If you’re just getting started with Crossfit, you might already feel a little intimidated by all of the new strains you are putting on your body. The all-encompassing workout tests you in ways that other exercise routines can’t even touch. You will also need the right crossfit shoes to prevent injury.
Without the proper shoes, your Crossfit routine could be over before it even gets started. Thankfully, we are here to find the best Crossfit shoes as you get started with this new adventure. Find out which shoes you should invest in and which ones you should stay away from if you aren’t already a Crossfit expert.
The Best Crossfit Shoes: Comparison Table
Picking the Perfect Beginner’s Crossfit Shoes
Now that we’ve gone over our search criteria, let’s get to the reason you came here. What is the perfect pair of Crossfit shoes for beginners?
We narrowed it down to three pairs, and we’ll go over what went into our decisions. You’re guaranteed to walk out of this article with a new plan in place for your Crossfit journey.
Adidas Powerlift 3
For those who are just getting started with Crossfit, you might not have as much spare cash to get a new pair of shoes. We love the Adidas Powerlift 3 for their all-around performance in each aspect of Crossfit.
Beyond the color choices, you get a great shoe that picks up high marks for its performance in weightlifting. We loved the way these shoes felt during explosive lifting sessions, providing a bounce that we didn’t notice in the other two pairs. As soon as you’re done with lifting, the shoe seamlessly transitions into an asset for short sprints.
You might be surprised at how well the Powerlift performs with heavy barbells. You’ll feel locked into place as you raise all the weight you need above your head. If you need an entry-level pair of Crossfit shoes that won’t kill your budget or your feet, go with the Powerlift 3s.
NOBULL Trainers
Just as the name implies, what you see is what you get with the NOBULL Crossfit shoes. As you get deeper into Crossfit, you might feel that you are incredibly busy and need a shoe that can keep up with your pace.
The NOBULL trainers are designed to accommodate both you and your lifestyle. The shoes work just as well outside the Crossfit gym as they do when you head to your workout.
The comfort level is incredible, and you won’t feel bad wearing these to the grocery store or the mall. We would caution against taking them to work, as you don’t want to beat them into the ground.
Our favorite part of the NOBULL trainers is how adaptable they are. Whether you have an active job that keeps you on your feet or you just don’t like owning too many pairs of shoes, the NOBULL trainers will do whatever you need them to do.
Nike Metcon 4
Here, we have the absolute best pair of Crossfit shoes for beginners – and experts, for that matter. The Nike Metcon 4 outclassed everything else we tested, including all of the other shoes we didn’t consider for this list.
While the Adidas is great on a budget and the NOBULL trainers can be used elsewhere, you must own the Nike Metcon 4 if you are serious about getting into the Crossfit lifestyle. There just isn’t any comparison when you look at the incredible balancing power of this shoe.
Name an aspect of Crossfit, and the Metcon 4 has you covered. It’s incredibly breathable and outperforms other Crossfit shoes in gymnastics, weightlifting, and running in one session.
You might even think about using these as your primary workout shoe regardless of what you’re doing. If we had to give our highest recommendation, it goes to the Nike Metcon 4.
How Do I Get Started with Crossfit?
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Crossfit is a workout program started by Greg Glassman over the course of several decades. His idea was to create a program that increased work capacity, improved fitness, and maintained health. The point of Crossfit is extremely high intensity workouts in short bursts, which is why you’re going to need the best Crossfit shoes available.
The effectiveness of Crossfit largely comes from the community it has fostered over the years. As it combines gymnastics, rowing, running and weightlifting, people from all different backgrounds find Crossfit and combine their passion into one giant program. Thanks to the focus of Crossfit, the high intensity yields results in every aspect of the workout.
The point of Crossfit is to find results through a specifically tested method. Even if you aren’t a fitness guru (and if you’re reading this for Crossfit shoes for beginners, we’re guessing you’re not), you can find something to love about the program. What you’ll first need to figure out is how you want your feet to feel during Crossfit training.
How Do I Choose a Crossfit Shoes for Me?
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Crossfit continues to rise in popularity, and because of this, more and more people need the proper equipment and apparel to go with the program. You’re going to need the correct Crossfit shoes if you expect to move your body through a set amount of space. You’ll be generating a lot of force through gymnastics, weightlifting, and running through your feet.
You’re already in one of the main categories of people who start looking for Crossfit shoes – you’re just getting started. If you’re brand new to Crossfit, you need shoes that perform flawlessly.
At the same time, you’re going to want Crossfit shoes that don’t take away from the new methods of movement you’ll be learning. Crossfit is unlike any other workout you’ve done before and you can’t afford any distractions while you’re learning the most basic of moves.
How Did We Review Crossfit Shoes?
We took a look at so many different Crossfit shoes and narrowed them down to a few pairs that we felt were comparable to each other.
