Our 5 Favorite Running Shoes for Heavy Runners

What's going on everyone? This is Chad with Believe in the Run. And this is Alex, and I'm in Believe in the Run. You may know me, I'm the resident Clydesdale runner. I'm the one who gives you all the insights and the shoes that are good for bigger, taller runners. And I'm Alex, and I like to also give information on bigger, taller, and plus-size runners. We're here to collaborate today on some shoes that we think in the daily trainer and recovery shoe categories would be, what do we say, big dude approves? I call them big dude approve, that's my line. And these are our choices that keep us happy, healthy, and having a great time. I mean, Chad, one of the questions that comes to mind is, why do we need different shoes? Why can't we just go buy any ordinary shoe? Well, a lot of times the way that a shoe will respond to a plus-size runner is different than how it would respond to someone who's slighter build and less weight. I'm going to compress any foam out there on the market, and I don't know about you, but when I strike, I have a certain feel that I like, and the feel I get may be different than the feel that a lot of the other people get. I come from a completely different standpoint. I want the softest shoe on the market. I want to feel like I'm standing on clouds. And then, at the same time, look forward to coming back to that shoe again the next day. We have a couple of varying opinions here. Let's talk about some shoes. So what we're going to do is we're going to first talk to you about shoes that you can lace up for those everyday, daily training miles that are going to be kind to your feet, kind to your legs. Alex, why don't you give us your pick? So right off the jump, one of my favorite shoes that I turn to almost every day, I'm wearing it right now, is the Asics Gel Nimbus 25. Like I said before, I want to feel like I'm standing on clouds, and I want to make sure that I turn to it every single day. This is one of the softest shoes I've ever put on my feet. It's one of the first shoes I started wearing when I was still getting into running and putting miles in. I've done everything from one mile to 13 miles in this shoe, and each time, I kind of walk away as happy as I could be. The Gel Nimbus 25 is right at the top of my list as a great shoe for both beginner runners, intermediate runners, and advanced runners, no matter where you're coming from, because at the end of the day, they're going to keep your feet happy, and it's going to feel like you're walking on clouds for however long you're going. Well, I'm going to go in a little different direction, because if you had asked me this two months ago, I would have told you that my favorite easy day recovery, be kind to my feet day shoe was the New Balance Fresh Roam Mor V4. It has a nice, wide, stable platform, kind of everything you like to have in a shoe. But then about two months ago, I got a shoe in for review here on Believe in the Run, and it has left the Mor V4 in its dust, and that is the Brooks Ghost Max. I got this in for review, and I can't say enough positive things about this shoe. As I said before, I look for a little bit of firmness underneath my foot when I'm running. It is soft, yet it still has enough cushion to be protective. With the glide roll technology, it really springs you through, while at the same time being soft and responsive. It really just has everything I look for in a shoe. We've talked kind of the soft shoes, we've talked kind of the ones that are going to be real kind to you, but those everyday trudging miles when you're in a training cycle, you're training for what? I'm training for New York City, my first marathon. When you are lacing it up for those mid-week miles, what are you turning to? So that's where I'm going to the Nova Blast 3. Another Asics shoe, this is a shoe that I can turn to every day, and I know that I don't have anything to worry about. It's not necessarily the greatest shoe in the world, it's not the worst shoe, it's just the one that you can turn to, put in miles no matter how fast, how slow you're going, and it's going to be incredibly comfortable. When I was trying to think about my favorite daily trainer, I had a couple that came to mind, but I'm with Alex. Nova Blast 3. If I have a run, not that I'm dreading, but a run that I just know I need to get out there and churn out miles, I turn to the Nova Blast. Yeah, I mean, this is a shoe that I was a little bit worried about at first, because you know, less stack height than the Nimbus, which was something that I was looking for. I love a big, tall shoe personally, and the moment I put the Nova Blast on was the moment that my life changed. So Alex, I don't know about you, but there are a lot of times when I've been logging a lot of miles, my legs are fatigued, there are times when I have to turn to a shoe that is either stability, stable neutral, or something that has stability elements. What shoe do you look to when you're really looking for that stability? It's the Asics Gel Kayano 30, and it is one of my favorite shoes that I put on that just keep me stable, keep me aligned, and you know, I'm beat up, it's the shoe I turn to. Now mine, and you can check my bio because I have receipts on this, this is one of my favorite shoes that I've ever run in, and it's the Saucony Tempest. It is light, it is nimble, you have the Power Run PB Super Foam in there with the cradle of the Power Run Foam. I can run fast in this shoe, I can do easy slow miles in this shoe, I've taken it on long runs up to 14 miles. I love this shoe, I love everything about this shoe. I can't wait for the Tempest 2 to come out because by then this pair will probably need to be retired. There's just something about this shoe that it works so well with my stride, and I could lace it up every day if I needed to, but I choose it on the days when I need a little bit of stability in my life. Alright Alex, so we've gone through daily trainers, easy day, kind on the feet shoes, what do we want to tell right now to those who are maybe looking at this thing about jumping into the running game? So I think that we both showed off a lot of shoes. For me, I'm going to hype up the Nimbus all that I can, but at the end of the day, it comes down to what makes your feet happy, right? You and I, we're both big dudes, and we like different shoes. Just because I love something, doesn't mean Chad's going to love something, and vice versa. Absolutely, I think the biggest key is get a lot of different pairs of shoes on your feet, visit your local running stores, get the shoes on, walk around, try them, because as Alex said, a shoe that works for him may not work for me, and vice versa, and same thing for all of you. You may see these reviews and try all these shoes and not love them, but the key is to go out and find something that will make your feet happy, make your runs fun, because at the end of the day, that's what we're all here for. If you enjoyed this video, we'd ask you to like and follow Believe in the Run. We'd also like you to follow up, because we're also going to be putting together a video for our favorite Tempo Day and Race Day shoes, so that will follow this one shortly after. We'd ask you to make sure to, Alex, you want to tell them about you? Yeah, if you want to follow me on social media, my handles are at Herm Runs on both Instagram and TikTok, and I got a lot of big dude approved things over there, so if you're looking for more than just shoes, I have apparel, and you're going to have fun with it. You can always follow my content on Believe in the Run's website, and you can also follow me on Instagram at the Clydesdale Runner.