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CROSSFIT MONCTON November 2016

Switching to Weightlifting Shoes: Why You Should & What to Expect

When I started giving seminars 10 years ago, out of an average 30-person group, maybe 5-10 would have weightlifting shoes. These days, I may get 1-2 people at each seminar who don’t wear weightlifting shoes. My point is that in the last few years, familiarity with weightlifting has improved, but probably more importantly, the availability of weightlifting shoes has increased dramatically and training in weightlifting shoes isn’t such a weird thing that only a handful of hardcore lifters do anymore.

That said, there is still resistance among non-competitive weightlifters to wearing weightlifting shoes, even when training the snatch, clean & jerk and related lifts for the sake of getting better at the snatch and clean & jerk. If we’re being totally honest, I find this odd for a number of reasons—it’s no different to me than playing football and refusing to wear cleats, or playing baseball and refusing to wear a glove.

Monthly Newsletter

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I’ve heard all kinds of fascinating rationales, my favourite of which is that weightlifting shoes aren’t “natural”… neither are barbells, rubberized plates, lifting platforms, or any of the other things you are using to train weightlifting. If you want to be natural, go lift rocks barefoot out in the dirt with your gens in the breeze—at least that makes sense. Let me make a simple case for shoes even if you’re not a competitive weightlifter: They will help you achieve positions/postures optimal for the snatch and clean & jerk, i.e. a very upright trunk in a full-depth squat. They will provide greater stability in all directions with the wider base of the stiffer sole. They will provide greater stability with stiffer uppers, keeping the foot in place. They will allow more of the force you produce to go into elevating and accelerating the bar because the hard soles will absorb very little. All of these things translate into more weight lifted and less risk of injury. Seems like a good deal to me. But I Have Incredible Mobility

A pretty typical argument from the resistance is that they already have good mobility and can squat deep without weightlifting shoes. There are usually two problems with this: their depth is nowhere near true full depth (knee joint closed as completely as possible with the back still in its proper arch and weight balanced over the foot) and their posture is suboptimal, i.e. the trunk is inclined forward excessively, or they have to arch the back to an extreme degree to bring the upper back into an upright position. If you truly have adequate ankle and hip mobility to sit into a full-depth, nearly-vertical-trunked squat in flat shoes, that’s fantastic and I agree you don’t need lifting shoes for the reason of mobility. However, this doesn’t address the elements of stability and force transfer that lifting shoes provide—you can’t replicate that with other shoes.

What to Expect When You Switch Here’s the tricky thing—if you’ve been snatching, clean & jerking, squatting, etc. in non-weightlifting shoes for a while, you’re more than likely going to feel worse initially when you begin using weightlifting shoes. This shouldn’t be surprising considering you’re changing something quite significant—like any other change, adjustment and adaptation will be required. An initial adjustment period doesn’t mean shoes are making things worse, in the same way that correcting a long-standing technical bad habit will make the lift feel “wrong” at first. You can expect two things initially: to feel a bit out of balance forward (and/or more pressure on the balls of the foot), and to feel weaker or less comfortable in the squat. The raised heel of lifting shoes will initially make you feel like you’re too far forward on your feet. However, this is just because you haven’t adjusted yet to position your body properly for balance. Claiming that weightlifting shoes unavoidably create a forward imbalance is like saying no one can stand on a slope without falling. There’s no reason, anatomically or mechanically, that you can’t balance yourself over your foot however you want in a raised heel, especially when the angle of the foot is so minimal.

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via Catalyst Athletics

Your squats may feel weaker or less comfortable during the adjustment period as well for a pretty simple reason: If you’ve trained your whole life in flat shoes, you likely have been sitting the hips back somewhat more when you squat, and consequently developed a balance of leg and hip strength that favors the posterior chain to some degree. When squatting in weightlifting shoes and moving in the optimal weightlifting squat posture, you’ll be relying more on the quads than you have previously, which will be relatively underdeveloped. Don’t lose your mind and get rid of the shoes—retrain your body to do what it needs to do. Do You Have to Wear Weightlifting Shoes? Of course not—you can train and even compete in any shoes you want (there is no rule in the IWF or USAW that specifically requires the use of weightlifting shoes, although there are some simple requirements). If you’re a competitive CrossFitter or Griddler who is sure you’ll never wear weightlifting shoes when you compete in CrossFit or Grid, for example, don’t wear them in training—that’s a situation in which not using weightlifting shoes is in fact the smart decision. However, it seems to me that you will have opportunities in both to perform big lifts in isolation, as well as lifts within workouts involving elements you don’t want weightlifting shoes for; in this case, it would make more sense to train both ways to prepare—lifting shoes when working on heavy Olympic lifts, and non-lifting shoes when training mixed-mode workouts. If you believe that the positions allowed by weight l i f t ing shoes and promoted by weightlifting coaches are bad for the knees, I encourage you to do some more homework on the topic because this is simply untrue and you’re robbing yourself of a lot of gain for no actual benefit. If you just plain don’t like the idea and think weightlifting shoes are stupid and funny looking, that’s your natural right as a human and I won’t interfere—just don’t pretend you’re doing it for rational reasons.

