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A NEW minimalist RUNNING and fitness shoe from Xero Shoes

We are super proud to announce our first performance SHOE from Xero Shoes, the Prio.

“Prio” comes from proPRIOception — the key to enjoyable, natural movement.

For Spring/Summer 2017, the Prio comes in 2 colors for Men and 2 for Women:

For men — True Yellow and Imperial Blue

Prio-Featured Prio-Blue-Feature

For Women — Nautical Blue and Citron

Prio-W-Blue-Feature Prio-W-Yellow-Feature

The Prio is built as a “true minimalist” shoe, meaning that it features:

  • Zero-drop sole (non-elevated heel for proper posture)
  • Low-to-the-ground design for balance and agility
  • Lightweight
  • Super flexible FeelTrue sole for natural motion
  • Protection + groundfeel from the FeelTrue® sole

Find out more… and see why “You have to be BRAIN DEAD not to love the Prio”. Click here.

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Xero Shoes Launches “Natural Movement” Shoe for Women

(Broomfield, CO) February 8, 2017 – Following on the heels of their first closed-toe shoe for men, the Hana, Xero Shoes has just introduced a women’s casual canvas shoe, the Lena.

CEO, Steven Sashen, says, “Your feet are supposed to bend, move, flex, and feel the world. The Lena lets you do that with casual style.” And since it’s their first shoe designed specifically for women, the company named it after its co-founder and owner, Sashen’s wife, Lena Phoenix.

The Lena features Xero’s “Design by Nature” philosophy: Natural Fit wide toe boxes let your toes spread and relax; Natural Motion construction allows free movement; Natural Feel soles give you the feedback your brain and body need for optimal function. “Plus,” adds Sashen, “we use a ‘Xero-Drop’ sole – non-elevated for proper posture, low to the ground for balance and agility, and backed by our 5,000 mile sole warranty.”

The Lena also features design elements reminiscent of their sandals. An adjustable strap holds the heel in place.

The Lena comes in at 6 ounces for a size 7, and is flexible enough to roll into a ball and fit in your pack or pocket for travel. Even though it’s a casual shoe, the sole is durable enough for road and trail running.

The Lena is available in 3 colorways and can be found on the company’s website –  www.XeroShoes.com – as well as retailers around the world, findable on the site’s store locator page. MSRP is $89.99.

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ABOUT: Feel The World, Inc., of Broomfield, CO, manufactures Xero Shoes®,  lightweight, performance recreation footwear. Durable, stylish and affordable — Xero Shoes supply the fun and benefits of being barefoot, but with a layer of protection and comfort.  Feel The World, Inc. launched in December 2009. Customers ages 2 to 92, in 94 countries wear Xero Shoes for walking, hiking,  yoga and gym-going, Crossfit, kayaking, rafting, paddle boarding, jogging, slacklining, and even running hundred-mile ultra marathons.

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Mickey Wilson Saves a Skiers Life

Mickey Wilson is a professional slackliner.

Three things…

1) If you don’t know what that is, here’s a taste

 

2) YES, you can be a PROFESSIONAL slackliner

3) It’s a GREAT thing Mickey is a professional slackliner. Because his skills saved the life of a skier. Here’s the story from the Ellen show. (Yes, he’s wearing his Hana shoes during the interview.)

Even before this happened, we’d been getting Mickey set up as one of our newest Xero Heros… but now, even though he hates the title, he’s TRULY a hero.

We’ll have a lot more from Mickey coming soon.

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How to pick the best barefoot running sandals?

Like the idea of barefoot running, but want a bit of protection from what you could step on, or IN?

For thousands of years, humans have run in sandals, and you can, too.

Perhaps the most famous sandal-wearing runners are the Tarahumara Indians of the Copper Canyon in Mexico. They were the stars of the book, Born To Run, by Chris McDougall and they’re known for running hundreds of miles in their huarache sandals.

A good barefoot sandal will be flexible enough to let your feet move naturally, thin enough to let you FEEL the ground, add just enough protection, and be long-lasting.

That’s what our bare-feet-inspired sandals do. Check them out here and see why people enjoy Xero Shoes for everything from a casual walk to running ultra marathons.

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.

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Xero Shoes’ 7th Anniversary Sale is ON!

7th-AnniverasarySale350-250Lena and I started Xero Shoes out of a corner of a spare room on November 23rd, 2009… we thought, “Maybe it’ll generate enough money for a car payment, and we’ll get some minimalist/barefoot running sandals onto a few people’s feet.”

We even had a debate about whether to buy a folding table and take all of our Vibram rubber and Home Depot-bought laces off the floor.

But by January, only 6 weeks later, it was clear that Xero was our full-time job, and helping people experience the benefits and fun of natural, barefoot-inspired movement was going to be our life. And, since then, over 150,000 people in 94 countries have swapped out their heavy, motion-controlled shoes for Xero Shoes and done everything from walking on the beach to tackling a CrossFit workout to running an ultramarathon… or just hanging out with friends.

Xero has grown thanks to all of our FOXes (Friends of Xero) and their willingness to stop and answer the question from a stranger, “Hey, where did you get those shoes!?”

