When it comes to physical training activities, CrossFit stands out as quite an intense option. It offers an entirely new group of gym rats and workout enthusiasts a chance to work out at the highest intensity at the highest capacity for the best results – and not everyone can hack it in the long term.
Even when you do it for a few months, your body gets used to the intense levels of the activity over time and it even starts to like the fierce nature of the activity, using it as a way of testing its own limits. However, with such an intense task, you cannot just use any athletic shoe at your disposal – there is a high risk of them being worn out very quickly and putting you at risk of injury.
There is a compromise though: CrossFit shoes. These offer you a great balance between any sport you are training for and CrossFit training itself and therefore offer you a great set of advantages you will likely not find in other shoes. We discuss some of them in this article.
What is CrossFit?
Before we answer the benefits of these shoes, it is important to know what CrossFit is in the first place in order to figure out what makes these shoes so different.
Good CrossFit shoes have the following attributes that make them stand out:
- They must give plenty of support during heavy lifting and jumping, while still giving enough flexibility for rope climbing and running. They normally have broader soles compared to other athletic shoes, and will usually offer greater levels of support compared to a typical running shoe.
- They must withstand the severities of various CrossFit movements during training. These can include deadlifts, squats, box jumps, sprints, and scaling ropes.
- Some of these shoes will even have additional features that make them look cool and unique, such as carbon rubber in the soles to give more traction, or the Flywire midsole technology in certain models that prevents blisters and locks your feet in place to prevent unnecessary movements.
- CrossFit shoes and cross-training shoes are similar in many ways and offer about the same benefits, but CrossFit shoes are better adapted to handle the demands of Workouts of the Day (WODs). They also happen to be slightly heavier than typical running shoes, since their main job is giving support to the ankles while training.
What are the benefits?
They are comfortable and stable
One of the factors that make CrossFit shoes stand out from other athletic shoes is the stability and comfort they offer you through the activities you do. Because the training involves various elements such as jumping, weightlifting, squats and sprints, you need a shoe that can withstand all these activities while still allowing you enough protection from injuries – and a typical shoe will not give you that.
Your choice will also depend on a number of other factors – such as whether the shoe is unisex or caters to women or men, your body type, and athletic training requirements.
They are flexible
Even the best typical athletic shoe might not offer you much flexibility, as it really depends on the sport it caters to – some sports will allow for more flexibility than others. However, CrossFit shoes must be flexible enough to allow enough room for movements in your feet when you are quickly switching between different activities.
Durability is a guarantee
While this is an obvious factor to keep in mind when selecting a shoe, the best CrossFit shoes are usually strong enough to last for at least 6 months to a year, depending on the frequency of use. However, you need to also be checking them for any signs of wear and tear and replace them when these signs start to appear, in order to prevent the chances of injuries occurring.
Their durability is also advantageous when it comes to certain activities such as rope climbing, which the average running shoe cannot withstand. This is due to the extra protective layers in the sole that they have, which ensures you can use them for a long time to come.
They have proper balance
When you have a good pair of shoes, they should help you retain your balance throughout your workouts – unlike running shoes, which emphasize forward motion at the expense of lifting weights and jumping.
The good thing about CrossFit shoes is that their stability comes from the approach they take regarding the heel to toe drop. For a running shoe, the drop is bigger, while weightlifting shoes have a smaller drop – but CrossFit shoes are somewhere in the middle, which makes them great for running activities as well as giving you a proper platform for weightlifting.
Another aspect of support that they give is their prevention of ankle rolling – which is a major cause of spraining. They will provide all the support you need, yet still remain lightweight and comfortable.
Final thoughts
For a great workout session, it is a good idea to obtain a good pair of CrossFit shoes, because they offer you the flexibility to tackle a wide range of activities while giving you the best support in the long term.