For many, shoe weight is an afterthought during one’s cross-training shoe buying process. In the grand scheme of training, a shoe’s weight isn’t the hugest deal especially for most recreational lifters and CrossFit athletes. However, it can be fun and worth knowing certain cross-training shoes’ weights especially as you get more niche with your training.
Basically, a shoe’s weight isn’t going to be the only limiter for your workout performance, but that doesn’t mean that some athletes and lifters have shoe weight preferences. Some athletes prefer lighter shoes that feel like socks on the feet, while others enjoy having a slightly heavier shoe to help them feel grounded.
In this article, I’m going to go over 20+ cross-training shoes and their weights. I personally love figuring out and assessing which cross-training shoes are the lightest and heaviest. If you’re interested in the market’s top cross-training shoe weights, then read on.
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Does a Training Shoe’s Weight Actually Matter?
For most, a training shoe’s weight isn’t the biggest deal when it comes to performance, but that doesn’t mean it’s not something to consider when you’re shopping around. As you get more niche with your training, then you’ll likely learn and identify intuitively which cross-training and training shoes feel the best for your needs, wants, and preferences in regard to their weight.
Let’s say you’re an athlete that primarily trains with plyometrics, agility-focused workouts, and dynamic lifting. For this specific training population, they’ll likely want and gravitate naturally to slightly lighter shoes that don’t feel overly heavy on the feet for longer sessions, especially sessions that require a heavy emphasis on high-velocity-style training.
Conversely, for the CrossFit athlete or recreational lifter who trains with a variety of modalities, then they’ll likely naturally gravitate towards a shoe that is somewhere in the middle with weight. They’ll generally like a shoe that’s heavy enough to help them feel grounded, but light enough to do things like box jump, burpees, and other dynamic exercises.
Think about it this way, let’s say your cross-training shoes weigh a total of 26 ounces, each shoe has a weight of 13 ounces. This means that your shoes are adding another 1.6 lbs to your overall weight with your other gear. It’s not the biggest deal, but that can add up over time especially for longer workouts like in the case of our athlete example above.
Basically, a training shoe’s weight can matter in the context of high-velocity training, longer sessions, and in workouts where there’s a time-focused goal and your fatigue accumulation can be a make or break.
In the grand scheme of things, a shoe’s weight shouldn’t completely throw your buying process or training into chaos, however, it can be useful to know what you like and what you prefer to use for training so you can make more educated buying decisions as you dive deeper into your training career.
How Many Ounces Should Training Shoes Weigh?
It really depends and it comes down to one’s preferences. There’s no perfect weight out there for training shoes that will work for everyone. However, we can look at industry norms to identify cross-training shoe weight averages.
In general, the average singular cross-training shoe will weigh between 10-14 ounces. This means that an average pair of cross-training shoes will weigh between 20-28 ounces. This converts to roughly 1.25 lbs and 1.75 lbs, remember, 16 ounces equals one pound.
Now, when factoring in the functional average weights above for a normal pair of cross-training shoes, there isn’t really a “Your training shoes should weigh this ideology.” Again, so much of this topic is a personal preference type of situation.
However, we can look at how a heavier pair of shoes could impact performance if you’re also someone who wears a bunch of gear when training. For example, let’s say you’re in a CrossFit workout and you’re training with knee sleeves on, gym shorts, and a t-shirt.
In this case, we could look at the total weight of the gear and if it impacts total performance output especially for things like timed workouts where fatigue accumulation can be a fairly large differentiator. Once again though, this is a very niche example and for the vast majority of lifters and athletes, a shoe’s weight won’t make or break one’s performance.
When I interviewed multiple CrossFit Games athletes about their favorite shoes and why they liked them, none of them cared about their shoe’s weight which further speaks to the nuances of this topic and if it actually matters in the grand scheme of training for most athletes.
What Materials Can Make a Training Shoe Heavy?
For my shoe nerds, you’re probably wondering, why do some training shoes weigh so much more than others? There are three bigger construction aspects that can increase a training shoe’s weight. Obviously, there are more reasons outside of these three, but these are usually the culprits when a training shoe has a heavier weight.
- Thicker Medium Density Midsoles
- Firmer and Thicker Rubber Outsoles
- Upper Constructions With Multiple Layers
Medium-density foams used in midsoles can be fairly heavy at times especially for shoes with higher stack height. A shoe’s stack height is considered the metric that measures the distance between the ground and the foot. The UA HOVR Apex 3 below is a great example of training shoe with a fairly high stack height.
