Be a Lion that's motivated and made hungry by other Lions

Today's athletes are told, from age 5, that they are The lion in a field of sheep. 

That they're special. The best. Gifted.

Problem is, if you think you're the only lion, then you actually believe you're the best, and that you're the best because you deserve it, because you're so superior, and so you're never hungry. 

then when the sheep actually beats the lion (and they will), the lion whines and complains about the shocking impossibility and unfairness of it. That lion isn't just beaten, it's destroyed. At that moment, that "special Lion" shows their true form: just another sheep. 

You're not a lion in a field of sheep, you're a lion in a field full of lions... and 1 sheep. 

You win and you eat or you lose and you starve. 

Your motivated because you're one of Many and failure is ever present (and always possible) and so you're Hungry. 

You work. You push. You grind.  When another lion beats you, well, you didn't eat. But see this lion among lions doesn't sit and complain about how much they deserved it because they're too hungry to make excuses!

They get back to work!  They model their  work ethic after the lion that beat them, their greatness, their superiority motivates them to get better!  

In this time of Everyone Gets a Trophy, we aren't creating winners, we're creating people who don't know they can lose - and without the understanding of defeat and just How possible it is,

not only are you not motivated to Prevent it, you are Not equipped to handle it when it inevitably happens. 

Product Review: Lems Primal 2 ultra-minimalist shoes

Lems

Live Easy & Minimal

So, I just reviewed the Lems Nine2Five and now today I have the LemsPrimal 2 (in Cardinal).  

In the Nine2Five review I mentioned reviewing this company’s first ever shoe (under their “Stem” name) which was called the Primal Origins and now I get to review the 3^rd gen model which, I’m pleased to say, has indeed stuck with its “origins”.

Four years ago (almost to the day) the first gen shoe was hitting preorders and now this 3^rd gen shoe is available to the masses.  While the company has grown and evolved, their roots are the same, they’re still helmed by the same guy who dreamt it all up, and they’re making constant improvements without losing touch of who they started off to be. 

This Primal 2 shoe combines an incredibly light and super soft combination of microfiber and extremely breathable open-weave air-mesh (100% vegan) upper, their proprietary LemsRubber outsole (8.0mm), and a 100% MoistureWick mesh liner to create one of the lightest and most flexible shoes you will ever encounter.

Honestly… I struggle with using the word “flexible” because it just doesn’t quite do it justice.  Here’s what you need to know.  There is nothing to this shoe.  It weighs nothing (~6oz), has zero support, zero stability features, zero reinforcement, zero drop, zero (for all practical purposes) cushioning, zero, zero, zero.  Now, for some people, that will scare the heck out you – this shoe is not for you.  For those looking for true minimalism, no greater… less, can be found.  Honestly, without actually being barefoot, this is as close as you can get.  It’s like walking around in a house shoe designed to be used for anything you want.  Here’s what I mean:  yes, it’s ultraminimalist, yes it’s as close to 100% ground feel as you can get while wearing a shoe, yes it’s like a house shoe, BUT, due to the design and Lems sole, I have worn this shoe running, hiking, bouldering, working out, camping, on an Olympic lifting platform, to the grocery store, and everywhere else you can think of. 

The only limiting factor with this particular model is that the Crimson color is so dang cool that I want to baby the shoes so as to not mess them up!  Definitely the first “minimalist” shoe I’ve felt that way about – it reminds me of my old traditional shoe obsession where it was All about looks….  Seriously though, the red really does pop and makes a great fashion shoe.

One of my favorite details about this shoe is the soft and smooth (and reinforced) heel slide (as seen here in grey):

If you’re a technical trail runner and spend your time on jagged rocks and navigating through sharp gravel hidden underneath the leaves of your favorite blackdiamond mountain trail, these shoes probably aren’t for that purpose.  Think of it like this, because we’ve all conditioned our feet differently so, therefore, our barefeet can handle different things:  if you would do it completely barefoot, then these shoes will be Perfect for it!

I’ll conclude with this: 
After testing shoes from over 2 dozen different brands over the years (and dozens more models) I’ve come to a place where I can honestly say that Andrew and the crew at Lems would definitely make my top 3 shoe brands.

