How long should minimalist shoes last

The study assessed 61 trained runners over the course of 26 weeks, with 31 of them wearing minimalist shoes and 30 wearing conventional shoes. Each week, the researchers increased the amount of training time the participants spent in their assigned shoe by five per cent, to see at what point the cons of wearing minimalist shoes began to outweigh the pros.

By six weeks, runners in the first group were spending 35 per cent of their total training time in minimalist shoes. I was having trouble feeling the ground when I walked, and I experienced ankle instability. One day, I found that my feet were sore and inflamed and I could not walk only hobble for the following 3 weeks. After icing and rest, I started to get back to a somewhat normal routine. It took me 7 weeks to be able to start walking my dog again. I realized all of this was directly tied to my shoes—a size too small, and with no room for my toes to splay.

I have started to go barefoot at home. My feet hurt at the beginning and end of each day, and my ankles turn shades of purple sometimes. I bought Birkenstocks with a backstrap as I am most comfortable in these , and I am trying to regain my foot strength and strengthen my core. I signed up for 10 sessions with a personal trainer as I am not comfortable exercising on my own, considering the pain I was in, and the damage done to my feet.

I now wear New Balance V3 stability shoes; they are heavy, have tread, and I can feel the ground when I walk. My goal is to build my foot strength and transition out of these stability shoes. I hope to wear Birkenstocks year-round and minimalist Lems shoes in the winter. Thanks again for all the information and any suggestions are welcome. Greetings, Divya! Thank you for posting your comment.

I appreciate your resilience and applaud you in your goal to build optimal foot strength and function over time. It can take a while to achieve, but please know that we are right there beside you, cheering you on all the way. If you ever have any questions about how to transition to minimalist shoes, or a natural approach to foot care in general, please do not hesitate to reach out to us!

Are the Pedag metatarsal pads removable? Thank you for your question! Pedag metatarsal pads have an adhesive backing, and so they stick to your insole or the footbed of your shoe. You can certainly do as you mentioned having a dedicated pair of insoles for the Pedags , or you can use Strutz foot pads, which you can wear on your bare feet, over a pair of toe socks, or within pretty much any shoe or boot. Just a thought! Please note that we do not provide medical advice or comment on specific health problems.

Educational Articles. And here they are: Take a slow, progressive approach Proceed in a stepwise fashion Allow time for adjustments to occur Address gait changes Use metatarsal pads and heel cups, if necessary Use Correct Toes toe spacers Add barefoot time to your regimen Perform key home care exercises Below, we explore each of these suggestions in greater detail. Proceed in a Stepwise Fashion Many people benefit from a stepwise approach to minimalist shoes that involves a gradual transition from a built-up conventional shoe to a transitional type of shoe such as the Lems Primal Pursuit to a true minimalist shoe.

There are two main considerations as it concerns this stepwise approach: The sole of the foot The Achilles tendon The sole of the foot is extremely sensitive, which is great for sensing the ground and making appropriate micro-adjustments during gait. Allow Time for Adjustments to Occur The changes and deformities that happen in feet and toes exposed to conventional footwear take many years to occur.

Use Correct Toes Toe Spacers Using Correct Toes is one of the most powerful ways to support the transition from conventional footwear to minimalist shoes. Add Barefoot Time to Your Regimen Adding some barefoot time to your foot health and minimalist shoe transition regimen can be extremely helpful in ensuring a smooth and injury-free shift. Perform Key Home Care Exercises Performing certain exercises at home or at work can help with your transition from conventional to minimalist shoes.

And now: Onward, to excellent foot health! Disclaimer: The above content is for educational or informational purposes only and is not intended to replace or augment professional medical instruction, diagnosis, or treatment. Read full disclaimer here.

Tweet Like Pin Post. Want to Improve Your Foot Health? Essential Footgear:. Correct Toes Original. Pedag Metatarsal Pads. Strutz Pro Black. Tuli's Heel Cups. Naboso Neuro Ball. Naboso Activation Insoles. Men's Lems Primal 2 Brown. Women's Lems Primal 2 Slate.

