Dr. Guillermo Contreras // #FitnessAthleteFriday // www.ptonice.com
In todayās episode of the PT on ICE Daily Show, Fitness Athlete instructor Guillermo Contreras breaks down the difference between the different types of training shoes for the functional fitness athlete that are currently available on the market. Take a listen to learn how to recommend the best shoe for your patient or athlete (or yourself!)
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION
00:00 INTRO Whatās up everybody? Before we get rolling, Iād love to share a bit about Jane, the practice management software that we love and use here at ICE who are also our show sponsor. Jane knows that collecting new patient info, their consent, and signatures can be a time consuming process, but with their automated forms, it does not have to be. With Jane, you can assign intake forms to specific treatments or practitioners, and Jane takes care of sending the correct form out to your patients. Save even more time by requesting a credit card on file through your intake forms with the help of Jane Payments, their integrated PCI compliant payment solution. Conveniently, Jane will actually prompt your patients to fill out their intake form 24 hours before their appointment if they have not done so already. If youāre looking to streamline your intake form collection, head over to jane.app slash physical therapy, book a one-on-one demo with a member of the Jane team. Theyāll be able to show you the features I just mentioned and answer any other questions you may have. Donāt forget, if you do sign up, use the code ICEPT1MO for a one month grace period applied to your new account. Thanks everybody, enjoy the show.
01:33 ā Dr. Guillermo Contreras, PT, DPT, CF-L2, Cert-CMFA, Cert-ICE All right, welcome to the PT on ICE Daily Show Gang. Welcome to the best day of the week, Fitness Athlete Friday. I am here with you, Guillermo Contreras, physical therapist and faculty, or on the team under Fitness Athlete Division of the Institute of Clinical Excellence. Excited to be on this morning to talk all things near and dear to my heart, fitness footwear or shoewear as far as it goes with the fitness athlete. Before we dive into the extensive topic at hand, where you can catch us next, most, next, I canāt even talk today, for Fitness Athlete Central Foundations, if youāre looking to take the online course and learn all things squat, deadlift, press, pull-up, and even medcon and remod start some introductory programming, the next cohort of Central Foundations kicks off on September 11th, so you have about a month and a half before we start that one up. That course, as well as our Advanced Concepts courses, tend to always sell out before the course begins. So if youāve been looking at taking it, youāre considering taking that course, make sure to sign up early, especially Advanced Concept, because that course has less seats in it and itās a lot bigger, like heavier, denser material, so make sure youāre jumping on that as soon as you can. Speaking of Advanced Concepts, that starts up on September 17th, so again, about another month and a half before that one kicks off. If youāre looking to catch us out on the road, we have a handful of courses throughout the fall, and then the summer is a little bit quieter. The only course right now we have going on this summer is June 24th, 25th in Loveland, Ohio. Thatās where we leave with Zach Long down at Onward at downtown in Ohio, and then we move on to September, so starting in the fall, a lot of courses going through until the winter ends. Bismarck North Dakota on September 9th and 10th, Newark, California on September 30th and October 1st, Linwood, Washington October 7th and 8th, a double course weekend on November 4th and 5th in either San Antonio, Texas or Birmingham, Alabama. November 17th and 18th, we are in Holmes Beach, Florida. Iām not sure where that is. I believe itās up near the Sarasota area, and then a double weekend again on December 9th and 10th in Louisiana as well as Colorado Springs, Colorado. So if youāve been looking to take those courses, if any of those courses are in your area, if theyāre nearby, you can drive to them, quick flight, pop over, right? Hope to see you there on the road in the next couple months. Again, my name is Guillermo Contreras. Iām on the staff of the Whitney Fitness Athlete Division, Help Out With Essential Foundations. Itās one of a lot of courses, and if youāve taken Essential Foundations in the past, you know that Iām commonly like jokingly referred to as the shoe guy. Iāve met people who have way more shoes than I do. They collect them, they put them in boxes and store them and things like that. Thatās not my style. I buy them, I wear them, I train in them, I circulate depending on what I feel like wearing that day, what my outfit is going to be, like weird things like that, things that arenāt really necessary as far as training goes, but itās important for everybody here. And what Iām doing here is Iām basically going through