Giving them head to head comparisons only seemed natural for a workout as intense as Crossfit. You might be using these in squatting, loaded carries, and explosive lifting. You could be taking them for long jogging sessions, shuttle runs, or sprinting.
We even made sure to put these Crossfit shoes through the motions you’ll only find in this program: handstand pushups, jump rope double-unders, and rope climbing. Trust us when we tell you that the shoes took just as much of a beating as we did.
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Obviously, weightlifting is a huge part of the Crossfit regimen. You may be accustomed to simple activities like squatting and bench pressing, as you have seen inside a normal gym. With Crossfit, you might do anything from kettlebell snatches to running with a weighted vest strapped to your chest. You might even carry a sandbag from one end of a room to the other.
Sole traction is an extremely important factor to us during our review of Crossfit shoes. If you’re carrying a massive load, the last thing you want to do is slip and fall under your own weight plus what’s in your hands.
For squatting, we looked for Crossfit shoes that gives lateral stability from sole to toe. We also wanted a point of contact between the sole and the ground of the gym. Getting an upright body position with the shoe, we needed to see that a slight rise in the heel offsets any problems with getting your calves into place.
When we moved to Olympic lifts and exploding, we wanted to be sure that the Crossfit shoes were able to lift anyone off the ground. Think of Crossfit shoes as launching pads when it comes time for you to do any explosive weightlifting. When you find a good weightlifting shoe, it should have strength and flexibility to get yourself in the upright position as soon as possible.
We used kettlebell and barbell exercises anywhere from 60 to 290 pounds depending on the range and ability of each person who tested our Crossfit shoes up for review.
Finally, we moved to carrying exercises. You’ll find everything from carrying yokes to hauling giant kettlebells in competitive Crossfit events. Taking small, very quick steps is essential to performing well with Crossfit shoes. The number one priority when carrying and wearing Crossfit shoes is shock absorption. With all the weight you are shouldering, you’ll need your feet and the shoes to take as much of the blow of each step as possible.
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Running is a core element in Crossfit, and your shoes need to be built just as well for dashing as they are for lifting and taking small steps. Power transfer through the sole and into the ground was one of our biggest priorities when we got to the running portion of our list.
We had our testers run anywhere from 40 meters to 400 meters during their workouts. All kinds of terrain were used, from asphalt to dirt and even grass on occasion. Multiple kinds of elevation were tested during our evaluation for Crossfit shoes.
Once we tacked on some more distance, we adjusted our parameters. We moved to the comfort of the sole, which is extremely essential when going over a mile on runs. Granted, Crossfit doesn’t focus on long-distance running, but 1.5 miles is still a lot longer than a simple 40-meter dash.
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What good is a foot that isn’t protected with your Crossfit shoes? When you start out with Crossfit, your feet are going through a grueling introduction to a new kind of workout. You’ll need your upper feet to be protected against any kind of abrasions from ropes and weights. You’ll understand this once you start doing double-unders with a steel jump rope, feeling the impact when you start with toes-to-bar.
Practically speaking, you also don’t want your feet getting jammed on other equipment. The pain associated with slamming your foot into a misplaced weight or kettleball is as annoying as it is excruciating, especially if it could have been avoided.
We covered all of the exercises mentioned above while looking at the protective elements for Crossfit shoes. We found out that the most protective shoes had very sturdy toe boxes and some kind of outer shielding that protected the entire foot from any disaster.
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This shouldn’t come as any surprise, but you need Crossfit shoes that are going to keep you standing. The Crossfit program is as physically demanding of a shoe as it is of a person. For support, we took a lot of the same factors into consideration that we did when doing weightlifting.
Special Crossfit versions of burpees, box jumps, and lunges were used to find out how well these Crossfit shoes gave support for feet. This also matters for bringing you down from the impact of pull-up bars or rings. Even if you set yourself down gently, you need a show that’s going to aid you in the process of easing back down to the ground.
We considered the ability of each shoe to keep the sole active and moving while the force was transferred. We also looked for flexibility in the ball of the foot, an important asset when the shoe comes back to the ground.
No, Crossfit shoes don’t have feelings, but they do need to respond to the ground beneath them. For this statistic, we wanted a shoe that gives you the exact kind of feedback necessary to keep your Crossfit workout going. If you know how and when you land, you can move on to the next step, and Crossfit is a program of speed.
The perfect combination of responsiveness and flexibility is what contributes to a good rating for sensitivity. When you can feel the force of the ground transmitted directly to your feet, you know that you’ve made the right choice for Crossfit shoes.
Crossfit Shoes and Your Beginning Path
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We hope you found one of these pairs to be a great choice for Crossfit shoes. You’ll be amazed once you step into them and realize what you’ve been missing during previous workouts. Be careful during your opening weeks of Crossfit!
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Last update on 2023-09-30 at 05:16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