Read more. June 17, Sherry. I have had two surgeries for a neuroma. June 17, Natural Footgear. Hi, Sherry, Thank you for your message. To help guide you in your transition to minimalist shoes and to help you better understand natural approaches to neuromas, I have included some resources here: Neuromas: www. Kind regards, Laura Trentman. December 13, Chris. December 13, Natural Footgear. Hi, Chris, Thank you for your comment and question. This video is extremely helpful on both counts: www.

In terms of exercises to help the overpronation issue, a couple of my favorites include: Big Toe Stretch: www. All best, Marty Hughes, DC. They were leather--I can't imagine how heavy they were. Yet, coach approved. I'd have been better off in my Chuck Taylors! Ironically, our XC racing flats back in the day early 90s, probably still similar now were basically minimalist shoes i.

I think the trail glove would actually make a pretty good XC flat. The more snug fit would result in a little less slop for racing. That's what I remember from the 80s--having ridiculous thin sole, light fabric racing flats with nobby grips for the track, but when I ran daily it was on really bulky Nike and Sacconys and my Nikes were leather uppers! I wish I still had those flats! There are plenty of athletes who wear minimalist shoes. Just might take a bit of searching.

I bought the sandals first and am still running in them. Meanwhile the xero trainers last fewer than miles. First the sole peels away from the upper, which I glue and zip tie back on to the uppers, and then the uppers slowly tear apart along the join with the sole. But for this reason I won't buy another pair, which I greatly regret.

It's also worth noting that I think the xero trainer soles are made differently to the sandals. After the uppers died I tried making sandals from the soles, but they quickly tore where I have punched the lace holes. E: Here's the pictures. The blue ones gave up as the upper split too far, the yellow ones I use still for odd jobs. The soles are still clinging on but things will get in the through split down the sides, and running on stones can be quiet painful because of it.

I'm in. Advice like "you should be running to beat per second pace" is not happening for me although it did push me to increase my rate. I am comfortable being in multiple families. I use to destroy sneakers in kms. VFFs seem to last almost forever. I tracked the mileage on my first pair and was over kms but tossed them because they got moldy. The upper usually starts to separate, or I wear through the side of a toe.

Yeah with barefoot shoes, the thing that wears out is the grooves track? What a conundrum! The shoes are worn out when they fall apart by either holes in the sole or the upper disintegrating.

I haven't yet truly worn out any of my pairs. For the coach it sounds like he or she already decided on his philosophy. If you want to win over your teen I'd suggest that you might want to give him different influences in addition to the coach.

This could either be books or by finding someone who's teaching pose running, chi running or the like. I've tried to find a coach myself for a seminar, here in Vermont. The YouTube videos on running are kind of long, talky and dull i. As I control the pocketbook I choose the shoes, so there's that. I had some merrell trail glove 4's I think? Forget which specifically and I think I got to a little over miles on them after running all winter when they finally started to degrade.

I flipped over to merrell vapor gloves around march and they are starting to get a hole over one of my pinky toes which is my usual unusual wear pattern. I ran more than km miles with my two pair of trail gloves and they could still handle more. My feet also have weird gait. My pinky toes wear holes in all my shoes for some reason and I haven't figured out how to fix it yet.

I also may be really underestimating my miles. I have been running 12ish miles a week lately and am up to ish miles on my vapor gloves and they are starting to get the pinky toe hole wear. I changed to minimal shoes about 1,5 years ago. I also love to run and changing to minimal shoes has only increased that. I walk on either Vivo Gobi2 or Merrel Vapor Glove 3 luna leather, because they look like normal shoes.

Although I anticipate that in this matter, brands have a lot to do with the type of material they use in their manufacture. Vivobarefoot Total Eclipse Eco. It depends. For me, the main ones are: Cadence or number of steps per minute. R unning t echnique. Do you drag your feet? It's not the same running on soft cement, on deteriorated asphalt, or running on the sand at the beach, as doing the 'goat' across a stone field.

Type of runner. I don't think that the weight is a limiting thing in the running technique I speak of something normal , but the more weight of the runner, the greater impact against the ground. About 3 times your weight, so the sole of the minimalist shoes is also subjected to that impact. Ambient temperature. At the extremes, this factor must also be considered.