all the shoe options that we have now available to us in the fitness athlete realm. The most common question we get around shoes is not like, oh, what material do you recommend? Whatās the heel drop? Itās usually, hey, gearmo or hey, gang, if I have someone whoās just starting CrossFit, what shoe do you recommend they start out? Or, hey, Iām into this CrossFit thing now, I think I really enjoy it and I want to keep doing it. What shoe would you recommend I start out with? What shoe would you recommend I buy? What shoe should I purchase and use? Those are the questions we kind of get. So thatās what Iām going to go over. Iām going to do my best to keep this in a short format because this is something I could probably go on a long tangent about. I enjoyed doing my write-ups for this and getting all my research listed out for me so I can kind of really make sure I hit all the points. And by all means, if anyone ever wants me to do a long version of this in like a vice lecture, as long as the crew is okay with it, please let me know. Happy to do slides and everything as well. So weāre going to start with the most commonly known brands, most commonly known shoe that people are aware of thatās out there and maybe basically go down to the least known. And at the end, Iāll give my recommendation for my favorite shoe, like the thing I wear the most for training, as well as probably the most common shoe we see in and out of the CrossFit sphere. So starting off with the shoe that kind of started it all, I would say, well, technically, it doesnāt matter, the Reebok Nano, right? So Reebok Nano, this is the Nano X2. They now have the X3. The X3, from what Iāve heard, actually delivered a little bit better with this shoe, a little bit more flexibility, more bounce, more comfortable with running. The Nano X3 has a seven millimeter heel drop. So from heel to toe, seven millimeter heel drop. So more comfortable for lifting, gives you a nice base. The back here is nice and firm and stiff. It has this cage thing here, which helps with support. And then this weird line thing is supposed to be some sort of weird spring bounce. So thatās some of the little features. Itās got a lift run chassis is what it says itās called. But itās an overall solid training shoe for interval training, for high intensity training, for CrossFit. Itās got a solid base for lifting. And I would argue itās got a, itās a decent shoe, especially the X3, where itās a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more cushioned, especially through the forefoot, midfoot. Itās a little more comfortable for runs. Would I recommend training for a marathon, doing long duration, long distance running in it? No, I would honestly probably limit this shoe to somewhere around the 800 meter, maybe no more than a mile. If youāve gotten used to it, youāre comfortable with it. You donāt mind a slightly heavier shoe. This is what I would recommend for you if youāre comfortable with it. So if you are looking for a very, very good running Nano from the CEO of himself, Alan, he recommends the Nano X1 Adventure. So that one came out two series ago. I think you can probably get those for like 70 bucks now on sale for everything that weāre seeing there on the Reebok website. Only thing else I have with this is, again, slightly heavy and the cost is around 150. It used to be 130. Theyāve jacked up the price. Iām not sure why, but the Nano is about $150 now to buy on brand new. But sometimes you find pretty good sales as far as like family, friends sales or previous versions. The X2 is pretty good if you want to go with that. Number two, again, this is not the newest version because I left my pair at the gym, but this is Neki Metcon. So Neki Metcon came out shortly after the Nano. It was kind of like the biggest competitor as far as a CrossFit shoe. The Metcon is stylish, right? Itās got a lot of durability to it because it has like this really big rope guard is what they call it for rope climbs and such. The newest one, the Nano, I believe, or sorry, the Metcon, I think theyāre on eight now. The eight is more built, right? It is made to be the quintessential fitness shoe. Itās functional. Itās 100% about function. It looks kind of sleek, but Iām not a huge fan of the look of it than you are one. But again, itās a very functional shoe. This has a four millimeter hill drop. The older ones have a four millimeter and they came with like a lift thing you could slide into it. This is a Metcon 5, I believe. But then the Metcon 6, 7, 8 come with like itās already in there. So itās a thick TPU heel. This one isnāt as stiff as the newer ones, but they have a really stiff heel and that I would say is the biggest con about this shoe. Itās very good for lifting. Itās good for wall balls and such because itās a nice, stiff heel. You can elevate the back a little bit. Itās flexible, which is very nice. Itās got an advantage for hands and pushups because itās got this like weird TPU plastic heel clip thing thatās supposed to slide up the