Nike Customer Service review--FAIL!!!

Grade: Not Impressed. At all.

On the recommendation of many training websites I had read, I purchased a pair of Nike Free 7.0 shoes. The basic premise behind the Nike Free is a very flexible sole that is designed to allow your feet to move as if you were barefoot.

At first the shoes were very comfortable and because I work 6 days a week as a personal trainer, I decided to buy a second pair so I could alternate wearings.

Not long after obtaining my second pair, my original pair started to split at the seam between the forefoot strap and the leather upper. Then, not long after that, my second pair also started to split and started shedding sole pads. Keep in mind that I walk a carpeted gym floor in these shoes. I have never used them for trail running or court sports.

My first course of action was to go to my local Nike store and try to return the obviously defective shoes there. The store said that they don't handle warranty issues and forwarded me the phone number for Nike warranty service.

I then called Nike Warranty and this is where my true disappointment started. First off, Nike shoes are only warrantied for 2 years from date of manufacture. ????? So...we're to believe that from the time some sweaty child finishes gluing them together in Asia that the shoes begin to spontaneously self-destruct? I tried to explain to the phone representative that I didn't think it was appropriate for the warranty to run while the shoes were in transport to North America and then in some retail store's inventory. Presumably they sit in a box, I fail to see how they would deteriorate in any material way. If so, I can only assume that new, in-box Nike Shoes must turn to dust after sitting in a box for 4-5 years.

Turns out that my first pair of shoes was manufactured in 2006, despite my purchasing them brand new within the past 12 months. Unable to reason with the battle-tested phone rep who must've heard this all many times before, I then proceeded to file a warranty claim for my second pair, manufactured in 2008. At least this pair fell within the two year period for what I now understand to be perishable Nike Frees. This is where it goes from bad to worse. I had to ship the shoes back to Nike AT MY EXPENSE. No Return Merchandise Authorization. The phone rep then had the gall to say if Nike found the shoes were defective, they would ship a new pair (no guarantee on colour) back at their expense. Wow. They're really going out of their way here... And all this after waiting 4-6 weeks.

The pictures at the beginning of the post are of my shoes. It's clear that there is virtually no wear on the sole, save for the parts of it that fell off.

All in all, I'm pretty disappointed in Nike's commitment to product quality and to customer service. Not only is it absurd that they expect customers to be out of pocket for return costs when their shoes are defective, they expect customers to know that the shoes are only expected to last for 2 years from date of manufacture. Given that it would take at least 45 days from departure in China to receipt at a Nike warehouse in Ontario, any shoes purchased will likely already be 60-90 days into their warranty period before you even have a chance to wear them. And that's at their freshest!

Changing gears a bit...

I've decided that my lower back isn't ready for the rigors of the type of strength workouts I'd need to perform in order to enter the planned powerlifting competition at the end of March. In the alternative, I've stepped up my kettlebell work as well as focusing more on hitting my bodyfat goals.

In the past week, I've worked up to 30 kettlebell snatches with each arm (60 total) performed with the 24kg kettlebell. My goal is to be able to do a sustained set of 100 kettlebell snatches, 50 with each arm, one switch, no putting the kettlebell down.

In addition to the kettlebell snatches, I've incorporated a much higher volume of kettlebell swings into my workout. The objective of the kettlebell programming is to increase core stability, improve shoulder flexibility, and increase cardiovascular fitness. The beneficial side effects should include increased bodyfat loss and increased grip strength.

I've started incorporating "strongman-specific" exercises into my traditional iron routine. Farmer's walks and zercher squats are both terrific exercises for increasing core stability as well as putting a whole new type of stress on your upper and middle back.

An excerpt from Dr. John Berardi's ebook...

"Precision Nutrition--Strategies for Success"

-available for free at www.johnberardi.com/newsletter if you sign up for his newsletter

The Metabolism Advantages

The following tips are essential to maintaining a fast, youthful metabolism:

1. Build the muscle needed to speed up your resting metabolism, all day and all night. A gain of 5 to 10 pounds of lean mass muscle will rev up your resting metabolism—the number of calories your body burns to maintain life—by roughly 100 calories – each and every day.

2. Maximize something called the “afterburn.” Through targeted strength training and energy system work (a specific type of interval training), you can increase the number of calories you burn during your workouts (about 300 to 600 calories per day depending on your body size and workout duration). However, assuming you integrate these high intensity efforts, you can also blow through another 100 to 200 calories per day – a post-exercise energy burst that eats up calories even when you’re sitting on your butt.

3. Increase the number of calories your body burns as it digests foods. Prioritizing metabolically costly proteins, metabolism-boosting fats, antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies, and the right carbs at the right times (nutrient timing), can boost your metabolic rate by another 100 to 200 calories per day.

4. Encourage your body to waste calories. The right combination of food choices and supplements can turn you in to a much less efficient calorie burner. Much like a car in need of a tune up, your body will consume more fuel than it needs to operate, wasting away the excess as heat. Unlike with your car, however, when it comes to your metabolism, inefficiency is a good thing. It will coax your body into burning more calories – and more fat – for fuel.

5. Boost the number of calories your body burns through movement. Thanks to that desk job, family commitments, and great lineup of must-see TV, most of us move less at ages 30, 40, and beyond than we did during our teens and twenties. By training at least 5 hours each week, you can increase your calorie burning by about 300 to 600 calories per day.

All told, with the right combination of training, nutrition, and supplementation, you can expect to increase your daily calorie burn by between 40 and 60 percent within just 8 weeks. In other words, a guy who currently burns 2,500 calories a day would rev up his metabolism to a 3,400 to 4,000 daily calorie burn! That’s enough of a boost for you to see a 10-to-15-pound drop in body fat during those 8 weeks above. And for those at a beginner/intermediate level of training, you can expect muscle gain too. Muscle gain and fat loss simultaneously? Yep, it happens all the time. Time to revisit my examples above.

Even more important, when you get these things right, you will simultaneously improve your health. In addition to speeding your metabolism, building muscle, and shedding fat, you can also expect to lower your blood cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar. So not only can you live look better, you can live longer. So, in the end, I’m here to tell you that a large-scale metabolic decline isn’t inevitable as we age.

If you’re young and haven’t seen the affects of father time, that’s excellent. But that doesn’t mean you wont! Make sure that you use a combination of smart eating, training and supplementation to keep that metabolism reving for life.

And if you’re older and your current lifestyle has negatively impacted your body, know that it’s not too late. Turn things around now and you can reverse the damage that’s been done. I’ve seen it happen time and time again.

Cuckoo for Coconut!

"Healthy Fats" are a big buzz word and one of the tastiest ways to get some into your diet is through coconut.

Dr. Johnny Bowden describes the benefits here. Referencing Dr. Bowden's book "The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth", T-Nation.com author Chris Shugart writes about the benefits of coconut here.

I like coconut because it tastes good. I put some organic coconut milk into my morning protein shake (a real breakfast would be better but I'm not much for cooking in the morning) and snack on Jennie's Macaroons.

I haven't tried coconut water but Dr. Bowden is a big fan.

It tastes good and it's good for you. To me, that's a win/win situation!