Hobie Call

#1 Cross country racing shoes.
-Pros:
-They are very lightweight
-Don’t absorb or hold a lot of water/mud
-Aggressive traction
-Built for speed
-Offer protection from rocks/roots
-Fit snug to your feet, which means they won’t come off in a mud pit, and you’re less likely to get blisters from running with wet feet for miles on end.
-Very economical. Cost half of what most other “minimalist” shoes do.
-Cons:
-None. Professional, collegiate, and high school runners have been racing in them for years; this is what they are built for.
-Side notes: XC shoes are minimalist, so you want to slowly adapt your feet to them before racing in them. Also, they tend to run small on top of already being snug fitting, so you’ll likely want to size up ½ to 1 full size. Make sure to get “spikeless” shoes.
#2 lightweight/minimalist trail shoes.
-Pros:
-Lightweight
-don’t absorb or hold a lot of water/mud
-Aggressive traction
-Most “lightweight” trail shoes are built to be fast.
-Cons:
-Most “minimalist” trail shoes are not built for racing. They have very wide toe boxes which are great for building foot strength, but not for racing.
-Also, most minimalist trail shoes are very expensive.
-Side notes: It was hard to put all lightweight/minimalist trail shoes in the same category, because there is such a wide disparity between all of these shoes. Some of them would make great racing shoes, some of them not so much. I’m going to rely on you to do some homework, and find what it is you’re looking for in a racing shoe.
#3 Road racing flats.
Pros:
-Very lightweight
-Built for racing
-Won’t absorb or hold a lot of water/mud.
-Although not as foot hugging as XC shoes, they are fairly snug, which means they are unlikely to come off in a mud pit, and you’re less likely to get blisters when running with wet feet.
Cons:
-They don’t have great traction on muddy surfaces.
-The most minimalist shoes will not offer protection from rocks/roots.
-Most models are not built very durable. You’ll likely get a few races out of them at best.
#4 5 finger shoes and other super minimalist shoes.
Pros:
-Very lightweight
-Won’t absorb or hold water/mud
-Some are very grippy, allowing you to get great traction on obstacles
Cons:
-They offer very little protection from rocks/roots
-They are not durable. Many people destroy a pair of shoes in one race
-Quite expensive
-Most models have very little traction which will leave you sliding all over the place
I know people want me to recommend exact shoes, but that’s difficult to do. Many people aren’t ready for minimalist shoes. Some people have flat arches, others high arches. Some have very wide forefeet, others have long skinny feet. Some people are heavy heal strikers, others land midfoot. Some overpronate, some underpronate. All of these factors play a role in what shoes you should wear, and what you will and won’t like. I will say this though, “the less of a shoe you can get away with the better.” Also, the stronger your feet get, the wider variety of shoes you will be able to wear without them bothering your feet.
For those who just have to know, I personally wear Vibram 5 fingers for all of my upper body workouts, Brooks Mach 13 spikeless for all of my leg workouts, and Nike’s Zoom waffle racer 8 or 9’s spikeless for all of my races.

I’ve had a lot of people asking about weight vests lately. What kind? How much weight? Should I even use a weight vest? Why not just wear a rucksack? Etc. Here are my answers.

-Why wear a weight vest?
It’s common knowledge that resistance training makes you stronger. A weight vest is one of the only truly functional resistance training devices. This is very beneficial in sport specific exercises where proper form is crucial. It also makes it the safest way to do resistance training, because no matter what exercise you’re doing, it doesn’t alter your biomechanics which greatly reduces your chances of getting injured. This is why I’m against running with a rucksack. With a rucksack, you are forced to lean forward and maybe even shrug your shoulders forward to offset all of the weight being on your back. This causes you to run with a bad form, and increases your chances of injury.

-Who should wear a weight vest?
If you are more than 20 lbs. over your “REALISTIC ideal/goal weight”, then I would not suggest using a weight vest. The extra weight you’re already carrying around puts enough strain on your joints and muscles, and adding a weight vest to the equation will greatly increase the risk of injuring yourself.

