Parkour Footwear

[Omer]

Can I ask would 5 finger shoes work well for freerunning? Such as the flow ones. I bought some ages ago for running in them; I prefer them to normal shoes however they have no impact suppression at all but they're fairly grippy even on wet surfaces

[Omer]

Can I ask would 5 finger shoes work well for freerunning? Such as the flow ones. I bought some ages ago for running in them; I prefer them to normal shoes however they have no impact suppression at all but they're fairly grippy even on wet surfaces

well actually they do, just not very much but because they have a good feel for your feet they are nice to run in and they are nicely stuck to your feet so you can choose which part of your foot you land on asier

[bateson]

im almost possative they wouldnt last long atall as im sure there going to be very thin,
so you make any mistakes on a slightly rough wall........SORE FOOTIES!

[Dave]

It's not a bad idea to wear something with a little more protection if you're just starting to practise parkour, as it is likely that your feet will be used to stronger footwear and will need to adjust gradually. If your feet are already used to that type of footwear though, or you're prepared to adjust your training from what others might do with more rigid footwear, then there isn't an issue besides possibly durability. As a way of strengthening it's a very good idea not to try and rely on the cushioning from shoes.

[dominicluke]

aye a good way to start out would be alot of silence training. so just repetition of small precisions your comfortable doing but trying to land as silent as possible. this will increase your sensitivity and prevent yourself from getting injured through wearing less cusioned shoes such as feiyue...or even 5 fingers.

[dakameo]

If you're prepared to spend some time adapting, then wearing less cushioning is the best way to go. Every part of your training will benefit because of the increase in sensory feedback.

Depending on what you are used to, your foot will take some time to get used to the change in positioning. The key thing to worry about if you're used to chunky heels, especially if you run any distance at all, but even if you don't, is that your achilles will need to adapt to a new length. Women get this problem quite badly when they change straight from office heels to holiday flip flops and wonder why they are in pain so quickly.

So bring yourself down slowly, but if it's safe, go barefoot around the house and every now and then for mini runs on grass to experiment and also to let your toes separate for VFFs.

Every half centimetre of extra cushioning forces your feet to land harder as they search for the ground. The foam acts as a painkiller, disguising any issues there might be, until suddenly your hip or knees flashes up a problem from cumulative errors.

The body constantly works out where your hands and feet will go because it knows how long the muscles are, and whether they are contracted or not, feeds all the data into your CNS supercomputer and creates a virtual model in your brain. If you add anything on to that model it won't work as efficiently as the foot itself. And then when you change shoes....

Running barefoot/minimal sole (with proper technique and exercises) will leave you with no long term injuries but instead replace them with better balance and efficiency of movement, and increase your ability to accelerate and change direction (general agility). Also for longer distances you will be able to run further with less energy. And you will stop pounding your heels and start using the levers in your legs properly.

It will also sort your posture out and enable you to run faster.

Generally though, it just feels a million times better to actually feel the ground, the different textures and surfaces, levels of grip or stability and to be able to harness the elasticity of your muscles and use the GRF to your benefit. VFF will give you this response, as will Feelmax and others. For slightly less connection to the ground, Inov8 f-lites and other double arrows in their range, Addidas RC pros - non tapering, some pumas to mention a few. Just remember that the more 'support' you have in a shoe, the more you have to reply on the grip, partly why kalenji were popular. I personally wouldn't use Flow unless I was in the water because my feet would heat up to much and they tear easily. KSO would be more suited.

And silent/stealth training all the way, like the wise man says.

-Zach

[Omer]

how many sizes too small would you recommend to use?

and could you recommend any shops in sheffield or websites?

[gregg]

Size... I just try it on, make sure it fits well, without slipping.
If they'll let you, pop onto a cement wall in the store, do a few ground level precisions...
I train in a huge variety of shoes -- barefoot, slippahs [flip-flops], trainers, high tops, dress shoes.
They all have advantages and disadvantages.

[Omer]

do you know any shoes with good traction quite cheap? I've only seen those kalenji shoes and basketball shoes for under £30

[Dave]

Size-wise you just want shoes that fit well. You want as little empty space in the shoe as possible while still letting your feet remain in a natural position.

In Sheffield, Decathlon on the roundabout at the bottom of Bramhall Lane a great place for shoes, as it's got a huge number of shoes just there on the shelves and they don't mind too much if you spend 2 hours in there trying on all of them. More importantly, it also has a small section for last-season shoes where they reduce prices a bit on old models.

The Kalenji range has become both more expensive and worse for your feet, and Nike Darts have gone up in price by 50%, so there are no obvious choices for footwear anymore. Find something that fits well and doesn't break the bank and take it from there.

If you can afford it then it's good (but not vital) to train in a variety of different shoes so you don't come to rely on any particular pair. I have a reasonable selection that I rotate through.

[playhater]

Is that the Dave Sedgely shoe rack? I must say, very impressive.

[Omer]

so what would you say about getting kalenji cos I found 2 cheap pairs that are quite nice for traction by the feel of it and fit well.

they are all kalenji ekiden within £10-£20 just wondering if you have any experience with those ekiden 50, 75, 100 and 200

[Omer]

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/ekiden-200-82393307/#

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/ekiden-75-82393425/#

those ones

[Dave]

I've not looked at much of the current Kalenji range as I don't exactly need any more shoes just now, but I've got a pair of the 50s in size 40 (back row, far right). I've not worn my pair in yet and at the moment they've very stiff, but it seems like they might follow the Kalenji trend of getting better the more you wear them and being best just before they wear out entirely. There's some concern that since the tread has gaps it has a tendency to rip off easily in places, so maybe they won't be good for difficult arm jumps and tictacs, but the same applies to a lot of shoes and it's possible to live with it.

I've bought a lot of Decathlon own-brand shoes over the years (entire back row +2 are Domyos or Kalenji) and they usually win on price. They're not great quality though, and if you're going for the cheap end I'd recommend trying on more than one pair of each size as there are sometimes differences between supposedly identical shoes and the labeling system is unreliable at best.

[Omer]

I bought some today I think they might be the 50s because they were fairly cheap but I tried a wall jump in them and I think they have way too much extra sole than I'm used to because I jumped up a wall I usually clear easily and my foot slipped straight off smacked my shin cut open pretty mean hole

[dallas161]

Hi, my first post, How are you all?

My trainers brought me to parkour 3 years ago they was the Adidas velcro climacool

anyone else tried these?

[Dave]

Omer, that's why it's good to try and avoid relying on particular shoes.

[Omer]

amen. I'd rather have blisters on my feet than the unnecessary amount of cushioning on those shoes

[NathNinetyOne]

A one piece sole, that uses high quality rubber. A simple, uncluttered design thats built to last. instead of laces a zip. Good ankle support is a must, flexible, needs to be cheap.

That would be my perfect parkour shoe.

[digi95392]

FiveFingers are definitely a the best way to parkour with barefoot feel, but not sacrificing protection. Vibram makes some of the toughest and most flexible rubber soles that are used in quality work boots. I would give them a try if you are getting frustrated with regular shoes. Check out this parkour video with people wearing fivefingers - http://www.fivefingerfootwear.com/post/ ... ivefingers