John Parker: John Parker here, FitLife.Tv with Drew Canole.
Weíre here in sunny San Diego, little cloudy right now, we made it to the top of Cowles
Mountain.
So weíre here, weíre gonna review Vibram five fingers shoes, give you some tips along
the way, show you how we get our fitness, get in shape for the trail, make sure we stay
injury free.
Drew Canole: Hi guys, so the goal was to get here before the sun rise.
Run directly into the sunrise and as the beam of light reaches out over the Earth, pick
up sand and give gratitude for the day.
It was a beautiful plan however weíre covered in all these clouds, I donít know whatís
happening.
Itís as if we need to burn this off, we need you to manifest all of this grayness leaving
so that the sun can come out and we can teach you how to run on these hills.
So letís do this.
Work on it.
John Parker: Alright, little explanation on the Vibram Five Fingers Shoes, these things
are cool, itís really all about proprioception.
So, you can bend these things every which way which means youíre also gonna feel every
single rock thatís in your path.
What you wanna do is really propel off the ball of your foot, jumping from side to side
to gain traction while youíre on the trail.
That way youíre gonna stay injury free not get poked in the bottom of your shoe but still
have a lot of power when youíre running up the hill.
Drew Canole: Alright guys this is moves for your mind as well cause as every step that
you take you wanna pre-plan where your ball- where the ball of your foot is actually landing
otherwise youíre gonna get a stiff rock in the sole of your shoe or whatever else thatís
gonna mess your feet up.
So, itís easier to go side to side than rather shoot straight up.
So anytime youíre gonna go up an embankment or to the side or up the hill, you wanna make
sure youíre bouncing back and forth.
So as I come up this, Iím almost going like this
runÖ straight up there.
You know what Iím talking about.
Alright guys, so a lot of people think that rock climbing is all about the arms, do a
million and one pull-ups to get up the face of this thing and itís not, itís about strategic
planning with the legs and making sure that your footís strong so it can drive upward.
What you also wanna do is watch your-whenever you see a knob or something that you can grab
on to thatís close, itís going to be a lot easier for you than doing a static jump for
something thatís a ways away versus something thatís relatively close and itís less energy
excretion.
You always wanna conserve your energy on a face of a mountain or a hill or whatever youíre
climbing.
John Parker: Drew showed you how to climb up the face of the rock using Vibrams, picking
up those knobs, getting a little bit of traction.
Iím gonna show you how to run into an obstacle, use your body and your hands to get up and
on top and then keep on running, keep that momentum going.
Drew Canole: Alright guys, Iím here with Brandon, we met him on the trail and he actually
has the Kangaroo Vibrams on, how was the trail Brandon?
Brandon: I love coming up Cowles on these, theyíre great.
Drew Canole: Yeah though, how was your perception?
I mean running up, was it different than wearing like a normal pair of shoes?
Brandon: Definitely, I think it feels better, I love being barefoot so this is the perfect
way to come up the trail.
Drew Canole: So, well worth the investment?
Brandon: Oh, absolutely.
Drew Canole: In a scale of one to ten, what would you give ëem?
Brandon: A ten.
Drew Canole: A ten!
Nice!
Alright FitLifers, so when youíre running down the hill and letís say youíre at a
forty-five vert, like this, you want to use your arms out to the side, almost like a trapeze
artist cause thatís gonna balance you out and give you the necessary footing that you
can make the right choices when youíre running down the hill.
John Parker: Alright guys, Iíve noticed that itís a little bit difficult to stop when
youíre running down hill in these Vibram Five Fingers just because of the traction.
Iím gonna show you a quick and easy tip that I actually use every time I hike.
Alright, John Parker here I have my review of the Cowles Mountain, it was a lot of fun.
Iím wearing the KSO TREKs, they actually have a little bit more padding that the KSOs
that Drew is wearing, check this out.
I didnít get any rocks inside, which was nice.
I was really on my toes the entire time, a couple of times I slipped up a bit, it kinda
hurt but overall, I rated it a good experience, Iím gonna give ëem three Fit Men.
Drew Canole: Alright guys, so the only thing that Iím a little bit disappointed in is
the fact that I actually got laughed at by a bunch of toddlers on the trail and apparently
these shoes are sold at Wal-Mart and theyíre aqua socks, so, who knows.
Alright so my review of the Vibrams, Iíve had Vibrams for the past two and a half years,
Iíve built up to wearing these pretty much everywhere I go.
I use ëem in the gym, I use ëem on the street, I walk, after a race, whatever, I wear the
Vibrams.
So, all my ankles, my tendons that are in my feet, my lower calf are built up to wear
these things.
If youíre just getting your Vibrams, I would strongly encourage you to do a little work
before you run up this mountain that we just did, just to refrain from any injury.
To review these, I would give them a three and a half Fit Men out of four which is pretty
high ranking.
So weíre gonna see how Merrell, weíre gonna see how Zem shoes and weíre gonna see how
Nike Freeze compare on a similar trail to this relatively soon.
So, look forward to FitLife.Tv.