clients asked me if I would jump on the lawsuit wagon and ask for a refund.
For the ones of you who have not heard: Vibram was involved in a class action lawsuit which did not go well for them. To sum it up: The result was that anyone who purchased Vibram FiveFingers could demand at least a partial refund from USD 20 to 50.
The company was accused it has been using deceptive advertising by claiming the shoes could strengthen muscles, help with agility, improve range of motion and even align the spine.
As pointed out by other Paleo bloggers like John Durant and Angelo Coppola: The class action lawsuit was about false advertising and not whether the Vibram FiveFinger shoes were beneficial or not beneficial to some people's feet. Although most of the media brouhaha was kind of aiming at Vibrams Five Fingers not bulletproofing one's feet, but a differentiation has to be made.
The complaint states:
The company was accused it has been using deceptive advertising by claiming the shoes could strengthen muscles, help with agility, improve range of motion and even align the spine.
As pointed out by other Paleo bloggers like John Durant and Angelo Coppola: The class action lawsuit was about false advertising and not whether the Vibram FiveFinger shoes were beneficial or not beneficial to some people's feet. Although most of the media brouhaha was kind of aiming at Vibrams Five Fingers not bulletproofing one's feet, but a differentiation has to be made.
The complaint states:
"The reported health benefits are well summarized by Vibrams advertising that wearing FiveFingers for fitness training, running or just for fun will make your feet stronger and healthier naturally. A brochure included with FiveFingers specifically represented that the benefits of running barefoot have long been supported by scientific research and that running in FiveFingers enables you to reap the rewards of running barefoot while reducing risks."
Funny enough I still have some those brochures. So the fatal mistake Vibram made was that they based their claims on research about moving or running barefoot but did not have any scientific evidence for their product specifically.
If you have ever been to a Vibram FiveFingers promo event like their running clinics you might remember how they like to use barefoot running and running with VFFs synonymously. They truly milked the barefoot movement goodness in their marketing and were called on a form mistake which can earn you millions with the US suing culture. I personally think with a 3.7 million settlement they got away with one black eye. Reebok and Sketchers had to pay settlements from 20 to 40 million US dollars. I bet some of you are thinking now about the cautious hot beverage tale of McD'uh.
If you have ever been to a Vibram FiveFingers promo event like their running clinics you might remember how they like to use barefoot running and running with VFFs synonymously. They truly milked the barefoot movement goodness in their marketing and were called on a form mistake which can earn you millions with the US suing culture. I personally think with a 3.7 million settlement they got away with one black eye. Reebok and Sketchers had to pay settlements from 20 to 40 million US dollars. I bet some of you are thinking now about the cautious hot beverage tale of McD'uh.
So am I going to retire my Vibrams and try to get money out of it? Nope. Although the company made a stupid mistake I still think that VFF's is a good product for many people.
It's definitely a good product for me. As a person who likes to move barefoot (and that includes yoga, kettlebell lifting and doing the dishes) VFF shoes with their foot-glove-every-toe-gets-a-compartment-strucure are the closest thing to being barefoot which will allow you to walk the streets of Hong Kong without fearing gunk and shards.
Vibram FiveFingers are part of the barefoot movement but they do not represent the barefoot movement. And only because their marketing did some overreaching does not mean that moving barefoot has no benefits at all.
Like so many I read Born To Run and was won over by Christopher McDougall's prose of the human potential to accomplish feats of endurance and how we developed refined movement tools through evolution: feet.
Feet are pretty important, we would all agree on that. We could keep living without feet but we would depend on TR (tools)to help us move. But feet connect us to the ground and give us sensory feedback about our surroundings.
So having healthy feet is beneficial to your fitness and your health. But since feet are not generally sexy and also quite resilient body parts we tend to neglect them.
It's definitely a good product for me. As a person who likes to move barefoot (and that includes yoga, kettlebell lifting and doing the dishes) VFF shoes with their foot-glove-every-toe-gets-a-compartment-strucure are the closest thing to being barefoot which will allow you to walk the streets of Hong Kong without fearing gunk and shards.
Vibram FiveFingers are part of the barefoot movement but they do not represent the barefoot movement. And only because their marketing did some overreaching does not mean that moving barefoot has no benefits at all.
Like so many I read Born To Run and was won over by Christopher McDougall's prose of the human potential to accomplish feats of endurance and how we developed refined movement tools through evolution: feet.
Feet are pretty important, we would all agree on that. We could keep living without feet but we would depend on TR (tools)to help us move. But feet connect us to the ground and give us sensory feedback about our surroundings.
So having healthy feet is beneficial to your fitness and your health. But since feet are not generally sexy and also quite resilient body parts we tend to neglect them.
At the Yoga Conference I attended a workshop with Leslie Kaminoff who wrote the very informative book Yoga Anatomy. He said something which stuck with me:
"Healthy movement is well-distributed movement, i.e., a little bit of movement from a lot of places.
Unhealthy movement is too much movement coming from too few places too many times. "
The foot consists of 33 joints and more than 100 tendons and muscles. That's a lot of joints for a structure. And those are lots of of little places which allow for a a lot little bit of movement ERGO healthy movement.
How would a strength coach say? Use it or loose it. If you put feet in restrictive shoe wear which allows for less movement, strength and flexibility that all will go. Same as if you put your arm in a cast, it'll become weak and stiff. Easy as that.
John Durant a barefoot runner himself already said it: VFF's are not a silver bullet. If one wants to get into barefoot running one has to ease into it and build up the strength and mobility.
"Healthy movement is well-distributed movement, i.e., a little bit of movement from a lot of places.
Unhealthy movement is too much movement coming from too few places too many times. "
The foot consists of 33 joints and more than 100 tendons and muscles. That's a lot of joints for a structure. And those are lots of of little places which allow for a a lot little bit of movement ERGO healthy movement.
How would a strength coach say? Use it or loose it. If you put feet in restrictive shoe wear which allows for less movement, strength and flexibility that all will go. Same as if you put your arm in a cast, it'll become weak and stiff. Easy as that.
John Durant a barefoot runner himself already said it: VFF's are not a silver bullet. If one wants to get into barefoot running one has to ease into it and build up the strength and mobility.
I believe the same goes for barefoot moving in general. If you have been living and working in 6 inch manolos for years, a pair of Vibrams won't allow you to lower your heels to the ground in downward facing dog in 6 yin-yang yoga sessions.
My fellow trainer Linds Russell once ran and enjoyed a 100k race in Mongolia wearing Vibram FiveFingers. We both own VFF Treksport . And they are even in the same colour.
It never occurred to me that because of our common taste in shoe wear I would be able to even find my bearings across the Mongolian landscape let alone having a blast doing that...neither me nor my feet.
My fellow trainer Linds Russell once ran and enjoyed a 100k race in Mongolia wearing Vibram FiveFingers. We both own VFF Treksport . And they are even in the same colour.
It never occurred to me that because of our common taste in shoe wear I would be able to even find my bearings across the Mongolian landscape let alone having a blast doing that...neither me nor my feet.
