Bench Press
Performance: Medium Intensity: 75-80% x 5 x 4
Fitness: 3 x 5 Linear Progression
Add two to five pounds to last week’s exposure.
_____________________
Deadlift
Fitness and Performance: Work up to one heavy set of 8 using perfect form.
Heavier than last week’s set of 10. Dead start, no touch-and-go.
Exposure 2/8
Post loads to comments.
_____________________
For Time, 21-15-9:
Wall Balls 20/10, 14/9
Kettlebell Swings 53/35
Box Jumps 24/20″
Post time and Rx to comments.
GD and Coach Ro, shoe twins! With Leslie crushing wall balls in the distance
The State of CrossFit Footwear, 2015
By Noah Abbott
A few days ago, someone mentioned to me that they had recently read my article about CrossFit shoes, and I realized that it had been almost five years since I had spent far too much time expounding about the relative merits of Sneaker A vs. Weightlifting Shoe B. A lot has changed in the CrossFit world since 2011, and shoes are no exception. That said, we are still fighting the same battles—trying to find a pair of shoes that allows us to tackle the broad range of CrossFit activities while being unobtrusive and hopefully even a little stylish in the bargain.
Instead of a dissecting what to look for in a shoe (which I covered in the old article) I am going to talk a bit about some trends that have emerged in the last five years. That said, here are the things you still want in a shoe overall:
- Lightweight.
- Low profile, non-compressible sole.
- Sweet colors.
The Re-emergence of the Heel and the Beefification of the Shoe
For a time, “zero-drop” shoes (which have the exact same height in the heel and forefoot) were the coveted ideal. Since the human foot is naturally relatively flat, it was thought that a perfect flat shoe would mimic natural movement the best and be the healthiest for people. In the early days, CrossFit shoes and barefoot/minimalist running shoes were somewhat synonymous terms.
Turns out that the demands of a heavy snatch and an easy 5k in the park are quite different! In recent years, training shoes have begun to incorporate a slight heel-to-toe drop again, influenced a bit by the ¾” heel in weightlifting shoes. Shoes are still lightweight, and the soles are still relatively low and definitely not squishy, but most companies seem to realize that a small heel helps lifts without taking away too much from proprioception (“ground-feel”).
Along with realizing that glorified ballet slippers aren’t necessarily the best footwear for high-intensity exercise, the big companies also realized that some stuff we encounter in the gym really ruins shoes. Rope climbs, burpees, and other movements can eat through lightweight mesh, so the past few years have seen DARPA-level technology incorporated into shoes to make them more impervious to daily use. Toe bumpers, rope guards, KEVLAR, and other protective elements have made shoes more durable and broadly useful, and that’s a good thing.
The War at the Top
In the early days of CrossFit, there was a certain joy in “hacking” a cross-country flat or trail shoe to serve as your daily training shoe. Today, most of the bandwidth is occupied by two big manufacturers, Reebok and Nike, with sparks flying between the two of late.
Reebok introduced the CrossFit Nano in 2011, soon after my first article (coincidence or conspiracy, you decide!). The Nano has seen five iterations (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc…zzzzz) with a few offshoots (Sprint, Pump, etc.). The Nano is a pretty good all-around fitness shoe, and Reebok has done a pretty good job of incorporating feedback into each new release. The Nano 5.0 was released for the 2015 CrossFit Games, and is an obvious nod to the 2.0, which is widely considered “the best Nano.” The 5.0 is the first shoe that incorporates Kevlar, which to me seems a bit like overkill, but it’s cool cause I get to run around and do this at peoples’ feet.
Nike has recently joined the fray with the Nike Metcon 1, and their entry into a pretty uncrowded field has been textbook Nike—they win. They’ve done a good job limiting their releases, choosing typically awesome colorways, and they answered Reebok’s busy, techy, highly branded Nano with a smooth, refined, and unobtrusive shoe. Reviews have been mostly good, with some complaints, and I’m excited to see what the Metcon 2 will bring. (Personally, the Metcons leave me a little cold; they look like tennis court shoes and I wanted Nike to get a little wilder with the colors. Really, I just want these.)
