Mama Needs A New Pair of Shoes
(side note: it is occurring to me that I have never titled a post here with anything less than some super obnoxious one liner. I’m not suggesting I’m going to stop doing that, I’m just commenting on it. Carry on)
So, question: What shoes do y’all crossfit in?
On the one hand: I want flat non-running shoes for Olympic lifting and other stablizing stuff.
On the other hand: There s a lot of running in some workouts, and I like having non-Samba/Chuck Taylors to use for those.
I know a lot of people LOVE their Vibrams for this, but I since I’ve never had gait problems with long distance running, I have never felt the need to change up my running shoes for Vibrams, and never really wanted to buy them exclusively for CF. Also, there’s a small part of me that feels like you can only really go all-in on so many douchy fads at once, and my one-two punch of Crossfit + Paleo might not leave room for barefoot running as well. (I’m kidding. Kind of.)
Anyway! I currently use Nike Frees and kick them off for focused lifting work, but before I purchased my next pair, I wanted to hear for you about what you wear. And feel free to try to convince me I’ll love Vibrams — today’s “annoying fad” is tomorrow’s “lifesaving must have”, right?
January 20th, 2011 at 10:09 am
I am so glad you brought this up – I just started CF last week and am wondering if my shoes are appropriate (Asics GT2100 series, I think they’re the latest release). My coach said they were fine, and barefoot was fine, too. I was considering the Nike Frees for my next running shoe anyway. A couple of people at my box wear Vibrams, but I’m not really sold on those yet.
January 20th, 2011 at 11:06 am
It seems as if everyone at my gym – and all the trainers – has the Innovates. They’re supposed to be the best for CF because they’re flat enough for lifting but supportive enough for running.
I just can’t spend $115 on another pair of shoes right now.
I have a pair of Nike Lunarlons that I wear 90% of the time and I leave my Vibrams in the car for the OLY wods. Also, I sometimes just kick of my shoes too if there’s a straight strict period of lifting.
January 20th, 2011 at 11:46 am
Ooh, me likey the Innovates. But yes, those are way too pricey right now. I can either afford the CF itself, or the shoes, but not both.
January 20th, 2011 at 1:26 pm
My feet never seemed comfortable in Chucks or Nike Frees. My feet are on the wide side, but I’m usually comfortable in regular width shoes, just not those particular (cheap, easy-to-find) ones. I am very happy with the Adidas Samba Classics that I’ve been wearing since middle school. If you hunt around for the kids ones (and can fit into them), they don’t have that extra long tongue that gets especially annoying on anything with lots of ankle flexion. That said, I also have a straight up pair of Nike running shoes for days with more running than heavy lifting.
February 1st, 2011 at 5:28 pm
I love my vibrams. I’ve never, generally, been one to spend more than $20 (I do have a pair of $60 Nike’s though) on shoes before but from the moment I tried on a pair of KSO’s I was in love. They are so comfortable. For the first week I did have some blistering issues (was walking 2 miles on cement that would cook an egg). After that though they have been fine. I notice how I walk more than I did with my Nike shoes and I haven’t rolled my ankle in these like I did with my Nike’s. My ankles don’t crack as much as they did in regular shoes either. I also noticed that my legs in general seem to be a bit better shape since wearing these. Another thing I noticed was that my balance is much better in general in these than in shoes (I think it’s more to do with noticing how I’m standing than anything as when I did Tae Kwon Do I always felt fairly graceful until it was time to go home).