I was first introduced to Cindy in April of 2009 at a box in Milford. Cindy was my first experience with a WOD, and she opened my eyes to how out of shape I was. Cindy is 20 minutes of as many rounds as possible of 5 pull-up’s, 10 push-up’s, and 15 air squats. This seems pretty easy when you hear it, but, boy, was I wrong! After 3 rounds, I had to go to a blue band on the pull-up’s, and, by my final round of 7, I was at the black 3 inch band. After the time was up, I told my friend that this was one of the best workouts I had ever done. That summer, I was able to cheer on my friend and co-worker Dan and the rest of our team as they competed in the games. Being at the ranch in California with so many great athletes and around 3,000 fans, I felt that I found a place that wanted to help people grow mentally and physically.
The games had a lot of people wearing minimal footwear shoes. We saw a lot people wearing minimal shoes from inov-8 and these funky toe shoes called Vibram FiveFingers. The shoes were different than anything we were carrying at the time. We further researched minimal footwear and found that we could get a lightweight interval training shoe from New Balance– style MR805 or WR805. These shoes were my first experience in a minimal shoe since cross country running in high school. We partnered up with inov-8 and Vibram FiveFingers in the fall of 2009 and continued to expand our selection. We had the opportunity to help with the launch of New Balance’s first training driven shoe, the MX20 and WX20, in June 2011. We instantly fell in love with them, and New Balance is now releasing their third version this December.
One of our trainer friends was doing testing for Reebok on a shoe called the Nano U-Form that they were going to introduce to the world at the games that year. This shoe was specifically designed by Crossfitters with Reebok, and he said that it was the best shoe he had ever worn for Fitness. We knew instantly that TheShoeMart had to get on board to be able to provide our customers with a shoe from Reebok designed specifically for the sport that we love. Reebok has been a great partner to work with, as they have continued to expand their selection of shoes for Crossfit. They have made vast improvements from the Nano U-Form to their new Nano 2.0. I have had the pleasure to work out in both, and I can say that they are truly a great shoe for Crossfit. They have a solid sole which helps to keep you grounded when you are doing your Olympic lifts and driving out of the heels. They are great for box jumps because they have some sole to them to relieve the impact on the ground. The next test was rope climbs because, in the past, a lot of other shoes would not stand up to the descending part. These shoes have lasted over 6 months, and the only difference is that they’re a lot dirtier than when they came out of the box. The hardest part about these shoes is finding them in stock. We now have them available to purchase and why not purchase them from us?
The other tough thing about being a Crossfitter is determining what to wear some days. I am fortunate to work here at TheShoeMart and be able to test out product. When the apparel was coming out, I had to have some to try. I was given a couple of t-shirts, board shorts, and a compression top to test out. I must say that they are great to train in. The shirts are super light and comfortable and really conform to the movements. They also did such a great job with the style that I even wear some of it out at night. Come check out TheShoeMart and our amazing selection for Fitness footwear and apparel from Reebok and others!
-Mark