As far as dedicated weightlifting shoes go, I’m going to go full elitist and caution you not to waste your time with anything but the best: either the Nike Romaleos II or the Adidas Adipower Weightlift. Both of these run around $150-200 and represent the best shoes you can buy. You will end up replacing any other weightlifting shoe you buy with one of these, eventually. The Adidas are a little narrower, although of higher build quality IMHO. All of this will change after the next Olympics, of course.
Surprising Quality and Choice at the “Bottom”
While Nike and Reebok dominate most of the CrossFit shoe atmosphere these days, there are other manufacturers who make training shoes that rival or surpass the offerings of the “big two.” My personal favorites are offerings from Inov-8 and New Balance.
Inov-8 was in many ways the “first CrossFit shoe,” originally designed for trail running, but well suited to the rigors and demands of functional fitness training. Since the early days, the company has continued to make high quality trail runners, but has also taken steps to better incorporate the needs of the functional fitness industry. Often criticized for being aggressively narrow, Inov-8 bifurcated their line, creating two different fit profiles for their shoes. Their “Standard” fit now offers a wider toe box and more natural ground feel, in contrast with their “Precision” fit, which is the original, somewhat narrow shoe they have been producing for a while. Inov-8 also has released some CrossFit specific shoes like the F-Lite 235 that are as high quality as they come.
New Balance’s Minimus line also offers top quality shoes for someone who wants to exist outside the Nike/Reebok spectrum. Their training shoe, currently on its fourth iteration, the 20v4, is light, firm, and high quality, with the best soles (Vibram) in the industry.
Both Inov-8 and New Balance seem to come out with more products than Nike and Reebok, and do less work hyping them and limiting their releases. This leads to generally larger supply than demand pools, which in turn means you can often find their shoes at significant discounts if you look around a little bit.
The Death of the Toe Shoe
I’d be remiss if I finished this article without mentioning one of the larger footwear trends in the last few years, which is the gradual but almost absolute disappearance of the Vibram FiveFingers line of toe-shoes from most CrossFit gyms and athletes’ feet. As the value of some stability, heel-lift, and protection in a shoe has become more and more apparent, the ultra-minimal, ultra-weird looking FiveFingers have receded from gym staple to the choice of that weird IT guy who wears them in the office. Good riddance says I.
_____________________
Oliver Sacks: Sabbath The New York Times
Oliver Sacks: My Periodic Table The New York Times
Shoes off to Noah. Outstanding – dead accurate – review. I will say that I do recommend these for après-Crossfit tho ……
http://youtu.be/BFO32GEUJPE
6am with McD and JB
Bench: Hit 210# for my 5 x 4, which is 75% of my 1RM. Felt good and crisp, hit all the reps without issue.
Deadlift: Worked up to 300# for my 8 reps, moved without incident. Got a wicked cool new lifting belt that definitely makes things feel better.
WOD: My legs are pretty sore from yesterday's rowing extravaganza, so this was spicier than it looked. Did it in 5:41 with everything unbroken. Did the box jumps as jump up, step downs, and am definitely getting faster at cycling them.
6am with McDowell and JB
Perf. Bench:
45×5
135×5
185×3
195x5x4 (80% of 1rm)
Deadlift:
135×5
225×5
275×5
300×1 (I was on the verge of ripping my left middle finger, and decided to live to fight another day)
Metcon: 6:04 Rx
Really not excited to see wall balls after yesterdays Subway Series workout, and was considering bailing on the workout to just row for 15min, but sucked it up and did it anyway. Wall balls and KB swings unbroken. Box jumps were jump up, step down. I have a healthy fear of bounding box jumps now with that image of Julie Foucher in a moon boot in the back of my mind.
6am
Bench Press
185# x 5 x 4 which is about 80% of my 1RM. These all moved well.
