Train in the Right Shoe

What to Wear When: A Guided Session for Every NOBULL Shoe

Over a 12-plus-year career in full-time fitness, I've tried a lot of training shoes. I've been through seasons where I had a different pair for every niche. Think Olympic lifters, track spikes, a separate brand for every kind of gym session. And I've been through seasons where I didn't want to fool with any of that and wore one shoe for everything, no matter what the day demanded. Both were annoying and ineffective.

Since then, I've simplified my life in every domain I can. Running multiple businesses and chasing a lot of different things, I've learned that daily decision fatigue is a real drain. Energy spent on those decisions is energy and attention I'd rather spend elsewhere. It might seem silly, but training gear is one of the places I've simplified most ruthlessly. I've found a brand I resonate with and whose gear I trust, and it would take a lot to pull me away from it now. That brand is, of course, NOBULL.

NOBULL has crushed the innovation game the past few years, making massive improvements to their training shoes and expanding the line. Now I don’t have to settle for a “one-size-fits-all” shoe, which does not and cannot exist. But I also don’t have to rent a small storage unit just to house a bunch of shoes so specialized they only work for a singular training type. NOBULL’s expansion of their training shoe line has landed on five shoes that I’ve found work for every single session.

Their shoes can look similar on the shelf, but they’re built for genuinely different days, and once you feel the difference under a barbell versus on a run, you can’t un-feel it.

So I built you a full session for each one. Once you experience it, you really will care how a shoe feels and what to actually do in it. Each session runs about 30 to 45 minutes, warm-up and cool-down included, and the main piece here is pulled from CompTrain programming, which I help design and deliver to thousands of athletes every day.

Grab the shoe, scroll to its session, and go to work.

Drive 2 in Mesh: The All-Rounder

If you catch me in the gym, the odds are these are on my feet. The Drive 2 is my do-lots-of-different-stuff shoe. It’s light, quick, cool when things get sweaty, and steady enough that I’m never worried when a workout swings from a run into dumbbell squats and into a tall box jump. This session is exactly that: a little of everything, engine and muscular endurance in the same piece. It’s the perfect first shoe if you’re new to training and it’s the one pair I’d keep if I could only keep one.

Warm-Up · 2 easy rounds ~8 min

• 250m Row or 1:00 easy Bike

• 10 Air Squats

• 10 Walking Lunges

• 10 Push-ups (drop to your knees if needed)

• 5 Inchworms into a slow hip opener

• 10 Arm Circles each direction

Primer · Grab your dumbbells ~4 min

Two smooth rounds of 5 Dumbbell Thrusters + 5 Dumbbell Box Step-ups (each leg) at an easy pace, just to groove the movements before the clock starts.

Coach’s cue: Aim for eight to ten rounds at a steady two-minutes-per-round pace. Cycle the thrusters unbroken early, keep the step-ups controlled, and treat the row as your chance to breathe. If the dumbbells feel heavy by round three, you came out too hot. 

Cool-Down ~5 min

• 2:00 easy walk or bike until your breathing settles

• 1:00 Figure-Four Glute Stretch (each side)

• 1:00 Standing Quad Stretch (each side)

• 1:00 Chest / Doorway Opener

Drive 2 in Ripstop

The Drive 2 in Ripstop is a durable, stable, and still comfortable option for the complex days. The ones with lateral movement, a sled, and a barbell all in the same session. Here’s what I appreciate about it: it locks my foot down so nothing shifts when I’m cutting side to side or driving a sled, but it’s still springy enough to feel quick and athletic. That supportive, “locked-in” feeling is the whole point of this workout. We’re going to move in directions most training ignores, and you’ll want a shoe that grips and holds.

Warm-Up · Lateral prep ~8 min

• 1:00 easy Bike or Row

• 10 Cossack Squats (5 each side), slow and deep

• 10 Lateral Band Walks (5 each side)

• 10 Controlled Skater Hops (5 each side)

• 5 World’s Greatest Stretch (each side)

Power Primer ~5 min

From CompTrain: 4 Sets of 6 Lateral Skater Hops (3 each side), resting about a minute between sets. Bound side to side and stick every landing. This wakes up the exact stability that our main piece demands today.

Coach’s cue: Stay low and locked on the push. Keep a flat back, arms long, and drive through your whole foot. On the lunge, make sure you’re taking a large enough step so that your front and back legs are creating a 90-degree angle at the knee. When you go to stand, drive through the front heel and the back toe at the same time. On the burpees, land your hands directly in front of your feet and then bring your feet wide and flat just outside your hands so that you’re in an athletic position to begin your jump.

