Nike Free Bionic: My New Favorite Training Shoe!

Over the years, I've always just worn my runners to the gym.  This was fine when doing any running, stairs, sprinting, or high impact cardio.  In fact, due to my very flat feet and inclination towards plantars fasciitis, my runners were/are a must during these types of exercises. However, I knew I wasn't getting the optimal performance from my shoes when I was using TRX or doing any strength training (ie weighted reverse lunges, bent leg dead lift, etc).  During these types of workouts, I could feel my feet shifting in my shoes and I didn't have a really great grip on the gym floor.  This always made me wonder if I was doing more harm then good and possibly causing damage to tissue in my knees and ankles with the slippage.

A few friends of mine recently purchased the Nike Free Bionic shoe for such workouts.  They appeared to be a minimalist type of shoe and so at first I thought that the lack of support and cushioning would not work for my feet.  Then I read up on them and figured, if I only wore them when I was doing strength training and TRX classes, they may be just the ticket!  I went online and bought a very cute pair (they come in loads of fun colors)!  I ordered them from http://www.footlocker.com and got them on sale for $79 + tax/shipping!

Black/Anthracite/Pink Foil | Width - B - Medium

I live in Canada but these came in a week!  Awesome! Who doesn't love to get packages quickly!  
Anyway, I tried these out at the gym the very next day for a strength class.  They were perfect! Zero slippage when I was doing weighted reverse lunges.  They are as light as air!  I notice a huge difference when doing box jumps with comparison to when I wore my usual runners. These are very flexible shoes.  As I've said before, they offer very little in the way of support so you couldn't/shouldn't wear them running (unless you are one of those people who can run in minimalist shoes without any injuries).  I'm extremely happy with these shoes!  At first when I put them on and walked around the house in them they felt really weird - they are nothing like my regular runners.  As soon as I started working out at the gym, they no longer felt strange. I really had to pay no attention to my feet at all because for once they felt completely secure!  

I highly recommend giving the Nike Free Bionic a try if you do a lot of strength training workouts!  Again, I would use caution if you are looking for a multipurpose type of shoe (like a cross trainer) - not sure these will be what you are looking for or if they are right for your feet.

Cheers!
Jamie