Deadlifts
275# x 8. Quick and easy.
WOD
Despite one of the longest set ups for a WOD ever we eventually got underway. (While our bodies function fine at 6am our brains tend to be a few steps behind.)
Finished this in 6:24. Everything was unbroken. Box jumps were jump ups with step downs and way too slow in the last two rounds.
I liked this one a lot.
6am with JB and McDowell
Bench: 45×5, 65×5, 85×3, 90x5x3
Deadlift: 135×5, 185×3, 200×8
WOD in 5:24, subbing 20kg Russian for 16kg American swings since my shoulder is still wonky. Everything unbroken, with jump ups and step downs on the box jumps. This one was right in my wheelhouse.
Enjoyed the article about shoes! I may have a shoe problem since I've owned almost all the ones Noah's mentioned, except for the romaleos/adipowers, which I contemplated buying last week with the sale at eastbay, but managed to resist (for now).
Bench: 100x5x3. The normal barbell is moving well, which makes me happy. Maybe I can get rid of the football bar on strict press soon, too. Yay!
Deadlift: 205×8. Gawd, I can't wait to get to shorter sets.
WOD in 5:47 with 20# slam balls instead of wall balls. This was my first time doing KB swings with both arms in several months (at least in a WOD situation; I have done them in warmups once or twice), and I think this was the perfect WOD in which to try it: low volume, medium-light KB. I still would not want to try my right hand out on high volume or a heavy bell. But in this workout it felt fine. More yay!
OG. Saturday.
Pause Squat (4 x 5@8RPE)
45 x 10, 95 x 5, 135 x 5, 165 x 5, 185 x 5, 205 x 3, 185 x 5 x 3
Using form as my RPE 'indicator'. I felt I was losing it at 205 so dropped back down.
Press (4 x 3@8RPE)
45 x 5, 65 x 3, 75 x 3 x 4
Thursday's WOD with 25# DB thrusters and 20kg KB. Everything unbroken until the last round when my arms got tired and I broke the thrusters up into 14, 6.
Fun WOD. Crept up on me. I would have preferred to have done this in group class. Need to look at my schedule this week so I can do more of those.
6am
Bench Press: 170 x 5 x 3
Trying to be extra strict about keeping shoulders retracted to avoid any shoulder flare ups.
Deadlifts: 335 x 8
I'll be very happy when we get down to 5s or less.
WOD: 7:01 Rx'd
Everything unbroken, but I'm very slow at jump up / step down box jumps. Did american swings for the first time ever in a WOD.
I liked this one a lot.
Great article Noah!! For personal reasons, I too am happy about the death of the toe shoe. …Been meaning to write to vibram about making the four-fingered shoe for those who are webbed…guess that will no longer be necessary.
Some things from Friday/sat:
A. Front Squat- rest 2-3 min between sets.
3 reps @ 60%- 123#
3 reps @ 70%- 143#
2 reps @ 80%- 163#
2 reps @ 85-90% – 183#
1 rep @ 95%- 195#
1 rep- 205# (PR)
Been working off of 205 for all of these numbers. Things were still feeling crisp by the time I got to 195# so I went for an extra at 205#. Had to fight to keep my chest up a bit, but i got it! May have some room here too, especially with the additional squat exposure.
B. Every two minutes, for 16 minutes (8 sets): rest 2 min
Push press + split jerk (3s pause in split)
103
108
113
118
123
128
133
138
Push press felt better than my split jerk. Which I kind of expected. I'm just getting back into split jerks since my ankle has been acting up, so happy I was able to hit these heavier numbers.
Saturday WOD:
Pyramid Double Helen: 23:29
1200 M row
63 KBS (16kg)
36 pull-ups
800 M row
42 KBS
24 pull-ups
400 M row
21 KBS
12 pull-ups
The workout is running as prescribed. So rowing made it super-grippy. Did a whole lot of wrist stretching inbetween sets of KBS and all pull-ups were completed in quick sets of 3. Otherwise, I thought this workout was really great.
