With a dual-layered engineered mesh system, these trainers are just as comfortable to the barefoot as they are with my customary Injinjis. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page. Even with a 9mm drop midsole, having the midfoot cut out can still feel awkward for those of us who do collapse (and again, pronation is a normal movement and method of shock absorption if you have adequate control of it.

HFS - Men - Xero Shoes EU

I found landings to be too harsh without the insole, so I did the vast majority of my runs in the HFS with the insole. For racing flats we ensure that we have completed intervals, a tempo or steady state run as well as a warm-up and cool down in each pair prior to review. When you add more and more cushion under your feet, these signals are lost, and you often land with higher forces which can lead to worse outcomes over time. Xero recommends sizing up by about ½-size (for both EU and US sizes) to hit the sweet spot with these shoes — that recommendation is spot-on. Despite working through over two dozen morning training sessions, more than 15 trips to the course, as well as a full week trial in the PT office prior to going on leave, these shoes have shown little sign of initial wear and tear.Again, because the upper materials are much more flexible, any areas of your foot that might poke out in weird directions are unobstructed.

HFS - Lightweight Road Running Shoe - Women - Xero Shoes EU

If there’s any play in your fit, any prolonged rubbing could wear through the soft ankle and cause a hole. For example, while there are multiple barefoot shoes that can work for CrossFit, they could still use improvements for things in WODs like rope climbs and wall slide during handstand push-ups.Feet aren’t pointy (unless you shove them into pointy shoes), they’re not essentially straight (in fact, some feet are way more curved than what’s in the picture). I feel Vivobarefoot does an excellent job at looking much more stylish than other minimal footwear brands. Well, it could be for the “Highly Flexible Sole” that lets your foot move naturally, or the face you’ll make when you put it on — “Happy Face Shoe” — or the way you run in it with a “High Frequency Stride”, or what you exclaim when you put it on and feel the comfort and light weight: “Holy ___ ___!