7 Best Crossfit Shoes

We discovered Metcon 9 offers the best features for CrossFit, deserving to be crowned as best overall among CrossFit trainers in our lab records. It's a confidence booster with the superior stability and grip it offers, holding down our feet well when it’s time to lift. It displays signs of durability and offers flexibility for various WODs.

Despite the absence of a raised heel, Metcon 9 shines in weightlifting. We measured a 5.5 mm drop in the lab, more levelled than the 6.1 mm average. Its wide and supportive base keeps us planted to the ground, whereas its sturdy sidewalls and protective upper establish a firm foothold for stability. It even has Hyperlift — a sturdy, non-compressible TPU plastic under the heel for extra support when lifting heavier loads.

Metcon 9 gives the flexibility and grip we need for burpees and plyometrics. In our bend test, it's 15.0% more flexible than average. Meanwhile, the outsole bites through the gym floor, ensuring we can focus on our workout without wobbles. It shows no signs of wear, so we expect it to be durable. Our durometer confirms the 91.0 HC rubber is harder than the 85.2 HC average. A tougher outsole means it can take a lot of beating.

Unfortunately, Metcon 9 missed out on breathability. It feels too stuffy for tropical weather and sweaty indoor sessions.

The Reebok Nano X4 lightens the load of brutal CrossFit sessions by delivering impressive breathability and plush heel cushioning, ensuring the best comfort during our heated workouts. Our lab reveals its robust build and excellent containment add crucial support, enhancing its suitability for intense training sessions while remaining bendy enough for other exercises. 

In our smoke test, the Nano X4’s Flexweave scored a solid 4/5, ensuring consistent airflow and freshness during indoor sessions as the heat escapes easily. Moreover, the upper resisted our Dremel amazingly and received a 4/5 durability score. 

The platform delivers a healthy balance of cushioning and support. We felt close to the ground but still had a good layer of foam to perform jumps with impact protection. Furthermore, our HA durometer revealed a softer 27.0 HA cushioning under the heel measuring 10.0% softer than the main midsole foam.

The X4 impresses not only with its comfort but also its stability, boasting a stiff heel counter and excellent torsional rigidity, both scoring 4/5 in lab tests. The Lift and Run Chassis securely anchors our feet during static and dynamic exercises, while the midsole maintains flexibility for lunges and planks, matching the average bend test score in our lab.

However, its well-rounded nature means it lacks the support for extremes like heavy weightlifting and longer running sessions. Those in serious training should invest in workout-specific shoes.

Nike Air Zoom TR 1 has an explosive yet supportive midsole that makes it our ultimate cardio CrossFit shoe in the lab. Its energy return is undeniable in our workouts, allowing us to sustain repetitive jumps with less effort and pain while offering a sense of security when lifting through its reliable traction and stability.

At the forefront is the lively midsole that includes an Air Zoom unit for consistent power and energy. The stack had a good mix of cushioning and ground feel, infused with a bouncy and velvet foam for comfort. Our durometer reveals it’s 26.3% softer than average, ensuring a zero-pain experience even if we extend our workout.

We felt surefooted as we did jump ropes, burpees, planks, and lifts. The outsole gripped slippery gym floors impressively, and our durometer reveals why: the rubber is 8.8% softer, and therefore stickier, than average. Surprisingly, it didn’t sacrifice durability as it performed at par with our current average in our Dremel test.

The toebox also scored a flawless 5/5 durability rating, enhancing a more secure ride through its supportive structure. While most shoes wreak havoc, this Nike only showed an insignificant scratch. Unfortunately, its strength comes at the expense of breathability. The lack of airflow adds fuel to the fire of our already-heated workouts. We recommend trying another shoe for summer training.

In the world of training shoes, where the average weight is 11.5 oz (326g), the NOBULL Outwork is a light trainer at just 10.4 oz (294g). But the shoe is far from lightweight when it comes to its performance in a Crossfit box, as its fantastic flexibility, solid stability, and outstanding durability make it our top lightweight Crossfit trainer.

The NOBULL Outwork features tremendous flexibility, which makes it a fabulous shoe to wear for HIIT workouts and agility drills. After putting it through our 90 degree bend test, we found that it is 16.9% more flexible than the average training shoe. 