-How much weight should you use?
This is very important. 1st, for most people and most workouts, I would suggest you start with 4 to 6 pounds and slowly build up from there at a pace that your joints can handle. I emphasize “joints” because they acclimatize slower than muscles do. 2nd, you want to be able to do your exercises in almost the same manner as you would without a vest on. I’m a racer, so speed is important. Thus I have to keep my weight low enough that I don’t slow my pace down too much. Some people are training more for strength or endurance, so they can use more weight. Just remember, you want the vest to strengthen your movements, not greatly alter them.

-What kind of vest?
Well, there are a few things you want to consider. (1)Price (2) Durability (3) Comfort (4 )Customization/ options. First, you need to know that I don’t consider myself to be an authority on the matter, because I’ve only worn vests from 2 different companies. But I have done hundreds of workouts with a vest on, and I know what I want.
1st, you have your cheap Walmart/department store weight vests. Although the price seems right, the vest won’t be comfortable, will likely fall apart, and thus won’t be worth the price. Beyond that, you have a lot of companies to choose from.
For about 4 years I used the Xvest. With the changes in training for obstacle racing, I found myself in need of a more durable/stable vest. After searching for some time, I was most impressed with the vests offered by weightvest.com. They had a wide variety of vests to choose from, with a lot of customization options, and even offered an attachable hydration bladder with a key/storage pouch. But most importantly they appeared to be very well built and remarkably durable. Shortly after receiving my first vest from them, I wrote this review.
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OK, I received my weight vest from weightvest.com, and have done my first 3 workouts in it. So here is my initial comparison of weightvest.com and Xvest.
First, I have the x4040 vest from xvest, and have been using it for 4 years. (I’m on my 2nd vest now). The vest from weightvest.com is the V-force 45 lb. short narrow model.

-Durability: V-force vest. Unless you take it out and drag it on the concrete, it will probably last longer than your athletic career will. Literally.

-Comfort for upper body exercises: This is a toss-up. I’ve worn my Xvest hundreds of times, and it’s very well broken in. The V-force vest is brand new, and quite stiff, so it rubbed on my shoulders a bit. Whether it will become more comfortable over time, we will just have to wait and see. Also I am fairly skinny. People with broader shoulders may not have this problem. However, when in a horizontal position, the xvest will shift around in the shoulder area, whereas the V-force vest was very stable.

-Comfort when running. This is a toss-up also. With 10 lbs. , they are both very comfortable and stable.
With 30 lbs. they both shift and bounce a little bit (This is with me running 5 minute mile pace). When jogging, they are fine. With the xvest, I can wear a backpack with a waist belt to keep the vest from bouncing, but I find the bouncing with the V-force vest to be less annoying because of the way it fits on the body, I also imagine having less chafing issues with the V-force vest if worn for high mileage runs.

-The Xvest fits tight to the body, which some people will probably like more when doing some upper body exercises. The weights on the V-force vest protrude a couple inches away from the body which will take getting used to. But on the flip side, having the Xvest weights so close to the body, when carrying the full 40 lbs. the weights would press against my rib cage and cause bruising (I actually made a full chest pad to wear between my shirt and the vest to alleviate this problem)
When I first started wearing the Xvest, I did not think it was comfortable to run in at all, so considering that I already like the V-force vest about equally to the xvest without it even being broken in yet is a plus for the V-force vest.
Like I say, this is only an initial comparison. In a few weeks, I’ll be able to give more concrete advice.
As a side note, weightvest.com has many varieties to choose from, so if you know exactly what you’re looking for, you can customize a vest for that purpose, which can really help with comfort performance issues.
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Since this review, I have received another vest from weightvest.com. It is the 30 lb V-FORCE MAX BASKETBALL vest. After wearing it for only a few minutes, I think I’m going to absolutely love it. It’s slimmer design allows me to move my arms unrestricted. I’ll give a more detailed review on it after I’ve used it in all of my workouts a couple of times.
For more information on how I utilize a weight vest in all of my workouts, check out my “How to train for obstacle course racing DVD” at hobiecall.com.