wall a little more easily. But again, itās a very blocky shoe when you think about the heel. So if youāre someone who is a heel striker, the Metcon is actually one of the worst shoes for running at any distance more than maybe a 200, 400. So sprints probably fine. 400, 600, 800 in a workout is probably fine. But if youāre doing a 5K day, if youāre doing Merve, the Metcon is probably not the shoe you want to go with for that there. So this is the Nike Metcon. These run, I think 130 is what they run. And you can get customs for 160. So if you ever want to customize a shoe, 160 is not bad and a good option for most people there. A lot of people wear these. So those are the most common shoes you probably see in the gym because theyāre the most well-known brands. The next, what am I going through? Five, six here are less known or just less worn more than more is probably the better thought here. And the first one is right here. This is the Innovate, which people probably know Innovate for their old school barefoot minimalist kind of shoe wear. This is the Innovate F-Lite G300. In my opinion, this is the best crossfit shoe that Innovate makes. They make a couple other people. I believe the F235 is another option that people really like. And I believe thereās another one that I canāt recall all the letters and numbers, but Innovate makes these pretty good shoes. This one here has a six millimeter heel drop. So a higher heel height than the other shoes they have. Itās definitely not a minimalist in that it doesnāt have that heel drop there. It has what they call a booty style here. So thereās no tongue. Itās just you slip your foot in and youāre over it again once youāre in it. I never untie or tie the laces and itās pretty snug for me on my foot. It has a wider toe box, but not super wide. So if you like that, like the ability to display your toes, this is kind of nice here. Itās lightweight. Itās flexible, right? So you can bend it, you can turn it, you can go both ways. Thatās not as flexible as I thought it was, but I feel itās pretty flexible. Itās got a stable heel, but itās not so stiff that you canāt run in these either. These are actually very comfortable to run in, in my opinion. One con or con that this one has is you can kind of see this plastic cage on it there. And for those who are watching, just listening on the podcast, thereās like a plastic cage around like the midfoot. That plastic cage, quote unquote cage, provides some more stability in that midfoot, in that midsole, but it also can be a con in some people who do not like, or who have slightly wider feet, because itās going to restrict that midfoot a little bit more and itās not the most comfortable thing. So if youāre someone with more wide feet, not so narrow midfoot area, this shoe is probably not going to be the most comfortable because of this plastic cage, but overall itās a nice solid shoe. My biggest qualms with it, again, are the cage, if youāre not into it. If youāre not into that boot style, kind of slip on shoe, this is probably not going to be for you because you like to cinch up those laces and cut blood flow off to your feet. And honestly, they claim that the durability is very good on these because of this plastic cage. But if you look here, this fiber here, which is meant to be breathable and really flexible and nice, is actually one of the downfalls. That is not as durable. So I have a couple of friends who own these who have like little holes in them. And despite this being a rather expensive shoe, it can run anywhere from, I think, letās see, you can get them on sale for like $75, but they run up to like $155. I think these were like $150. For something that cost $150, you would expect it to last and do pretty well with road climbs and everything crossfit. And then customer service is not ideal. So little things that we donāt need to dive into here. But again, good shoe, 6-millimeter heel height. So keep that in mind for your athletes. Next up, we have the Rad 1 Trainer. This one came into the market, I think, two years ago. It started off not so hot because it came out and it was extremely narrow, really sized poorly. So everyone was buying them and they needed to go with a full size. But theyāve actually fixed a lot of their sizing issues at this point. The Rad 1 Trainer has, again, another 6-millimeter heel drop. It has what they call a multi-directional outsole. So you can do a lot of different agility type things. Itās good for jumping. Itās good. Itās really, really solid and stable for lifting. Cushion for plyometrics. Itās actually fairly comfortable for running. Again, I wouldnāt do a 5K or anything like that. But again, itās comfortable for your shorter runs, maybe max of a mile, mile and a half. So Merck would probably be really comfortable in these. High density, they have something called a Surge Energy Foam Midsole. So itās a very comfortable shoe. I personally actually really enjoy wearing these for working out, for crossfit workouts. I like them for lifting. So