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From basketball to golf, just about every sport has its own line of shoes to meet an athlete’s needs. If you’re running a marathon, it’s easy to find a pair of sneakers designed to shave seconds off your time (with selections from top brands like Nike, On, Brooks, HOKA, New Balance, Saucony, and Asics). So what do you wear when you just want to hit the gym? Gym goers are no exception to this rule. From the best weightlifting shoes to cross-training shoes, there’s something for every modality: CrossFit, Olympic lifting, and high-intensity interval training.
As a longtime sneaker writer, I've had the chance to try on hundreds of different shoes in the gym and tested every type of sneaker imaginable; I've deadlifted in Converse All Stars, squatted in Air Jordans, and lifted in just about every type of workout shoe on the market.
But my favorite pair of sneakers isn’t the flashiest. It’s the Reebok Nano X4, a simple, versatile elliptical trainer that launched earlier this year. Breathable, durable, and designed for a variety of common exercises, they’ve become my go-to desert-island shoe for every workout. And right now, at less than a hundred bucks, they’re also a real bargain.
Reebok Nano X4 Pure Gray 3 99$ Was ($140) at Reebok
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The Nano traces its origins to a partnership between Reebok and CrossFit in the early 2010s. The idea was to create a shoe that would be flat enough to provide support during heavy lifting, yet dynamic enough to offer speed and acceleration during high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
Running shoes tend to be quite flexible due to the cushioning through the sole and heel, which isn’t ideal for weight bearing. The Nanos are built to be more adaptable, and with the latest iteration, the X4, it feels like the universal function philosophy has been perfected. You don’t have to do CrossFit to reap the benefits, either: These are ideal for any type of training or functional fitness, especially HIIT classes like Barry’s Bootcamp or HYROX.
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One of the best things about the Nano is how simple it is. When the shoe launched in January, the launch campaign featured an ad mocking other training shoes for their much-vaunted add-ons and bonus features, implying that other shoes were full of unnecessary junk.
And the Nano, in contrast, feels really smartly streamlined. It’s incredibly light, weighing just 12 ounces (three-quarters of a pound), and its silhouette has a clean, simple minimalism that’s also aesthetically pleasing. It’s exactly what you want in a best-in-class, all-around sneaker, a sneaker you can pull out and trust in any situation. No need for anything fancy—just a successful day at the gym.
Act fast before the sale is over; check out the colours on sale in Ash, Black/Cyan/Laser Pink, Blue Grey, Dynamic Red, White/Black/Reebok Rubber Gum, Hyper Green/Black/Vector Red and Pure Grey 6/Black/Orange Flare.
Related: We Tested Dozens of Trail Running Shoes, and These Are the Best for Rocky, Rough Terrain