FEATURE: Under Armour Gets ‘Venom’-ous With Canelo Alvarez Training Shoe

By Sandy Dover for Yahoo!

I am a bit of a skeptic with cross-training shoes.

Or anything carrying the idea of allowing someone to comfortably and successfully do things in a shoe without there being some kind of mortal flaw in the design.

I say that, because in recent time through the last decade, the classic do-it-all shoe was marginalized, often under-produced as a niche model, increasingly difficult to acquire, and left people at the mercy of bulkier football-geared shoes that made weight training and non-drill cardio more exclusive to specialized footwear. In other words, there was a lack of a strong, flexible trainer that could confidently stand out as a promising shoe to train in without compromise fit, comfort, or strength.

So when boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez showed the world what all he could do in the Under Armour Spine Venom – shown above and in greater detail here and here — in the brand’s “I WILL” campaign, I was really intrigued and surprised … and doubtful. “It’s just a running shoe that’s posing as something more than it is,” I thought. It wasn’t without evidence that I thought what I thought. The platform is the original platform of the very first Spine shoe, the Spine RPM, which was strictly a running shoe, so I wasn’t very optimistic; however, Canelo showed me a thing or two, because when I came upon the Spine Venom, I learned it could do what I needed. …

FEATURE: New Balance Re-engineering Innovation with Minimus Ionix Running Shoe

By Sandy Dover

As featured by Yahoo!

Pushing the limits of technology is the way that we in the world are truly able to know what’s possible in the present in the future. For instance, who knew that processing peanuts might make peanut butter possible, or that experimenting with milk might yield cheese and synthesized protein? Those are but a couple of examples of taking a product of discovery and making more discoveries from within its natural capabilities – and it is the very basis of the genius of the New Balance Minimus Ionix 3090.

Though the second incarnation of the shoe has already been produced, the 3090 (pictured in greater detail here) is a running shoe that a great example of a product that has taken a long-existing tool within, isolating it, and pushing it to the limits. Taking the brand’s innovative REVlite midsole foam and applying it to the 3090, the shoe highlights the foam, unleashing its capabilities to be a major element of support for the entirety of the last, while allowing it to sit with traditional midsole foam to act in concert as an outsole; this very application of the REVlite gave the 3090 the distinction as one of the lightest running shoes in New Balance’s history, while distinguishing the 3090 itself as a kind of prototype model for the future. …

FEATURE: Versatility is the Name of New Balance NBGroove’s Training Game

by Sandy Dover for Yahoo!

In a sense, the 1157 is a throwback to simpler times, and that’s what makes it so great. Highly influenced by New Balance’s Minimus initiative, the 1157 is literally one of the most intuitive, yet simple shoes to train in – or at least that I’ve ever trained in – and that’s what makes it so great. …

FEATURE: TSL’s 5-On-5 – Does Dwyane Wade Need To Ride The Bench Until The Playoffs?

featuring Sandy Dover for The Shadow League

Unless Wade is totally bad with his health, he’ll need some action to keep away rust and not make LeBron vulnerable with his energy output. The problem with Wade in general is that his body isn’t equipped to handle the full 82, so he probably needs to start getting the San Antonio treatment for the rest of his career. No heavy back-to-backs and some occasional games off. Of course, because Pat Riley is hardheaded, this isn’t likely to be.

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FEATURE: Be A Player, Not A Patient

by Sandy Dover for The Shadow League

We in the world take for granted the power that we have, our voices that are waiting to be counted when we’re hurting. It’s often said that the culture of American medicine, from practitioners to patients, is based in reactivity, not proactivity. It’s magnified and glorified particularly in sports, where saving face and testing your might is paramount to admitting defeat in physiology, even when your body speaks louder than you can.

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First Impressions: The Under Armour SPINE RPM

By Sandy Dover for SLAM

“It’s a promising idea and a way for Under Armour to evolve its existing materials and create more diversity within its own catalog—not to mention, also, that the SPINE RPM is sharp in its design. It reminds a bit of a shark with its mesh upper and diamond voids, and the splices in the combo sole recall something that resembles JAWS. In my light use of the shoe, I feel very confident about what it can be as a performance tool for workouts and training, specifically as a running shoe, but the sky is really the limit with what SPINE can be.”

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Link: http://www.slamonline.com/online/kicks/2012/06/first-impressions-under-armour-spine-rpm/

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The New Balance MX20 and MX20v2

By Sandy Dover for STACK

“Whether you’re playing basketball or running or lifting in the weight room, training sneakers are essential to make the most out of your workouts. New Balance has released a new set of trainers: the New Balance Minimus Trainer MX20 and MX20v2.”

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Link: http://www.stack.com/2012/06/23/new-balance-mx20-and-mx20v2/