I kind of recommend them. Theyāre a smaller brand too. So if youāre into that whole helping smaller businesses and not just the mega ones like Nike and Reebok, this is a cool brand to get into. Price point, again, a little bit high, $150 when youāre looking at them. Itās aesthetically pleasing, which is always nice. Something that kind of looks kind of good, looks kind of cool and good options there. And the one thing they do have is similar to, if youāre familiar with Noble, is that theyāll have different colorways come out. But unlike Noble, I think they do re-releases. With Rad, when they run out of a colorway, thatās it. They donāt remake them, at least at this point they have. Theyāre probably still early on enough where theyāre not going to, but they might in the future. But they start off with a colorway, they release it, and thatās pretty much it. When they sell out, they sell out, theyāre done. So again, really solid shoe, really good for weightlifting, really good for crossfit, HIIT style workouts. Again, aesthetically, it looks nice for some people because of all the different colorways. Some colorways I think are hideous and I donāt understand, but again, to each their own when it comes to what they wear on their feet for that. So this here, again, is the Rad One Trainer. Next, we have probably the newest brand out there that weāve seen in the crossfit sphere. Athletes like Pat Velner, who else are wearing these? Pat Velner goes to mind right away. Thereās a bunch of like mayhem athletes who have it. I think Guillermo Maieros, shout out to the Guillermoās of the world. This is the Tier CT One Trainer, and it is CXT One Trainer, whatever. Again, this runs about 129, so about average for most crossfit style shoes. This one has a big old heel height. So this is a nine millimeter heel height. So this is fantastic for anyone who has stiff ankles looking to have that little bit of a jump in height to be able to squat a little deeper. To not have to worry about the stiff ankle, not have to worry about inserts or something thatās in between like a weightlifting shoe and a training shoe while still having like flexibility, which is itās a very flexible shoe. Itās actually really comfortable too. Itās got a good cushion to it. I made a mistake when I said the Energy Foam Midsole thatās in this shoe, not in the Rad One Trainer, but the Rad One Trainer is still comfortable. So itās got there. So itās responsive for like jumping, plyometrics, everything like that. Itās breathable. This is like, it looks dense, but itās actually very breathable through the fabric on the top there. And itās just a good quality shoe. My cons with this one is I donāt know if you can tell. Letās see if we can compare it to like the Nano. If you look at the difference, it is significantly more narrow, especially through the forefoot down into the toes. So I personally like wearing these for short lifting sessions. I donāt do them for a lot of plyometric workouts. I have a slightly wider foot. My toes splay pretty nicely. So I donāt like having my pinky toe kind of crushed into here. I could go up a size 12 and a half, but I also like to wear my laces loose and therefore it slips off my foot. So for me, this oneās out. If you have narrow feet, if you have a narrow toe box and you donāt have like big toes and like the splay and spread out, this oneās actually probably a solid shoe. And I would say itās a very good, very comfortable training shoe for most individuals. Breathable, comfortable, really good for lifting. Again, sprinting short runs, but because of that high heel height, stiff heel, probably not the best for like really long runs if youāre someone whoās doing longer runs. And then some people on the internet say like durability because the fabric is soft, because itās breathable, durability might not be the best. But again, quite a narrow toe box. So keep that in mind for your athletes who like that wider toe box. Also a caveat, but surprisingly they have such a narrow toe box on these when their lifters are basically publicized as like the best natural minimalist wide toe box lifting shoe there is. So surprising there, but again, very comfortable, good to go there. Last ones we have, Iām going to say is, or not the last one we have, the next one we have is not the actual trainer itself, but itās one of the pairs I have from the same company. And that is the Strike Movement Haze Trainer. This is not the Haze Trainer, this is the, what is this, Strike Movement, I donāt remember, Transit Trainer, Iām sorry, itās the Transit Trainer. But the Haze Trainer is the same company, so thatās the brand, Strike Movement. I would probably say I use this shoe to train in more than any other shoe I have. I have them at my clinic at the gym, so I work out there a lot with those. This one has a four millimeter heel drop. It is known as the, some claim it to be the most underrated shoe on the market as far as CrossFit or fitness athlete training shoes. A really cool little feature that