New Balance Minimus

I love the premise behind Five Fingers, but I really do not like the look of them. Maybe I am too conservative, but I could not get past how they look. I bought a pair and just could not wear them out in public. I also did not really like how they they felt on my feet. I think it was the toes being split apart. But for whatever reason, I just could not, would not buy into them for my personal use.

I  believe that barefoot or as minimal a shoe as possible is the way to go. I have been training barefoot or in Chucks at our studio and also for the last 5 years, but have run my Amazing Athletes classes in Nike Free. I really feel that I am stronger, move better and more stable in less shoe, but have had to have some protection for my feet. due to the impact that they receive on a daily basis. In teaching my Amazing Athletes classes I am bouncing and running with kids for hours on a variety of surfaces. I could be on carpet, tile, concrete, wood and rubber flooring at anytime for up to 6 hours a day. Because of this I need something that allows me to have some protection for my feet, but still allow me to have more natural movement. I was waking up every morning with severe foot pain from what I thought was all of the impact.

Prior to joining the minimilist mob, I wore New Balance's trail running shoes. I found that they were a great shoe for the variety of things that I was doing. At the time i felt that they were good shoes for gym, hanging out at home and anything else I was doing. I was not into shoe collecting at that time. I wanted one pair that would do it all. New Balance seemed to be the best choice at the time.

Fast Forward a couple of years and untold Chucks and Frees later, and I am in need of something different. Nike has a habit of ending shoe styles every 18 months and the shoes that I wanted would no longer be available. It also seemed that shoes that started out as minimalist would gradually ended up being over padded and over engineered...

I heard that New Balance was coming out with a new shoe designed to be palatable to the barefoot running mob. I will say this now, I hate running, but like to be barefoot. I figured that I would give the new shoe a try. There is a New Balance Store in Rockwall and I stopped by one day to look at the Minimus. I liked how they felt from the get go decided to go ahead and buy a pair. They retail for about $100.00 which was cheaper then the Nike Free that I ordered online.

They are light and comfortable. I really like the fact that they are about the lightest shoe that I have ever worn. I was surprised at how heavy the other shoes that I wear are in comparison to them. I was initially wooried that they might be to light, but that was not found to be the case.

They are durable. I have worn them now for two months. there are days where I will have them on for up to 16 hours. I have worn them for up to 36 classes a week of my kids classes. Those classes call for hopping, skipping, jumping, running, starts and stops and lateral movements. They have held up beautifully. The only wear is on the sole, which being Vibram is pretty tough.

The shoes have also been  awesome while doing all of those activities. I have had no pain in my feet while training kids classes in the shoes. I feel that they have had great stability, including lateral stability. It could be because they allow my feet to move natyrally and not be incased in a "protective piece of over enginneered padding." I really cannot say how happy I have been with the shoes. It is one thing to train in a shoe for a couple of hours, it is another to put them through the pace that I have. I had a fairly new pair of Nike that would wear occassionally to see if there was a difference and found that there was one for me. My feet would start to kill me after about 30 minutes. I would then develop pain up the chain from there. The next day after wearing the Nike, my feet would kill me after waking up. That is not a problem that I had with the Minimus.

I also trained at the studio in the Minimus. I have found that the Minimus  is a small amount of lift that intially through me off on kettlebell swings and snatches.Itis not much of a lift, just enough that I noticed it, but still found that I was rooted and able to perform correct techniques in all lifts. I still prefer to train at the studio barefoot, but that is just habit.

I would definitely recommend New balance Minimus as a great shoe to try out for training. If you are into a minimalist shoes, I feel that it is the way to go. I plan on wearing them for my Tough Mudder training and the actual event in October. I actually plan on running as part of my training for this one, especially since I have a shoe that I love.