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INGREDIENTS1 c. light coconut milk1 c. dairy-free milk (such as almond or hemp)3 T. coconut sugar⅛ t. + 1/16 t. powdered stevia extract3 egg yolks1 t. vanillapinch sea salt1 t. freshly grated nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONSBeat egg yolks until lighter in colour.Add in sugar and stevia and beat until sugar is dissolved.Combine milks, salt, and nutmeg in a saucepan, and bring the mix to a boil, stirring occasionally.Remove the pan from the heat, and slowly mix it into the egg/sugar mix, stirring continuously.Return everything to the pot, stirring continuously, and heat until temperature reaches 160 degrees, or about 1-2 minutes (don't go longer or it will curdle). I usually turn off the heat after about 30 seconds and let the pan sit there for another minute or so while stirring.Add in the vanilla.Chill and serve!

via Oatmeal with a Fork

SKINNY EGGNOG (PALEO)

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ATHLETE PROFILE When did you join CFM? Had you been involved in other gyms or fitness programs before?

I joined CFM in March, 2013.

In the past, before kids, I had spent time at other gyms but it always felt like punishment and I had to force myself to go. Needless to say… it didn’t stick. I always ended up going back to running; yes I have a few miles on me ;) , but hated it only marginally less than going to the gym. The pool was always a reprieve but harder to be consistent depending on where we lived and of course …schedules.

Do you have an athletic background?

Not really. I did team sports in school but never anything at a competitive level.

What made you decide to join CFM?

This is an easy one! I joined absolutely because of my sister. When our kids were little we hung out all the time, but as they got older and jobs and kids’ activities took over I never saw her. I figured the one sure way to spend time with her was to stalk her at the gym. There is also a need to say that it makes me so proud to know what she has achieved since incorporating CFM into her life…how could I not want to be there !

What are your fitness or skill goals? Have you accomplished any of them?

Hmmm…honestly my goal since I joined was get to the gym 3 times a week and NOT to end up in physio (not doing so good on the latter).

Do you remember your first workout?

My first workout was 7 rounds of 7 push jerks -7 pull ups -7 burpees. Luckily, Kevin sidled over in the third round and told me 5 rounds would be a better cho ice for me….haha…do you think! There it is, the first of many scaled WODs!

TRACY KINNIE

Stats

-CrossFitting since March 2013

“It doesn’t matter what else is happening in my life; I know that if I get to

the gym that for one hour I don’t - won’t - can’t think

of anything else but getting

through the workout.”

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D e s c r i b e t h e atmosphere at CFM. Like home…safe…welcoming.

**EDITOR’S NOTE: That response made me tear up a bit. More than a bit. Where’s the Kleenex?

What’s your favourite thing about CFM?

It doesn’t matter what else is happening in my life; I know that if I get to the gym that for one hour I don’t - won’t - can’t think of anything else but getting through the workout. No lists of things to do, no crap I need to deal with, no bad news I need to

process….it all stops at the door and I’m free!

What would you tell someone in their first month of CrossFit? Trust your trainers… and no cherry picking!

What would you tell someone who is hesitant to try CrossFit?

Stop “getting ready to be good enough to go to CrossFit”…you already are…just show up. It really is for everybody and all levels of fitness. Seriously, it’ll be fun.

What is your best (and worst) WOD memory?

Worst memory…sand bag run in the rain….gross. Best memory…there are too many but it always seems to be when someone does something they were so sure they couldn’t, like going upside down or the rope climb.

What is your favourite lift? Favourite WOD (or type of WOD)?

Love all the lifts except overhead squat …grrrrr. Love skipping and rowing. Favourite WOD – Deck of Death. I like a grinder WOD with enough different parts and short reps so you can burn a body part out and by the time you get back to it you’re recovered…well a little recovered.

What would you say is the greatest benefit you've received from joining, (not including fitness?)

For me the greatest benefit is most definitely the social aspect…getting to spend time and laughs with such great people that I wouldn’t normally even meet. Having my daughter Hannah at the gym has been amazing for me. To see her commit to getting to the gym then off to school when most kids are still in bed…or on days there’s no school and she still gets to the 7am is really cool. Mind you I’m not winning many wrestling matches anymore.

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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE CFM COMMUNITY?

CFM CHRISTMAS PARTY EXTRAVAGANZA! Dec. 10

5pm GET AIR! 8:30pm St. Louis Bar & Grill (Dieppe)

This your first CFM Holiday Season? CFM DOES IT RIGHT!

Keep your eyes out for fan favourite WODs like: “Jingle Bells”, “12 Days of Christmas” and the ever popular Yankee Swap!

HOLIDAY HOURS Closed December 25 & 26, January 1 & 2

PLEASE NOTE THE GYM WILL BE CLOSED TUESDAY DEC. 6 FROM 6-9PM FOR A SPECIAL EVENT.

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NOVEMBER WE REMEMBERED, WE PREPARED, AND WE KICKED BUTT.

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Interested in joining? Come for a FREE No-Sweat Intro. Leave your money at home. We don’t want to sell you anything; we just want to talk about your goals and see if we can help.

Book your FREE consultation at:

http://meetme.so/kevinwood

or email: info@crossfitmoncton.com

CROSSFIT MONCTON

359 Baig Blvd. Moncton, NB