A couple of us were talking about shoes one day after Jen strutted in with her new Reebok Reeflex shoes. It made me start to think a bit about all the shoes I’ve either worn or encountered in different CrossFit Boxes over the years. I have seen everything from Chuck Taylors to Vibram Five Fingers. Each shoe is beneficial in its own way as you put it through different exercises depending on the WOD. A shoe with a flat sole, such as Adidas’ Samba or the classic Chuck T’s, is great for workouts involving olympic or powerlifting and even wall balls. Olympic lifting shoes are great as well for these types of movements because they form a greater base of support and prop the heel up slightly from the naturally flat position. This enables one to arrive in a more ideal position (line of action) for squats and cleans. For everything else, I prefer shoes that are as minimal as possible. I went through a Five Finger phase when I was still big into running because I loved the feel of the ground against my feet. This transfered into the CrossFit gym for a while until I realized how big of a pain in the ass they are to do double unders in. Minimal shoes such as the New Balance Minimus (my favorite) and Inov8’s are great for those looking for slightly more support but still want the proprioceptive advantage that less padding gives you. Reebok is one of the first big companies to really take advantage of these ideas and make an all around CrossFit specific shoe. I encourage you all to try all the different types and see which ones suit you best. Watch the video below for a comparison between athletic and olympic lifting shoes.
