Heel striking is one of the things that is taking humans further away from our natural running form, which is forefoot striking! Essentially, running with cushioned footwear places stress on your feet, particularly your ankles and calf, which impact your knees, hips and lower back.
The difference between barefoot walking/running and walking/running with cushioned shoes are like night and day. Walking barefoot on a city street would be quite the sight and while not very practical, breaking free from the restrictive modern lifestyle would be quite liberating...just imagine the freedom of being able to show up to a job interview, literary barefoot!
Since walking barefoot is frowned upon, we can at least content ourselves with the closest thing to walking or running barefoot, which is wearing minimalist shoes like the VivoBarefoot  Primus Trail FG.
The amount of detailed feedback you get from your feet when wearing non-cushioned shoes is refreshing. The Primus Trail FG allow you to feel every bump on a road and every rock on a terrain, which in turn gives you more control of your running.
As you are more aware where your feet are planting it changes the dynamic of your running from a heel strike to a midfoot strike or forefoot strike, which long distance runners employ. If you wear cushioned shoes, chances are you will be more of a heel strike runner.
Going from cushioned shoes to barefoot or minimalist shoes is somewhat similar to going from high profile car tires to low profile car tires, which have shorter sidewalls that makes them corner really well because the tires hug the road.
The drawback with low profile tires though, it's that they give cars a rougher ride because of the shorter sidewall. Car tires are designed to help with the car's suspension system; hence why car tires are made with high sidewalls to help absorb road bumps.
Car tires are to rims, what shoes are to feet! But, unlike car rims, our feet are actually designed to be barefoot but of course, that is not very practical on our concrete jungle; hence the need for footwear.
If your budget can afford it, the VivoBarefoot Primus Trail FG have exceptional built quality, making them perfect for maintaining the barefoot lifestyle. The Primus Trail FG "trainer-like" design also gives them a "cool factor" which is always a plus for barefoot shoes.
VivoBarefoot Primus Trail FG are, certainly, on the high end price for barefoot shoes but, you do get a 100 day trial when buying these shoes so, if you change your mind within 3 months, VivoBarefoot will let you return the shoes for a full refund, which is nice.
The "trial refund" is a pretty good deal, considering that most shoe shops will not refund you once you literary walk out of the shop with their shoes (after paying for them, of course!)
The naming of these shoes is quite interesting too. The name Primus is presumably after the American alternative metal band, while Trail FG stands for Trail Firm Ground, meaning the Primus Trail FG are outdoors barefoot shoes.
The rubber sole is extremely rugged and has an interesting multi-directional thread pattern with grippy Y-shaped markers that helps give you traction on different types of surfaces, including gravel road surfaces, cobblestone streets, asphalt or concrete roads.
These Y-shaped markers, which measure 3mm at their base and 3mm long function similarly to the spikes of indoor track shoes, giving you grip while boosting your acceleration.
The top section of the Primus Trail FG barefoot shoes is made with PET bottle recycled fiber and designed with a breathable mesh. The Primus Trail FG are, essentially, made with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) rubber and polyester so, they are extremely lightweight, weighing just 250 grams (approximately the weight of a the average smartphone).
As you can see from the pictures, the Vivo Barefoot Primus Trail FG have excellent spacing for wide feet going from the midfoot to forefoot and toe box area. This means, your toes have room to move comfortably and your feet won't develop neuroma (inflamed nerves), which happens when shoes are too tight in the toe box.
With shoes, it untimely comes down to whether your feet are happy. Being able to feel the ground underneath your feet is a pleasant down-to-earth experience; hence why sandals and clogs are popular although they are not as great for running as the Primus Trail FG.
Gadget Explained disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases