The Best CrossFit Shoes of 2026

R.A.D’s ONE V2 ($150) was explicitly designed for training and lifting weights, and they nailed it. The upper feels thick and supportive, and the WAVE ridges creeping up the sides pair well with the firm TPU clip on the heel, creating a shoe that provides excellent support for heavy lifts. 

It has a wider toebox than its predecessor, which will appeal to athletes with wider feet. The mesh and suede upper feels significantly more structured than most of the shoes on this list. 

That structure, along with the shoe’s supportive midsole, locked my feet to the floor during heavy lifts. In a workout that included front squat doubles with 300 pounds, my feet never felt like they were rolling to the side or shifting in the shoe. The same goes for Olympic weightlifting workouts: The grippy outsole and locked-in feel provided excellent stability during heavy cleans and snatches, while the split pattern in the outsole delivered plenty of forefoot flexibility during split jerks. 

That flexibility was apparent during movements like burpees, box jumps, and walking lunges. The shoes, while extremely stable, never felt too stiff during plyometrics. During double-unders, I never felt that excessive fatigue in my feet that I get when I’m trying to jump rope in shoes that are too stiff. 

There are a few things to consider with the R.A.D ONE V2s. While I appreciate the stiff, supportive upper, it doesn’t breathe as well as I’d like it to, especially during 100-plus degree workouts in my local box in California. It’s a small nitpick for me, but people whose feet tend to overheat should take note. Also, they feel good (not great) on shuttle runs and 200-meter sprints, but any longer than that and you’ll want your running shoes. 

Those nitpicks aside, the stability and flexibility paired with the extremely durable upper have made this my go-to shoe when I head to the gym. If you’re looking for a shoe that doesn’t compromise in the gym and feels reasonably comfortable when the WOD calls for running, the R.A.D ONE V2 is a great option.

With the average price for a CrossFit shoe floating around $150, finding a bargain usually means trying to find an older shoe on an outlet site. That’s not the case anymore, thanks to the Reebok Nano Gym ($100). Designed specifically for the gym, the Nano Gym is adept at pushing through fitness classes, weight lifting, and (more so than most CrossFit shoes) running. 

While it may lack some CrossFit-specific features that bias it toward lifting, the Nano Gym has just enough support, stability, and flexibility to be a serviceable shoe in almost every CrossFit movement. The 8 mm midsole drop may be too high for people who want a more even lifting platform, but those with ankle mobility issues will love the boost during squats. The heel support is much softer than you’ll find on most CrossFit shoes, which means less power in explosive movements, but the TPU heel cradle provides additional stability. 

And while that heel may hamper lifts, it feels pretty good on a run. It’s well-known that CrossFit shoes are often terrible for running (the best of them on this list are merely serviceable), but that soft heel and 8 mm drop made this my favorite runners during testing.

One of the WODs that I did with these shoes required a mix of middle-distance runs, dumbbell snatches, and goblet squats. These shoes felt comfy on the run, while the lifting portions were more than comfortable (I PR’d that workout by over a minute). 

Is it the best shoe for everything in CrossFit? No. That soft heel might be an unforgivable sin for many athletes, and the lack of midsole rope protection means these shoes will be destroyed if rope climbs are prescribed. 

However, for any workout that requires plyometrics, running, and sub-maximal lifts, the Reebok Nano Gym is ideal for CrossFit. And the fact that it’s the cheapest shoe you’ll find by $50 or more doesn’t hurt one bit.

One of the original CrossFit shoes, Reebok’s Nano series has gone through fifteen iterations, each one with its specific strengths and weaknesses. We’re happy to report that the Reebok Nano X5 ($140) is the company’s best version in years, thanks to the wider toe box, grippy outsole, and possibly the best blend of lifting and running capabilities. 

The Nano X5’s toebox is noticeably wider than that of the Nano X4. That roominess, combined with the flexible and slightly stretchy patterned FLEXWEAVE upper, gives the X5 excellent comfort right out of the box. 

Reebok also replaced the X4’s Floatride Energy Foam with a new DUALRESPONSE EVA midsole. This new midsole combines with Reebok’s Lift and Run Chassis System to deliver the most balanced support and cushioning I’ve experienced with a CrossFit shoe, with equal capability in lifting, plyometrics, and running.