6am with JBowell
Bench 180 x 5 x 3. Moved fast and easy.
Deadlift 225 x 8. Also fast and easy and my back feels much better than last weeks 10. I'll credit JB's watchful eye for that. Happy to be deadlifting with regularity again.
WOD: 6:19 rx'd. Fun and quick metcon but my legs were still really sore from yesterday's workout and there is no break for them in this one. I generally consider it a success if I don't bite it on the box jumps.
6am with McDowell and JB. Good to be back after a week hiking and eating lobster in Maine.
Bench – 205x5x4 – moved well. This is just below 80% for me
Deadlift – 300×8 – also moved well
Metcon in 5:39. Box jumps were slow, which is usual for me.
630am strength cycle:
LBBS: 215x5x3. Heavy, but still not too slow coming up.
Press: 117.5×5; 117.5×4; 117.5×4. Presses are by far my least consistent lift. Some days they just feel extra heavy and today was one of those days.
DL: 290x5x1. These were tough.
Overall, it was not my best day of lifting. I'm going to chalk it up to not having slept great this weekend and having spent four hours driving a car yesterday.
OG
"Dick the Shoulder" Cycle 01B
FSQ
105, 120, 135x5x3
Deadlift
185, 210, 235x5x3
Barbell Lat Pulls
135x10x3
WOD
3 Rounds
50 DUs
10 Burpees
10 RingRows
Just so everyone knows, I have recently one upped Ro in the shoe twinsy department and have a pair of Metcons that he covets.
Some of my best sessions have coincided with us happening to rock the same kicks. BFFAE
10am class
Bench
45×5, 135×5, 185×1
200x5x4 (75%)
Deadlift
135×5, 225×5, 275×1
345×8
WOD Rx'd
6:11? 7:11?
Probably 7:11, though I forget. Took our class forever to set up (Matty, I guess it's not only a 6am thing…). Was surprised when I saw the clock countdown at 3 seconds to go, ran to grab my med ball and someone had replaced it with a 14# ball…I probably would have enjoyed the wall ball shots at 14# but I grabbed a 20 pounder and started at the 1:00 mark.
21s UB
15s 9/6
9s UB
All jump up step down box jumps. I had zero gas for this one. Still good to be in a group class.
Thanks for the nice feedback on the article, it was a lot of fun to write. If nothing else, check out the DARPA link, which is pretty much my favorite thing ever.
I figured our gym membership would be a good group to ask- anyone have a primary care doctor in the area that they like (who takes Oxford?) Been bouncing around a lot lately and would love someone who isn't an inherently unkind and offensive person and who is possibly amenable to over the phone referrals every so often. Thanks!
*jumping on Noah's back
I'm looking for a new doctor who takes United Health Care. Thanks!
*getting off Noah's back
Need that doctor pronto!
Dropped into CFPOP to do some of my programming/group class
Jerk OTM
120x1x5
128x1x5
138x1x5
Push Press
83x5x2
88x5x3
6pm group class with Coach Bobby
No Front Squats for me as I sort out some knee issues
Worked up to a heavy double Power Clean #133 –didn't feel solid, could've been happy with 128 as a second workout, but oh well.
WOD: Farmers Carry + Power Cleans
4 Rounds + 8 Power Cleans @ 32kg KB and #103 PC
Cash out: ALL THE FOOD.
Bench 3×5 at 75
Deadlift 130 for 8 reps
WOD 5:31rx'd. amazed by how fast JB is! I could've gotten my wall balls a little higher over the 9ft target sometimes, probably would've been no repped a few times at fight gone bad :X
When I started CrossFit, one of the QODs was "how many pairs of workout shoes do you have?"- I had one at the time. Now I understand.
Bench 100x5x3
-it's been a while since I (a) benched (b) lifted anything that felt heavy. I forgot how terrifying and glorious it can be.