But the shoe still has enough stiffness to be a stable lifting shoe. Its midsole is 24% firmer than the average training shoe, and we felt it hardly compressed when lifting moderate weights on our power and Olympic lifts. Moreover, the shoe has a fairly flat platform, offering optimal ground contact.

Meanwhile, the SuperFabric upper lives up to its name as it is extremely durable. Even rope climbs barely scratch the incredibly tough material, so it will take some serious abuse inside the box to wreck the upper.

However, that super-durable upper comes at the cost of breathability as our feet got quite hot, particularly after high-intensity workouts. Neither smoke nor light could pass through the upper in our lab tests, which is why we graded the shoe's breathability the lowest score of 1 out of 5.

The Adidas Dropset 3 made our jaws drop with its remarkable foothold and top-level ventilation. Its permeable upper and HEAT.RDY technology brought sheer delight to our intense workouts, making it our best breathable CrossFit shoe in the lab. Its structured elements kept us unshakingly stable without overpowering rigidity.

Our feet felt refreshed even during heated sessions because of the flow-through upper and the unobstructed elements in the sole. It includes a large aperture in the middle for airflow and is complemented by. a perforated insole, which explains its 5/5 breathability rating in our lab.

Dropset 3 has the perfect set-up for lifting. Its grounded 22.6/14.8 mm stack has a dual-density configuration: a firm 41.0 HA foam in the heel that won't compress under heavy loads, and a softer 21.5 HA in the forefoot for cushioned landings during repetitive jumps. Besides that, the GeoFit Sensepods in the ankle area secured our feet in place.

In addition, the forefoot measures a wide 116.9 mm for enhanced stability. Even underfoot, the Adiwear outsole has the Traxion pattern to ensure solid braking power and control. It felt impossible to lose our balance with this trainer.

However, we can’t recommend this shoe for more cardio-focused workouts since its 12.1 oz (343g) build will feel too bulky for this type of exercise.

The amazing Reebok Nano X3 Adventure allowed us to do a lot of exercises, including rope climbing which many trainers easily fall short in. We were also impressed by the hardness of its outsole and the immense durability of its upper. Because of all these benefits, the Nano X3 Adventure easily climbed up our list as the best CrossFit shoe for outdoor workouts.

Getting a nice grip on any surface was never a problem for this Reebok trainer. Whether we were exercising on concrete or hardwood floors, we were able to stop on a sixpence whenever needed. Climbing stairs and even ropes was never a problem.

Registering 89.4 on our HC durometer, the outsole of this trainer is significantly harder than average, which only got a rating of 84.0. This hard outsole helped us withstand the roughness of the outdoors.

The uber-durable upper was simply jaw-dropping. Twelve minutes of high-pressure Dremel drilling barely left a noticeable mark on the toebox. A perfect 5 it was!

It’s just too bad that we could never recommend the Reebok Nano X3 Adventure to fitness enthusiasts with sweaty feet. This shoe was pretty awful when it came to breathability, and it got the lowest 1 over 5 from us in that aspect.

At £120 per pair, the Reebok Nano 2.0 is just around the average price for CrossFit shoes which is £130. But the performance of this shoe isn’t average at all. Its amazing breathability truly left no chance for sweat. Its intense flexibility allowed us to move with much more ease, especially when there was a need to twist or go around bends. Finally, its nicely firm midsole gave us the chance to speed up without exerting so much effort. 

We dissected this shoe in the lab and placed its upper material on top of a light source. The moment the light shone from below it, we saw gigantic ventilation holes, perfectly explaining the immense amount of breathability that we enjoyed. Hands down, the Nano 2.0 is a perfect 5 for ventilation.

A typical trainer would need 22.5N of force so it’s bent at 90 degrees. Our digital force gauge showed that this shoe needed much less than that, 11.3N to be exact. Its flexibility allowed for more natural flexions of our feet, making this shoe such a pleasure to wear.

The midsole of this shoe registered a 31.0 on our HA durometer, significantly higher (therefore firmer) than the 27.0 average. This firmness not only helped with acceleration because of its springy effect in motion, but it also aided us in attaining stability during lifting because of its inherent anti-wobble properties.

It’s just too unfortunate that the durability of the upper was not able to keep up with the greatness of the Nano 2.0 from Reebok. There was already significant damage after a couple of seconds of Dremel drilling.