Firm and thick rubber outsoles can also add a considerable amount of weight to a shoe due to their density. Lastly, when a shoe has an upper construction that is multilayered with things like mesh, synthetic overlays, and rubber prints, then you can also see a shoe’s weight increase rather fast.
Training Shoes Weight Vs Running Shoes Weight
When assessing training shoes and running shoes you’ve likely noticed that there’s a pretty clear weight difference between each style of shoe and this is for good reason. When running, the distance and setting in which we’re running can play big roles in selecting a running shoe with a good weight for our needs.
Before comparing the average weights of training shoes vs running shoes, let’s first ask, how much should a running shoe weigh? That depends. A running shoe’s weight should reciprocate how we intend to use them. If we’re planning to run short distances very fast or longer distances, then we’ll want shoes that are lighter in weight.
This will help decrease how much total weight our shoes add to our bodies when training in these specific running settings. This is also why I suggest others to not run long distances in their cross-training shoes. For example, let’s say you’re 4-miles running in a pair of cross-trainers that weigh 1.6 lbs.
Now, take the weight of your cross-training shoes and multiply it by how many steps you plan to take in your running session. While this number will vary based on multiple factors, it’s easy to see how this can add up fast which can then increase fatigue levels.
That all being said, the average pair of cross-training shoes will weigh around 10-14 ounces (1.2-1.75 lbs for both shoes) and the average pair of running shoes will weigh between 7.5-9.5 ounces (.93-1.1 lbs for both shoes).
That’s a fairly big difference especially when you consider the types of activities you’ll be using each shoe for and how a shoe’s accumulated weight can alter performance, especially in the context of running.
Lightest and Heaviest Training Shoes
On this site and my YouTube channel, I’m constantly assessing training shoes’ weights as I review more models. This list will continue to grow as I add more reviews to both platforms, so if you’re ever interested in a particular shoe’s weight, make sure you check back here or the individual shoe’s review.
Below, I’ve listed the lightest cross-training shoes to the heaviest cross-training shoes. Make sure you check out each shoe’s individual review to also learn how they perform and if their weight was a huge deal in the gym.
Note: All of the shoes below are a size 10 and the weight listed is for a SINGULAR shoe, so times that weight by two for what the pair weights.
8-11 Ounces | Noticeably Lightweight
- On Cloud X: 8.8 ounces
- Reebok Speed 21 TR: 10 ounces
- Inov-8 F-Lite 235 V3: 10.1 ounces
- NOBULL Trainers: 10.7 ounces
11-12.9 Ounces | Somewhat Lightweight/Normal
- NOBULL High-Top Trainer: 11.2 ounces
- UA TriBase Reign 3: 11.2 ounces
- UA HOVR Rise 3: 11.3 ounces
- STRIKE MVMNT Haze Trainer: 11.4 ounces
- Reebok Nano X1: 11.8 ounces
- Nike React Metcon Turbo: 12.0 ounces
- Reebok Nano X1 Adventure: 12.1 ounces
- Inov-8 F-Lite G 300: 12.3 ounces
- Nike Metcon 7: 12.4 ounces
- Nike Metcon 6: 12.8 ounces
13-15 ounces | Somewhat Heavier
- UA Project Rock 3: 13.0 ounces
- UA Project Rock 4: 13.6 ounces
- UA HOVR Apex 3: 13.6 ounces
- Reebok Nano X: 13.9 ounces
- PUMA Fuse Training Shoes: 14.1 ounces
- UA HOVR Apex 2: 14.4 ounces
- GORUCK Ballistic Trainers: 14.4 ounces
Again, as I review more cross-training shoes, I’ll be sure to add them to this list. If you have any questions about this list, drop a comment below!
Takeaway Thoughts
A cross-training shoe’s weight doesn’t generally matter for a majority of lifters and athletes. A shoe’s weight is interesting because while it may not make or break our performance, it’s often something that we subconsciously notice when trying to find our favorite pair of training shoes.
For example, have you ever noticed what types of training shoes you normally gravitate towards? I’d bet they’re fairly consistent with their weight?
If you have any questions about cross-training shoe weights, drop a comment below or reach out to me personally via Instagram (@jake_boly)!
