10 Best Gym Trainers to Supercharge Your Workouts in 2023

Now synonymous with CrossFit’s global popularity, there’s good reason five-time CrossFit games champion Mat Fraser swears by the Nike Metcon 8. The trainer provides a strong, stable base and is just as durable when it comes to functional training — think sled pushes, rope climbs and battle ropes — as they are with traditional training and Olympic lifts.

Designed with tough WODs in Mind, Inov-8’s F-Lite 235 V3 goes from weightlifting to box jumps and rope work with ease. Rather handily, they only weigh 235g and house Inov-8’s Powerheel tech, promising improved stability during lifts. Essentially, you’re at a considerable advantage by wearing these to hit your next PR.

If you're looking for a decent pair of gym shoes for less than £100, you can't go wrong with the Nike Legend Essential 3 Next Nature. Built with versatility in mind, the shoe is designed to support you wherever you find yourself in the gym – from the weight room to a workout class. Standout features include a flat heel, groves on the sole and a foam midsole.

If you follow a varied gym programme, the Reebok Nano X3 is one of most versatile training shoes you can buy. Marketed as a fitness shoe as opposed to an out and out weightlifting or running shoe, the Nano 3 is designed to sit somewhere in the middle of the two. With a dome-shaped heel and Floatride Energy Foam, it's capable of both keeping you stable when lifting weights heavy lifts and cushioning your runs.

Not only is On one of the hottest street-style brands of the moment, their Swiss Alps-inspired Cloud shoes are rivalling the likes of Asics, Nike and Hoka for performance – both on the road and in the gym. Just as capable on the pavement as in the weight room, the Cloud X 3 is On's all-rounder trainer. Super lightweight, cushioned and responsive, you won't want to use them for really heavy lifting, but capable of handling pretty much everything else – from the treadmill to the Smith machine – the X 3 is a highly versatile and stylish training shoe.

If the squat rack is your second home, this is the shoe for you. The Romaleos is Nike's out and out weightlifting shoe, designed specifically to support the demands of lifting heavy weights. The Romaleos 4 draws upon the popular Romaleos 2, featuring two adjustable straps for support, a TPU rubber sole for stability and spacious front section to allow you to spread your toes.

Named the 'best overall weightlifting shoe' in our guide to the Best Weightlifting Shoes, we found the shoe's rigid midsole and rubber tread provided great traction when performing heavy barbell lifts such as squats and deadlifts.

In an ideal world, you'll only use your gym shoes when you're actually inside the gym. For a lot of people, that just isn't practical. In the Nike Pegasus Trail 4 you get an outdoor running shoe that will also do a job in the weight room – hear us out. Designed with winter workouts in mind, think of this as a transitional gym shoe. It has a sturdy mesh upper designed to support your, an abrasion resistant outsole for regular cardio commutes and a grippy bottom for a confident HIIT workout.

Though without doubt a great all-rounder, where the Reign 5 really excels is lifting. With a triangular midsole unit for stability, rubber forefoot outsole grooves for grip and subtle micro-studded overlays for durability, this training shoe has all the additional features that will see you through heavy lifts without the extra weight of a traditional weightlifting shoe.

Built with insights from athletes and runners, the Puma Fuse 2 is a great gym shoe for functional movement training. It features a firm, cushioned heal for secure lifting, while its grippy rubber outsole provides the traction you need when performing compound exercises.

Let's change things up here. Powerlifters love Converse. It’s not uncommon to see experienced weightlifters rocking a pair of Chuck Taylors, and there’s a simple reason why. The next best thing to lifting barefoot, the flat sole of Converse Chuck Ts mean that you can keep your foot extremely close to the ground, helping you drive the weight more efficiently and remain planted more effectively. Similarly, there’s no heel cup in Converse, meaning that you can drive your energy straight into the ground.