You won’t believe me when I tell you that Converse All Stars are the best shoes for your workouts, but I’m going to tell you anyway.
These days – actually for about the last 20 years – high tech sneakers have been all the rage. The real message of the “Just Do It” era has been to “Do It” wearing expensive sneakers. From Air Jordan to Mars Blackmon, and right on up to the present day, expensive, high tech sneaks are advertised as the main piece of equipment for anyone and everyone who exercises.
Well I’m here to throw some cold water on that notion.
I’ve always thought that spending $100 – or even $80 – for a pair of tennis shoes is silly, even though I’ve done it on occasion. But now that I know better, never again. I’ve got my Chuck Taylor Converse All Stars. Currently they go for about 40 bucks a pop, and nothing beats them for workouts in the gym. Here’s the short list of reasons to wear “Chucks.”
- They are supremely comfortable because they fit to your feet and don’t force your feet to fit into the pre-molded shoe. The canvas construction responds to your feet and allows your feet and ankle’s natural support systems to work properly, while strengthening them.
- They last forever and can be washed without losing their stuff, unlike expensive kicks.
- “Cons” have a flat, rubber sole that gives you every bit the traction of the $100 sneaks, while allowing you to have better balance as well.
- Since the “Chuck’s” soles are just padded rubber, you can apply more force to the ground. This one needs a little more explanation, so bear with me back out at the regular margin.
The expensive, high tech shoes all advertise their shock absorbing properties, which is great for distance runners but not for those of us who lift weights. When you’re performing an exercise in a standing position – which is where you should be for 99% or all of your workouts – you want to be able to exert as much force as is possible on the ground in order to be able to “move” the weight that you are lifting. The fancy, shock-absorbing shoe absorbs shock in both directions that can adversely affect your lifting performance. The shoe absorbs some of you hard work- the force you’re producing – and as a result you shoes are actually working against you. Now if you’re a trail or distance runner by all means spend as much money as you’d like on sneakers, but for weight lifting, cardio machines and even agility and footwork training Converse All Stars are all that you need. Trust me, they are the only shoes that I use.
