My "Trippy Exercise Product of the Year" award goes to these strange-looking but extremely intriguing shoes by Vibram Five Fingers. Okay, forget for a moment the fact that they actually came out last year (and were named one of the Best Inventions of '07 by Time magazine, no less) and look at these shoes! They're supposed to offer the protection of a shoe while mimicking how your foot behaves when you're not wearing any shoes at all in order to promote "better foot mechanics" - if any of you are amateur podiatrists, there are all sorts of biomechanical explanations on the website of exactly how the FiveFingers footwear works. For the rest of us, there are funny pictures of people running in shoes that look like some futuristic version of toe socks! Yay!
The FiveFingers can be used for a wide variety of sports, they're supposedly very comfortable, and you can even get them wet. Plus, if you're vegan, no worries: There are no animal products in the shoe. To be honest, I find them cute. I'm kind of coveting a pair, just for the sheer novelty of it - and if there are health benefits, well, that's just a bonus! What do you think of the Vibram FiveFingers barefoot shoe?
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