which I love, because I, for some reason, I have this thing where I donāt like my laces over the top of the shoe. Itās got this little shoe pocket where you can, or shoelace pocket, where you can tuck your laces into it and hide them. So you just see that logo and it just looks really clean and fresh. These shoes are that minimalist feel. So itās got a minimalist feel in that itās not super heavy, itās not super dense, itās very flexible throughout the shoe, while still somehow maintaining a really solid heel cup and stable heel for weightlifting, for squatting, for deadlifting, for pretty much all of your heavy lifts. Oops, sorry about that. Thereās a slightly wider toe box on all of their shoes, so they have enough space for your toes to really spread out. Itās a little wider through the mid-foot, which gives really nice kind of plushy, really nice kind of splay and play for your feet throughout all your lifts and your workouts and everything like that. And itās actually pretty good for distances anywhere from 100 meters to a 5K, just because of the comfort of the shoe, the flexibility of it. Good for daily wear, because itās a good looking shoe too. Lots of colorways coming out now. They have a lot going on. They just released their, what is it, their Bomb Pop packs. So thereās a red shoe, a blue shoe, and a white shoe in case youāre interested in that kind of thing. They do run a little pricey. They are $150 and they come from Canada, so the shipping is a little slow, but it does get to you and itās totally worth it. Theyāre a lighter shoe. And again, the biggest cons with these are, one, the price. Theyāre a little pricey. Two, the durability. Because theyāre a lighter shoe, a very breathable shoe, a very comfortable shoe, they might have a little durability issue if youāre pretty rough with them. But again, Iāve had mine for probably almost six months and a year, and Iāve had these for at least three and a half years. And you can see that thereās nothing wrong with them. I did an entire open with them. I work out with them. I go to work with them. Theyāre just a good shoe to wear. I travel with them and everything like that. So theyāre pretty good. And some people say that if you need a custom orthotic in the shoe, itās probably not the best shoe for that. Just the way that the shoe is built, the orthotic fitting in there. So keep that in mind if youāre someone who wears custom orthotics every time they work out. And thatās that there. Okay. So those are the shoes I have in my possession. The two that I do not own that I want to mention quick are the Goruck Ballistic Trainer. That one is a very good shoe. It has an eight millimeter heel drop. So again, a fantastic shoe for weightlifting for someone with stiff ankles or limited ankle mobility. Itās a very durable shoe. It is bare bones construction. It has, I believe itās like the fabric is like a cordura. So something like you would see in the military. And itās going to last forever. Itās very comfortable for daily wear. Itās very comfortable for working out. Itās comfortable for weightlifting. Itās very stable. Itās a solid, solid quality shoe. The best, the only cons we see in that one are that itās not the best looking shoe for some people. Like some people think it looks, because itās so bare bones, like itās very minimal. Theyāre not trying to be flashy. Theyāre trying to just be functional. So itās not the best looking shoe. And Iāve also heard that itās a little bit hot and sweaty. So if you wear it for all day, your feet get really warm in it because of the fabric of it. And itās not the most breathable thing, even though I think they claim itās very breathable. And it does take a little bit of a longer break in period to kind of get the shoe loosened up and to feel like itās best, but it does get there and itās worth it once you get to that point. So the shoe can also be a little heavy at times, which people are not a big fan of. And lastly, the only other shoe that I no longer own that people still wear occasionally are your Noble trainers and the Noble Now Trainer Plus. These have a four millimeter heel drop, whether youāre going with a Noble Trainer or the Trainer Plus. They have abrasion resistance. Kind of the fabric on the outside is like that ripstop fabric or I canāt remember what itās called. And they have tons of colorways. So thereās so many options in black and whites and polka dots and flowers, pretty much anything that you want, they probably make both in the short and the thicker sold Trainer and Trainer Plus. The pros for me are itās a good looking shoe for someone looking for that shoe that can do fitness as well as go out, hang out all day for wear with jeans, things like that. Thereās so many options that itās a durable shoe, a good material. Some people, if you have perfect ankle mobility, everything like that and strong feet, itās a comfortable shoe to wear to work out. The cons for the Noble Trainer is that itās a very narrow shoe. Our COO Alan, heās a very tall, tall