And I’d like to emphasize the running part — CrossFit athletes have learned to appreciate shoes that hurt the least with running, but for distances up to a mile, the Nano X5 is a pleasure to run in. The cushioning, flexible forefoot, and barely-there rocker (the toe is elevated a bit) gave us just enough to maintain a speedy, natural stride without that clompy feeling most CrossFit shoes deliver. They won’t replace your running shoes — after about a mile, fatigue would set in, and the heelstriking would commence — but for a CrossFit shoe, they were a delight. 

There are some minor quibbles: The wider heel and grippy outsole take some getting used to. During movements where I tend to cross my feet, like box step-overs, I almost tripped during the first few reps. And while the FLEXWEAVE upper is fairly durable, we’d like to see some sidewall protection for rope climbs, as you see in the Nike Metcon 9. 

But thanks to its comfort for every modality of CrossFit, this is the perfect shoe for athletes who like to walk in the gym with no idea what the workout is. No matter what devious workout your coach has programmed, the Reebok Nano X5 can handle it. 

Normally, it takes a few iterations for a company to get CrossFit shoes dialed. Luckily for us, Born Primitive knocked it out of the park with its first attempt, the Born Primitive Savage 1 ($130). The Savage 1 has excelled at all things CrossFit while being one of the lightest and most comfortable shoes on my list. I tried them for months across every modality, from Olympic lifting to mile-long runs, and the shoes never failed to impress.

The Savage 1 has a super breathable textile upper with a wide toebox and laminate overlays for support and added durability. The wide toebox and structure provided a comfortable fit, and the laminate upper kept the foot right where it belonged throughout my workouts.

The Savage 1 was one of the first shoes that I’ve tried that provided solid stability during lifts like the clean & jerk and snatch, but was flexible enough to be comfortable during box jumps and burpees. My feet generally hurt during most WODs, but they never ached in this shoe. That’s a huge win right there.

These shoes also run very well for an all-around training shoe — heads and shoulders above the Metcon 9, Nano X4, or the NOBULL Trainer. They’re not full-on running shoes, so I won’t be running any half-marathons in them, but for runs of a mile or less, they were responsive, though I would have appreciated more cushioning. 

I did find the laces a bit short, but the rounded profile prevented them from coming undone at inopportune times, such as during double-unders or sprints to beat the time cap. Also, during rope climbs, they weren’t as grippy as other shoes on this list. 

Are they a full-fledged lifter? Certainly not. Nor are they a bona fide runner. But if you just want a low-heel-drop pair of shoes that you can do any workout in, anytime, while looking and feeling good, the Born Primitive Savage 1 is your shoe.

It’s no secret that CrossFit shoes aren’t great for running. Shoes that simply don’t hurt like hell during the run portion of a WOD are like gold to a CrossFitter. Creating a shoe that feels stable and supportive during a lift, yet pliable and responsive during a run, has always seemed like an impossible task. So, when the NOBULL Drive Ripstop ($150) arrived for me to test, I was understandably skeptical. 

The NOBULL Drive Ripstop is a gym shoe that has a thick, responsive midsole, a 4 mm heel-to-toe drop, and a lightweight ripstop upper. The result is a shoe that is comfortable during runs and plyometrics movements, yet fairly stable and supportive during lightweight to moderate lifts. In other words, a CrossFit shoe that you actually won’t hate running in. In fact, these shoes feel terrific when I run in them.

The main reason is the midsole, a thick layer of Pebax foam that is lightweight, bouncy, and delivers a solid energy return. In other words, it absorbs shock when your foot lands and releases that shock in a responsive bounce when you push off. It’s not rockered, but there is a slight lift in the outsole at the toe and an even lighter one at the heel. It’s minor, but it’s just enough to prevent the clomp that you get with flatter CrossFit shoes. 

However, the squishy midsole that feels so good on runs and burpees saps a bit of power from your drive off the floor during explosive movements. This was most noticeable during clean and jerks, snatches, and kettlebell swings. Instead of driving right off the floor, I could feel a slight compression in the shoe before driving up. It’s small, but it’s noticeable. 

Shuttle runs, 200- to 400-meter sprints, the dreaded mid-workout mile, all of these felt great in the Drive Ripstop. A pair of dedicated running shoes would have felt better, but they would have been awful for every other part of my workouts. The Drive Ripstop delivered enough stability to get through the lighter lifts and transformed running from the worst to the best parts of my WODs.