Product Review: Lems shoes Nine2Five minimalist dress shoe

Lems

Live Easy & Minimal

Ah, Lems.  Since I reviewed their first shoe 4 years ago (which was actually a prototype – they hadn’t had a single shoe on the market yet) under the “Stem” brand I have loved these guys.  This past month I’ve had the opportunity to try out 2 pair and I’ll be bringing you reviews of both.  Today’s review will focus on their Nine2Five

As you are probably well aware, minimalist dress shoes (or even dress-casual) shoes are about as hard to find as an honest politician.  For people like me who wear nothing but zero drop for everything, this is a problem.  Well, the guys and gals at Lems have finally put this issue to rest and declared “problem solved!”

The aptly named Nine2Five is positioned to be the go to work shoe for khakis or dress pants in the office, on a nice night out, at church, or anywhere else where those “toe shoes” would be… frowned upon ;)
The shoes look fantastic.  I mean, they actually look the part and if laid on a rack in Johnston & Murphy would fit right in.   The Nine2Five, apart from being truly beautiful, is crafted very well with lots of attention to detail (Lems is a company that is making it because they recognize where they are and continue to grow, each time raising their quality, their attention to detail, and finding the niche that all of us are looking for but the globocompanies can’t/won’t deliver).

 

Before you write this off as a misplaced love fest, listen to some of the stats and see for yourself why this Will be your next shoe:

·         Wide, foot shaped last

·         The upper is 100% genuine full-grain leather

·         The lining is 100% genuine leather (!!)

·         The sole is 9mm injection rubber (LemsRubber)

·         Removable MoistureWick insole (3mm)

·         A ZERO drop (of course)

·         And a total weight of ~1/2 a pound (mine were 8.3 oz)

          Also, they can do this....:

 I have these in the mocha color and would love to add the other 2 colors.  I have a friend in law enforcement who fell in love with them and wants to try the black ones for a duty shoe.  I wear these with jeans, I wear them taking my beautiful wife to dinner, I wear them to work, I wear these to preach in, these are my go to  exclusive brown dress shoe and, as you can imagine, I have quite a lot to choose from…

Product Review: Topo Athletic Halsa

I wasn’t familiar with (fairly) new–comer Topo Athletic until I did I got my hands on their first gen “Gym” shoe, but while the brand may sound new, Topo’s staff is anything but:  See, Topo athletic’s founder and CEO is Tony Post (TOny POst = ToPo) and Tony was the president and CEO of Vibram USA for 11 years – specifically the 11 years of the FiveFingers. 

After Vibram, Tony set up his own dream company of Topo and continued his passion for healthy, minimalist shoes built for athletes. 

Today I’ll be reviewing the The Topo Halsa

The Halsa is Topo’s newest shoe in their “Gym” category that is specifically tailored for the functional fitness/Crossfit community.  It’s  Zero drop, wide profile, low to the ground (16mm total stack height),
and weighs less than 7 ½ oz.   

I’ll abandon my usual “wait to the end for final thoughts” model and just go ahead and tell you… I love this shoe.  Here’s why:

I started testing this shoe over a month ago at the gym and my workout routines consist of heavy barbell training (Olympic and power lifts), agility training, kettlebells, tires, dumbbells, the works. 

Additionally, every day will have a run aspect and the running will consist of straight line, lateral work, cuts, sudden stops, turns, etc. and it all happens on a myriad of different surfaces, including pavement, rubber gym floors, tile, gravel, grass, wooden lifting platforms, and turf.  I have yet to encounter a surface or a movement where these shoes didn’t shine.  Heck, one day our running portion was done on the turf soccer field which still had a soccer ball laying around (which I couldn’t help but snag) and I dribbled it through my running portion and fired off a couple shots as I approached each end of the pitch and they even did great with that!

They stuck with their midfoot strap, which I was excited to see as this is a staple for a platform shoe and a feature that is unique to Topo.  Currently, outside of Topo you have to choose either a lifting shoe Or a functional shoe and Topo has the best answer to a true double duty platform.

The Halsa is solid, flat, light, wide, flexible, and low, while maintaining excellent anchor points and lateral stability.  As such, the Halsa provides a solid platform in the bottom of heavy lifts with no rollover at all, flexible for box jumps, poses, and sprints, and light and wide enough for running – Topo truly nailed this one as a great all around training shoe.  

I’ll put it to you like this: 
as you can imagine, I have a _lot_ of shoes. 
Since I received the Halsa in the mail I have not worn another shoe to the gym.