shoe. Our COO Alan, when he wore his, he would basically flood out the sides of it. Heās got very wide feet, good solid arch, so heās not like this over pronated or flat feet thing. Itās just a very wide foot that just cannot be contained by the material of the Noble Trainer and especially their runners, which donāt have any real material support there. So if youāre someone with flat feet or a lot of pronation, probably not the best shoe there. These are terrible to run in. Iāve heard people, like immediately they get them and they hate them for running, so they take them off and put other shoes on for running, even like 200 and 400, so not the best there. Not ideal for a lot of high volume plyometrics too, because again, thereās not a lot to the shoe. Itās a very, I would say, minimalistic shoe with a hefty price tag for a shoe that hasnāt really changed in style since its inception in 2014, 2013. And if you go with the Trainer Plus, which came out recently in the last year or so, itās got a much thicker entire sole and it actually makes the shoe about 20% heavier. So itās a heavy dense shoe if you go with the Trainer Plus. What I will say though is people do seem to love these shoes. Itās going to depend on the person. I personally used to wear these a lot. Then I started wearing other shoes and Iām like, man, I really donāt like these. I sold them all. No longer wear them. Donāt really recommend them to most people unless they have like really skinny feet and they want to go with more of a stylistic shoe versus like a very good functional shoe they can work out in. But if youāre going to go for the Noble, the Trainer Plus is going to be more of your comfort and spring. So more plyos, running, jumping, things like that. If youāre looking for a more stable trainer, go with the regular trainer. Honorable mentions, I want to make sure I mention here that Alan told me to say the Ultra Lone Peak. So if youāve heard of Ultra, itās a minimalist footwear company. They make something called the Ultra Lone Peak. Itās a fantastic shoe for running, hiking, everything like that. Wouldnāt do rope climbs in it, but it has its nice wide base. Itās not a CrossFit shoe. Itās not a fitness shoe, but itās still a shoe that you can use in fitness if youāre looking for that realm. Yes, it definitely is a cult. I was a big part of that cult for a while there, Audra. Narrow feet, narrow feet. There you go. So thatās it. So my recommendations here, gang, Iām going to finish off because Iāve been going for quite a while here. The biggest things I want to say is if you have someone that has really stiff ankles, limited ankles, go back to the episode, which ones did I recommend? Right? The Reebok Nano has your nice heel height. Itās got the seven millimeter heel height. The Go-Rek has an eight millimeter heel height and the Innovate here has a six millimeter heel height or heel drop. Iām sorry. Those are going to be the ones that are going to be great for the ankle. And then number one overall home is going to be the tier one, right? So if you have someone with narrow feet whoās comfortable with that, who needs all that ankle extraness there, nine millimeter height, the tier one is going to be your best weightlifting shoe. The shoe I would recommend the least to people I already mentioned is the Noble, but again, some people love Noble. Itās very cultish. They look good. So again, if someone has narrow feet, they like that style. Itās worth trying to see how it works for them. And then my number one shoe, the one shoe that I love, that I wear more than anything else, is going to be the Strike Move and Haze Trainer. That is my favorite shoe to train in, to treat in the clinic, to do short runs in, whether itās weightlifting. Iāve PRād my snatch in those. I PRād my deadlift in those. I hit a heavy squat in those. The Strike Move and Haze Trainer, even though itās got a little bit of a price tag, itās worth it. Itās one of the best shoes out there. I think itās less known in the fitness community because you donāt see it very often and itās kind of a smaller brand. They do a lot of cool things with even like parkour athletes, which is kind of a unique thing. But a great shoe there. And if you want to go with like a comparable second place with me, I would probably say my second is going to be somewhere between the Innovate FF G-Lite, or GF Lite 300, whatever, and the Radwin Trainer. Itās a very good shoe. Theyāre both quality stuff. You got to play around with it, but feel free. If you want me to do some sort of like write up with all these details, Iām happy to share it in like a comment or on the iStudents page. Again, Iāve gone way over on time. I can go on for a very long time about this stuff. So thank you, gang, for tuning in. Again, we hope to see you on the road. Hope to see you on an online course soon. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out and have a wonderful Friday and have a great weekend, everybody. Thanks.
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