Vibram Five Fingers

Why do I wear them? What purpose do they serve?

Muscles ALL work together... from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head. When you walk with shoes, your body, more specifically your joints, become lazy and forget what they were suppose to do. Our bodies are natural shock absorbers. From the beginning of time when our bodies were made, it was perfectly designed... until well you know Eve did that deed. Clothing then led to shoes and shoes DO cause a lot of problems in your body. Now I cannot walk around barefoot all the time because of the hazards that lay on the ground... glass, dog poop, snot or rocks but Vibram Five Fingers are as close to bare feet as I can get. I get the balance I need with the protection I need for my feet.
One instance where I tested my five fingers was when I went to Paris, France with my dear husband. We were at the Eiffel Tower and my hubby wanted to find a tour company he thought was nearby... we walked and we walked... and we walked some more... still looking for this tour company... the next thing I know when I looked up, I see Notre Dame... now I'm a bit upset and relieved at the same time... most of you know that I'm not an exercise person.... but that was some exercise for me! But I can tell you that in NO way was I sore... if you ever been to Europe, you know that they LOVE cobblestone... cobblestone and five fingers are a challenge to say the least but I felt NO pain... anywhere! Now for those who don't know how long that walk is, it's a little over 4 miles... after that long walk, we jumped on a bus and rode around Paris, hitting all the landmarks... I didn't stretch, I didn't THINK about stretching after a long walk... and yet my muscles especially in my gastrocs were NOT tight... nor was my hamstrings, or glutes.
I do have to say though, I'm not much of a girlie girl... so most of my life was spent with no shoes on... so wearing minimalist shoes was easy for me... for you it may not be easy so I MUST SAY if you do decide to try out minimalist shoes... start slow... wear them for short periods of time and then take them off. Wearing minimalist shoes will NOT make you walk correctly and will NOT work magic. If you have bad movement patterns (because your brain has retained those movements), you will continue to have those patterns with minimalist shoes... that is until you RETRAIN YOUR BRAIN!! And of course get use to wearing almost nothing on your feet.
Just my little rant and a little education for you...