CrossFit shoes are designed to do many things well, but, as with most utility players, they rarely excel at any one thing. If you’re on a dedicated lifting program and/or you hoist 300 pounds on a regular basis, you’re going to want a dedicated lifter like the Reebok Legacy Lifter III ($220). 

This is because weightlifting shoes are built for two things: Stability and stiffness. An extremely stiff sole maximizes power transfer during explosive movements necessary during cleans and snatches, and a wide, stable base keeps ankle and foot movement to a minimum when squatting heavy weight. 

The Legacy Lifter III delivers on all of these parameters. During testing, the extremely firm thermoplastic polyurethane (basically a really hard plastic, also known as TPU) platform under the heel absorbed zero power during my Olympic lifts. I wore these on a three-month Olympic lifting program and managed a 20-pound increase in his squat snatch and a 30-pound increase in his squat clean. Speaking of squats, the exterior TPU heel reinforcement that rises up over the heel prevented any foot movement when dropping into a squat and driving back up.

The main noticeable difference between the Legacy Lifter III and its predecessor, the Legacy Lifter II is the addition of the Pump feature. This feature, which elder millennials may remember fondly from their childhoods, entails a pump button on the tongue that wearers can use to inflate the tongue for a more secure, custom fit.  

That secure fit is bolstered by the shoe’s midsole strap, adding to the Legacy Lifter III’s superlative stability. I’ve gone through countless lifting shoes in my fitness journey, and the Legacy Lifter III is by far the most stable, secure shoe I’ve used.

At $220, these lifters are an investment, but durability isn’t an issue here. I’ve been testing the shoe for nearly a year’s worth of workouts, and it still looks like new. I don’t anticipate any blowouts or degradation throughout my next few years of wear. 

I have a medium-to-wide foot, which perfectly suits the Legacy Lifter III but may not work well with lifters who have narrower feet. If your feet tend to swim in medium-width shoes, I’d recommend something narrower, like the Adidas Adipower 3.

That said, this is not a versatile shoe. While the forefoot is flexible enough for split jerks, you won’t want to do movements like burpees or box jumps in them. They weigh nearly three times as much as some of the shoes on this list, which is not ideal for toes to bar or muscle-ups. And God help you if you try to run any distance in these. The bottom line is that if you don’t plan to hoist some heavy weight, these shoes aren’t for you.

If, however, you are looking for a shoe that’s ideal for Olympic movements, heavy back/front/overhead squats, and overhead work, you’re not going to find a more stable platform than the one on the Reebok Legacy Lifter III.

Well-known CrossFit shoe brands like Reebok and Nike regularly release new iterations, which can, unfortunately, lead to constantly varied quality between versions. Luckily, Nike’s newest, the Metcon 9 ($150), feels like the company has created the peak CrossFit shoe. This shoe feels like it was built from the ground up for the Sport of Fitness. 

I’ll start with one of the 9’s most noticeable features — the huge wraparound rope guard that wraps around the entire midfoot. This robust rope guard not only provides excellent protection from abrasion on rope climbs but also delivers excellent grip. This grip is further enhanced by a few rubber stripes on top of the toe box. 

And man, is that grip sweet. Of the dozens of CrossFit shoes I’ve used over the years, none have come close to matching the Metcon 9’s grip. Hundreds of rope climbs into testing, and I have yet to slip once. If your training entails rope climbs, that alone is worth the price of admission. 

One other unique detail is the small hook-and-loop strap that secures the laces and very effectively prevents them from coming undone. It may seem like a frivolous detail, but if you’ve ever had a lace come undone while trying to go unbroken in double-unders, you’ll know how ideal that is. It’s a small detail, but it’s one that every CrossFit shoe should have. 

Like any all-arounder, the shoes aren’t perfect — they’re not the best runners on this list, the dense upper material hampers breathability a bit, and they’re heavier than many options on this list. And they rank near the bottom for comfort during any run longer than 200 meters. But if you’re looking for a shoe that slays any WOD that doesn’t require running, the Nike Metcon 9 is an excellent shoe.

Vivobarefoot has been in the minimalist shoe game for quite some time now. I tested the brand’s Vivobarefoot Motus Strength ($200) in this round and found these shoes to be well-made, good-quality shoes right out of the box. At $200, the Motus Strength is an expensive option, but my testing made me confident that buyers will be satisfied with the top-quality construction of this shoe. 

