Recently, Vibram had settled a class-action lawsuit against its flagship product, FiveFingers.
Of course, the question then leads to “Is FiveFingers really that bad?”
Personally, I am a forefoot striker. I picked that up when I picked up barefoot running, thanks to a close friend of mine introduced me to a group of barefoot runners. With a little bit of research and testing, I found my style of running. One of the reason I switched to barefoot running was due to knees and hips pain from running on normal thick padded shoes.
Does that mean padded shoes are bad? No. It is just bad for me.
Hence, I did what my father did; have few pairs of running shoes, and switch between them, so I do not accustom to just one running habit, including barefoot.
Since then, I have less knee pains, better thigh strength and balance. (which is also due to the fact I lift weights)
I am just one of those who manage to run both ways. And I do not think blaming FiveFingers for the injury can solve anything, because everyone should do their own research before they start running, regardless fore-foot or heel strike.
Simply put; FiveFingers is not for everyone, same goes to barefoot or padded running shoes is not for everyone.
Some are heel strikers, some are fore-foot striker. Some manage to switch in between, some not. Even some long distance runners switches between both style to ease different parts of the legs.
What will this lawsuit solve? Nothing. There will still be runners having knee problems or injury, regardless of which running style. This lawsuit might even make innovation in running shoes even harder.
You might want to consider Vibram if you prefer training or running in barefoot. There might be less minimalistic shoes around for a long time due to this lawsuit.