Deadlift 155×8
these felt really good. This is definitely on the lighter side but I'm not messing with any sort of heavy deadlift for a while.
Wod in 4:42. I wanted to beat the giant guy who got 4:39 in the class ahead of me, but I no-repped too many box jumps.
Another great session with Whit today.. But, I am more inspired to comment on the Sacks article above.. He is one of my favorite writers. If you are ever looking for a great book check out The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat, or Hallucinations. Brilliant neurologist and human being.
Another great session with Whit today.. But, I am more inspired to comment on the Sacks article above.. He is one of my favorite writers. If you are ever looking for a great book check out The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat, or Hallucinations. Brilliant neurologist and human being.
9am solo sesh making up some weekend fitness…
Hbbs: ~75%x5x2
(45×5, 135×5, 175×3) 200x5x2
-hips and quads were sore from yesterday's subway series! See below.
FSQ: ~75%x5x2
150x5x2
-again this was the easier part in the squats. Didn't do any extra warmup sets so got right to it. Staying on the lower percentage end of things here.
Power jerk: 1-1-1-1-1
(45×5, 75×3, 95×2, 115×1) 125, 130, 135, 140, 140
-the 2 at 140 were a little soft so I can't honestly give myself credit for those. I struggle with that overhead position.
Wod:
800m run, then
5 rounds of 10 power jerks and 30 double unders, then
800m run
-19:21 rx'd at 105#
Runs felt slow. Jerks in 6-4 the first round then 4-3-3 for the rest. Only one round of du's unbroken then I feel like I consistently tripped up at the 24 mark.
Cash out:
-4×10 v-tucks
-boogie boarding at rockaway beach
Yesterday's subway series event:
3RFT:
24 wallball 14#, 9ft
400m run
12 OHS at 75#
-11:49
First 2 rounds of wallball unbroken and last in 10-7-7. Runs were runs. All OHS unbroken and steady to catch breath and stay balanced. Could have moved faster in these. I think the real suck factor in this event was the heat. Really looking forward to the last event in our home turf!
Also, great write up Noah. I love my Nike romaleos and can't believe I waited so long to get them. Honestly I liked the prettiness of the Adidas more but they didn't suit my wider foot. Will probably cave on the Metcons soon…
Make Up post from the subway series event yesterday.
3RFT:
24 wallball 14#, 9ft
400m run
12 OHS at 75#
Time: 11:47
WB: 14-10 on each round… very quick drop and reset break on first round, a bit longer on second, and a good 10+ seconds on the third.
Running: like a slow, sad stumble in the blazing hot sun
OHS: unbroken and steady
My hip was bugging me a bit the day leading up to and into this. I had a brief conversation with myself during the wall balls in round 2 that I should just quit. I'm glad I didn't.
I tested this on my own (with McD's coaching) last week and got 13:08, so I'm happy with the considerable improvement… although I have a feeling the run may have been a little under 400m?
I'm very scared but sort of excited for Event #4 this weekend.
Today…
20 hollow rocks
5 pull-ups
…then the beach. I surfed some baby waves for about 45 minutes, and other than that there was a lot of lounging in the sun.
Prior to class today I did a little bit of T2B, HSPUs, Presses, Jerks and a whole lot of mobility.
Bench press
90x5x3
Deadlift
165×8
21-15-9
Wall ball 14# 9'
KB Am swings 16kg
Box jumps 20"
6:06
Felt terrible for a while after this. This is the 2nd time this summer I've lived through the realization that dairy + excessive heat + work-out results in extreme nausea and lethargy. Other than that, I'm happy about today's effort
I needed this article a week ago! I just bought lifting shoes! But seriously thanks Noah for good advice last week. I almost got Adidas but ultimately chose nike romaleaos because I heard they are a little wider than the Adidas.
As for the vibram fivefingers I too noticed that I don't see them around much. I started wearing vibrams 8 years ago and I still love them. Never gonna give them up! 😀