Designed specifically for strength training, the shoe is an excellent option for the functional training crowd. It is also a superb deadlift shoe, and barefoot runners will value it for its wide fit, natural feel, and good grip. That being said, the Motus Strength comes with a caveat. If this is your first minimalist shoe, I would highly recommend that you ease into your runs and workouts while wearing them. 

Zero drop and zero padding mean zero support, so it might be a rough transition for folks switching to the minimalist shoe situation. However, this shoe is great if you’re interested in strengthening your feet and ankles or prefer to feel more tuned into your feet when lifting. I especially valued the bio-feedback of this minimal shoe during kettlebell conditioning.

The added protection is a big plus and makes the Motus Strength stand out amongst other barefoot-style shoes. While the bottom of the outsole remains minimalist and flexible, it wraps up around the heel, midfoot, and toebox to help protect the foot from random weight drops (somewhat) and to provide some lateral stability during heavy lifts.

Sizing can be a little tricky with the Motus Strength — they run a bit big. Vivobarefoot has a helpful guide on its site for choosing your appropriate size, so be sure to check that out before pulling the trigger. I’m normally an 11, but I’m a 10.5 in the Motus Strength. Otherwise, these shoes are lightweight, breathable, wide, & flexible — making for a great summer training shoe.

If you love deadlifts, these shoes are ideal. The zero heel-toe drop is ideal for maintaining good positioning and minimizing forward lean. As far as squatting and Olympic lifting go, there are many better options out there. I’d strongly recommend purchasing a dedicated lifter like the Reebok Legacy Lifter III to give you the positioning and stability you need for big lifts. 

If, however, you are looking for a minimalist cross-trainer to do some running, some functional training, a little kettlebell work, and the occasional deadlift session, I’d be hard-pressed to find a better option. The Vivobarefoot Motus Strength is an excellent training shoe on its own and a very good minimalist shoe on top of that.

NOBULL’s Outwork ($139) shoes (formerly known as the NOBULL Trainer) are so durable that you may never need to buy another pair. Firstly, the shoe features a one-piece upper, so there are fewer weak points in the shoe. The result? A minimal chance of those sidewall blowouts that you’ll see in other shoes.

And that one piece is made of SuperFabric, made by applying a layer of protective guard plates to a fabric. These guard plates are basically tiny pieces of hard plastic. The plastic acts as a shield over the fabric, making it abrasion-resistant without sacrificing breathability or flexibility. This also gives the shoes a distinct dot pattern.

The low-profile lugs on the outsole provide both traction and a stable platform, while the firm midsole provides ample support during heavy lifts (though some athletes find them clunky on runs).

And that’s the big downside with the Outwork — if you want soft landings on jumps or any semblance of cushioning on a run, these aren’t the shoes for you.

NOBULL takes pride in being an understated company. Its shoes are solid, stable, and durable without any extra bells and whistles. The Outwork may not be flashy, but it’ll get the job done — and do it for years without showing any wear.

GORUCK is known for its gritty, stripped-down styling, and the Ballistic Trainer ($140) epitomizes those traits. With the durable Cordura ballistic nylon upper and subdued styling, the shoe looks like it was made to go through hell. So I put it to the test. 

I took the Ballistic Trainer through months of testing, exposing it to weightlifting, high-rep, heavy deadlift sessions, sprints, gymnastic movements, and the dreaded Murph workout — a 1-mile run, 100 pullups, 200 pushups, and 300 air squats, followed by another 1-mile run, all wearing a 20 lb. weight vest.

The midsole provides what all CrossFit shoes offer, but rarely deliver: Equal performance across various workouts. The platform felt secure and steady during Olympic lifts, and the elevated heel gave the shoe a lifter feel during heavy back squats. With movements like burpees and box jumps, the forefoot provided more than enough flexibility to enable a full range of motion. 

One of the most noticeable aspects of the Ballistic Trainer is its durability. It looks like a tough shoe, and man, does it perform like one. After tests that included runs, jumps, burpees, and shoe-wrecking rope climbs, a quick wipe-down with a wet rag had my test pair looking like it just came out of the box. 

At almost 11 ounces, however, you won’t be mistaking these for running shoes any time soon. Also, the sole is fairly stiff on arrival and requires a short break-in period to really deliver. But if you’re willing to put in the work, the Ballistic Trainer will more than meet you halfway.