New Balance Minimus
I received a pair of
New Balance Minimus runners from our good friends at Amphibian King http://www.amphibianking.ie
I am a fan of the minimalist shoe because it encourages a natural foot position and foot strike. The minimalist approach to footwear
shed the myth of big chunky cushiony supporting runner in a pursuit of a more
natural movement.
First of all I am not a runner. I have ran in the past and do a small bit every now and then but from my understanding of the human body and mechanics I feel that the closer to barefoot we get, the stronger our lower legs will become.
Yesterday I took my new foot wear for a test by doing a CrossFit work out called GRACE.
GRACE is a work-out that requires you to power clean and press a 60kg bar 30 times as fast as possible
My time was 3.17. This was a new personal best on this workout.
With such a dynamic movement repeated 30 times, balance and accuracy of the movement is very important. The New Balance Minimus kept me grounded throughout the movement.
When lifting weights the closer your foot is to the floor the more stabilisation you will create.
This goes for Squatting, Deadlifting, Pressing, and any other form of Weight lifting/Power lifting.
I would highly recommend these runners for Strength Training / CrossFit and any other gym based training.
In my opinion running barefoot may not be best thing to do
on the road due to litter, glass and god knows what else is out there, so the
minimalist shoes or vibram would be my recommendation for anybody interested in
running in a more natural form.
For me running is a whole new ball game and will take some
time to retrain my body to run.
I look forward to taking the next step towards running barefoot.
Stay Strong
Stephen Kinsella
