What brand of tennis shoe is best for cross training? Open to all suggestions!
This lady is in need of a new pair of kicks! The shoes I wear for my workouts I also wear at work when training my clients & they’re just gettin’ run down. I need a good cross-training shoe that allows me to handle the different movements & drills I do in my P90X3, T25, Insanity & soon-to-be the 21DayFix training. No running shoe recommendations please, because the extra cushioning in running shoes don’t allow me to land properly & can cause knee & ankle injuries from instability. Function over fashion is my #1 objective, although I do love fun pops of color!
The answer lies in the question, when asked just right… Who, what, where, when, and why? Some of that was answered. There are different shoes for different goals. And, many of the shoes mentioned above are good suggestions, depending on the wanted outcome. But, I wouldn’t be asking “what brand” unless the question is of fashion or popularity. Most brands will have some good and some not so good shoes. Individual shoe models would be a better target.
Personally, for cross training, I pick a shoe that will allow decent proprioceptive feedback, and doesn’t have built in compensations like extra stabilizers or padding that pushes one way or another to make up for things like pronation.
That way, I can develop my own joint stabilization, better balance and reaction through proprioceptive response to the environment/obstacle, and identify and correct my own deficiencies (like external rotation, pronation, etc.) instead of allowing my shoes to compensate for them and potentially exacerbate the issue.
But, the shoes that allow the most proprioception also have the least padding. So, if your cross training involves big box jumps or “pavement pounding”, inadequate padding might lead to injury. Which leads back to more details about the training needing to be included in the question.
Personally, I rotate between the New Balance Minimus and a 750 V2. One for “cross training” and one for cross training days that might include lots of running or high jumping/high impact movements to the feet.
If nothing else, if a “barefoot shoe” is too little padding, I would agree with Harris. Go to a good running store. A good running store will have people that will watch you move and be able to tell you which shoe will compliment the way you move or at least which one’s are the most neutral. Most shoes are designed to compensate for bad movement patterns. The staff at a running store should know which ones are which, unlike the staff at a normal shoe store or sporting goods store.