To express our gratitude and celebrate our anniversary, which coincides with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, and all of the present-building holidays, plus the fact that we want to clear out some of our 2016 inventory in advance of getting our 2017 products, we’re having a HUGE Black Cyber Kwansmaskahverary Sale and Sweepstakes.

You can get our shoes and sandals for up to 70% off and enter our sweepstakes to win a $25, $50, or $100 gift certificate. We’re giving away 3 more $25 GCs to the people who leave our top 3 favorite comments, too.

Click Here to get all the details and enter to win!

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Xero Shoes Expands Beyond Sandals with a New Closed-Toe Casual Shoe

(Broomfield, CO) October 14, 2016 – Xero Shoes, the company known for its lightweight performance recreation launched its first closed-toe casual shoe, the Ipari Hana. Says CEO, Steven Sashen, “For years, customers have told us they love our sandals and want something with the same feeling, fit, and performance, but with a closed-toe for work or colder weather.”

The Hana’s base is the patented FeelTrue® rubber sole used in Xero’s best-selling sandals. The upper is canvas with Microfiber lining and exterior accents. A signature huarache-style lacing system adds to the Hana’s comfort, durability, and recognizable style. Even though the Hana is marketed as a casual shoe, early wearers have used the eight ounce (Men’s size nine) shoe for hiking, camping, weight lifting, and trail running.

Dennis Driscoll, Xero Shoe’s chief product designer, commented: “It’s a great looking casual shoe with natural movement. I am proud of the evolution of our image and brand.”

Designed with the foot’s natural movement in mind, the Hana features a wide footprint and toe box to let the toes relax and spread. A low-to-the-ground, non-elevated, zero-drop sole allows for proper posture, balance, and agility. The FeelTrue® sole provides protection without compromising a foot’s ability to bend and flex. Although the Hana was originally designed for men, women reported the wider base works well for their feet too. For both sexes with narrower feet, the women’s version named the Lena will be launching in Spring 2017.

The closed-toe shoe collection name, Ipari, was inspired by the Tarahumara Indian’s endurance running ball game, rarajipari. The shoe name, Hana, comes from the Maui town name, which evokes the casual adventure feeling of the shoe. Also, in Hawaiian, “Hana” means “craft” which reflects the craftsmanship of Xero’s new shoe.

The Hana is available in three colors: Black / Rust, Brown / Black, and Sand / Chocolate. MSRP is $79.99. The Hana and other Xero products are sold on the company’s website (www.xeroshoes.com) and in 150+ US retail locations. For a complete list of stores, please visit http://www.xeroshoes.com/stores.

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ABOUT: As seen on ABC’s Shark Tank, Xero Shoes®, a Colorado-based woman-owned corporation, makes lightweight modern minimalist footwear designed to support natural foot movement and function. Since its inception in 2009, Xero has attracted over 120,000 customers in 94 countries who enjoy the company’s footwear for walking, hiking, trail running, ultramarathons, backpacking, yoga, kayaking, rafting, stand up paddle boarding, family vacations at the beach, on cruise ships, and nights out on the town.

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Xero Communication

All footwear was minimalist prior to the early 70s. Every shoe was, basically, a “barefoot shoe.”

But now we’ve had over 40 years of heavily padded, motion-controlled shoes. And when you combine 4 decades of time with billions of dollars of marketing, everyone thinks that you NEED those shoes… even though there is no evidence that they provide any improvements in performance or injury reduction.

So, Xero Shoes is in an interesting position — we’re telling the TRUTH that everyone used to know and believe, in a whirlpool of deliberate misinformation. How does one do that?

How does one communicate a simple point — it’s better to USE your feet naturally, and Xero Shoes let you do that — against the tide of “more and bigger is better”?

I (Steven) talk about that, and many other things with TJ Walker, an expert in communication and public speaking who, it happens, I went to college with not too long after the invention of “foot coffins.

I hope you enjoy our chat…

So, what do you think?  I look forward to your comments, below…

 

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Do you have the Barefoot Personality?

Birds of a feather may flock together, but do barefoot runners flock as well… psychologically, at least?

Nicholas Hanson and Janet Buckworth think they might, as they describe in the paper they’ve published in Sport Sciences for Health, “Personality characteristics of barefoot runners: openness and conscientiousness as the defining traits”

They put 692 runners through The Big Five Inventory, a psychological typing system. 238 of those runners identified as barefooters who’d done at least a half marathon in the last 2 years.

Turns out, they say, that barefoot runners

…tend to be more open (imaginative, unconventional, curious) and less conscientious (responsible, dependable, orderly) than shod runners.

Think that describes you?

You can take the Big Five test and see… there are lots of sites that offer it (click here for search results)

(and, no, if you don’t fit the mold that DOESN’T mean you can’t run barefoot!)

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Improve your foot and ankle strength and your balance

If you want to improve your foot and ankle (and leg and hip!) strength — and you do — then you need to see this video.

In it, I share something I’ve never made public before, a very personal story about why strength and balance are so important to us at Xero Shoes. But I also share a new tool you can use to improve your strength and balance in just a few, fun, minutes per day.

There are 2 products I’m recommending HIGHLY:

One is the AFX Foot Strengthener (a video about AFX is on the way)

The other is the Slackblock (that’s what this video is about).

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.