Here is a super dorky post that I think will help some of you guys. It is about when to put different pieces of equipment on. We’ll talk this through a class structure and open the post up to questions at the end.

It will help to define terms here.
1) We’ll call CrossFit shoes any flat shoes you wear throughout class. If you have Nanos, NBS, or Inov-8s and those are your primary class shoes, those are for sure CF shoes.
2) Lifting shoes are shoes with wooden or rubber heels. They are best used for Olympic lifting, squatting, and pressing.
3) Knee Sleeves are protective pieces of equipment you slide up over your knees, almost always used for squatting. If you are newer to a gym or this lingo, they might look like brace-type things, but they are really just a way to keep the knees warm and provide movement feedback. I like them a lot.
4) Belts are the weightlifting belts we have on the pegboard.

For classes:
1) Arrive to warmup wearing CrossFit shoes–flat or minimal soled. If you have running shoes, you should begin looking for a pair of flatter soled shoes at some point soon. The Reebok Nanos are the gold standard for what we do in class and can really be worn for entire classes. Warmups may include hopping, skipping, etc. so Lifting shoes would not be appropriate here.
1a) If you wear knee sleeves to squat, I would consider arriving to class with them on, especially in a morning session. Saves time at the gym, gets your knees warmer earlier, etc. If you are putting them on at the gym, we have some bottles of horse liniment which make it easier to slide the sleeves on and off–ask for that to make it easier on ya.
2) If the workout as posted begins with Olympic lifting drills (cleans, clean pulls) and you have Lifting shoes–arrive to warmup wearing lifting shoes. We will make it clearer on our website and here if we plan to begin classes with Olympic lifting practice (that would likely happen 1x/wk or slightly less frequently). Otherwise, CrossFit shoes are fine for these drills.
3) Use the transition time before squats or presses to change into Lifting shoes if you use them and need to. Deadlifts should be done in CrossFit shoes or in socks with very, very few exceptions.
4) In general I like to see people putting on belts for their last 2-3 sets of the day on strength work. This may seem silly to note, but make sure to take the belt off between sets; you want to be able to take in some cool clean air in an unimpeded fashion.
5) Back to CrossFit shoes for the conditioner. We don’t run long enough distances in class to really beg for running shoes and we want a minimal sole to allow for proper force transfer.