Vibram FiveFingers Shoes and Zumba
It was bound to happen: I finally saw a pair of Vibram FiveFingers shoes in one of my Zumba classes.
I do have people who occasionally go barefoot in my Zumba classes. Usually, it is because: A) They are professional or modern dancers and they choose to dance barefoot (like Shakira) or B) they forgot their athletic shoes and whatever shoes they were wearing were not appropriate for Zumba. Depending on the instructor, there can be a fair amount of pounding, jumping, twisting, and turning in Zumba. It is widely known that trained and untrained barefoot dance can cause a host of foot problems including blisters, calluses, bruises, pes planus (fallen arches or flatfeet), stress fractures, tendinitis, capsulitis, metatarsalgia, and more.
I am not a doctor, but in my opinion, using Vibram FiveFingers shoes for Zumba would only add insult to injury. Vibram FiveFingers shoes give users the feeling of being barefoot with the security of a performance rubber sole for sure grip and slip resistance.
Slip resistance and a sure grip is not what you want or need for Zumba. The increased grip of the sole will force the foot to stay in place and will lead to unnatural twisting of the ankle, knee, and hip during many dance moves in a typical Zumba class.
Do I recommend Vibram FiveFingers shoes for Zumba? No. If you truly want a natural experience, dance barefoot – and do so at your own risk. Proper footwear, like athletic dance shoes, absorb shock and protect the feet and legs from injury during high impact activity.
Save the Vibram FiveFingers shoes for barefoot running, strength training, yoga or Pilates, or after sport.
Filed under Zumba, exercise | Tags: athletic dance shoes, athletic shoes, bare foot, barefoot, blister, bruise, callus, capsulitis, Dance, fallen arch, Finger, Fingers, five, FiveFinger, FiveFingers, flat feet, flatfeet, metatarsal, metatarsalgia, modern dance, pes planus, pilates, Running, shakira, shoes, stress fracture, tendinitis, Vibram, yoga, Zumba, Zumba shoes | Comments (2)Oh, I don’t know, let’s see, crushing Dwight Yoakam’s voice box with my five iron?
My favorite episode of King of the Hill is “Hank’s Got the Willies” from Season 1, originally aired in February 1997.
Hank and the guys go golfing. Bobby loses his grip on his club and the club hits Willie Nelson in the head. Bobby later runs into Willie…
WILLIE NELSON: Hey, I know you. You’re the kid that rakes my lawn.
BOBBY: No, I’m the kid who hit you in the head.
WILLIE NELSON: With a rake?
BOBBY: No, with a golf club.
WILLIE NELSON: You been raking my lawn with a golf club? I want my quarter back.…
BOBBY: Dad, guess where I am?
HANK: Oh, I dunno, let’s see, crushing Dwight Yoakam’s voice box with my five iron?
BOBBY: I’m at Willie Nelson’s, and he wants you to come over!
HANK: Son, you’re teasing the gorilla in the monkey house.
(In case you’re wondering, I found the quotes at http://www.geocities.com/arlen_texas/willies.htm.)
On a Dwight Yoakam-related note, Dwight Yoakam provided the voice for recurring King of the Hill character, Lane Pratley, in “Nine Pretty Darn Angry Men,” although later appearances were voiced by someone other than Dwight.
King of the Hill has featured many celebrity voices such as the late John Ritter, Trace Adkins, Johnny Knoxville, Tammy Wynette, Betty White, Charlie Daniels, and Reese Witherspoon just to name a few.
Filed under music, tv | Tags: bobby, bobby hill, box, cartoon, dwight, dwight yoakam, five, five iron, golf, hank, hank hill, hill, iron, king, king of the hill, nelson, voice, voice box, willie, willie nelson, yoakam | Comment (0)