Cool-Down ~5 min

• 2:00 easy walk to bring the heart rate down

• 1:00 Couch Stretch (each side), easy

• 1:00 90/90 Hip Switches

• 1:00 Adductor Rock-Back (open the inner thighs after all that lateral work)

Outwork Flex: New to Strength Training

The lifting shoe, and where I’d start anyone brand new to strength training. It gives you that planted, grounded feeling, like the floor and you are on the same team, but with enough flex and comfort that you’re not fighting the shoe while you learn. This is the on-ramp; when you’ve got a barbell background and want to load it up, that’s the Outwork OG, next.

No barbell required, no ego required. The whole goal today is to learn the big movement patterns and leave feeling built up, not beat up. Pick a weight where the last two reps of each set are challenging but your form still looks clean. When in doubt, go lighter and really own the movement pattern. Give it about 35 minutes.

Warm-Up · 2 rounds · ~6 min

• 10 Air Squats

• 10 Glute Bridges

• 10 Band Pull-Aparts (or slow Arm Circles)

• 10 Dead Bugs

• 5 Slow Inchworms

Strength Circuit

3 rounds, Rest ~90 sec between rounds

• 8 Goblet Squats (3-second lower on each rep)

• 8 Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts

• 8 Dumbbell Floor Press (or Bench Press)

• 8 Dumbbell Bent-Over Rows (each side)

• 20-second Plank Hold

Coach’s cue : Move deliberately. Strength is built by controlling the weight, not just throwing it around. Rest the full 90 seconds so each round is quality.

Cool-Down · ~4 min

• 1:00 Child’s Pose

• 1:00 Standing Quad Stretch (each side)

• 1:00 Doorway Chest Stretch

Outwork OG: Heavy Hitter

When the bar gets heavy, I reach for this shoe. It’s the original Outwork for a reason. It’s firm, flat, and rock-solid, a platform that doesn’t budge when you load it up. The second I lace it up, my body knows it’s a real strength day: every ounce of effort goes into the bar, nothing leaks out into a wobbly stance.

Barbell day. Warm up thoroughly, build in sets, and chase quality reps. Leave one or two in the tank rather than grinding to failure. This is where that planted, stable feeling really earns its keep. Give it about 45 minutes.

Warm-Up · ~8 min, then build the bar

• 250m Row

• 10 Empty-Bar Good Mornings

• 10 Empty-Bar Front Squats

• 10 Band Pull-Aparts

• Then take 2–3 building sets toward your first working weight

Strength 1: Back Squat · CompTrain wave

• Warm-up sets: 5 reps, building from 55% to 70%

• Set 1: 5 reps at ~75%

• Set 2: 3 reps at ~78%

• Set 3: Max reps at ~82% (stop with 1–2 clean reps left)

• Rest 2–3 minutes between sets

Strength 2: Push Press

Build to a heavy triple over 4–5 sets, then take two back-off sets of 3 at a weight that stays crisp.

Accessory: 3 rounds · rest ~1:00

• 8 Barbell Romanian Deadlifts

• 10 Weighted Box Step-Ups (each leg)

Coach’s cue: Choose a front-squat weight you can hold unbroken all five rounds and a row you can finish in under a minute. The front rack punishes a wobbly stance. A flat, planted shoe that keeps you stacked over your midfoot is exactly what holds it together when your legs light up. Cool down with a couch stretch, Samson stretch, and 90/90s for the hips.

Journey 2: “The Reset”

Some days are just about enjoying the gift of moving your body. An easy run, a long walk, the kind of aerobic work that builds an engine instead of testing it.

The Journey 2 is a great shoe. It’s soft in the best way, the cushion that soaks up the miles so my legs still feel alright at the end. This one isn’t a workout, it’s how to bookend your run or walk so you head out loose and come back recovered. Do the first half before you go, the second half when you get back.

Before Your Run: Dynamic Warm-Up ~6–8 min

Keep these moving, the goal is warm and springy, never tired. Skip the deep static stretching until after; cold muscles don’t want to be yanked on.

• 1–2 min easy walk to wake everything up

• 10 Leg Swings, front-to-back (each leg)

• 10 Leg Swings, side-to-side (each leg)

• 10 Walking Lunges with a reach overhead

• 10 Ankle Rocks (each side)

• 10 High Knees + 10 Butt Kicks

• 10 A-Skips

• 10 C-Skips

• 4 × 20-second Strides, building to ~80% (only if you’re running)

Your Run: Set Your Intention ~20–60 min

Do a long run or some tough intervals — whatever best fits your total training volume and needs for the week.

After Your Run: Cool-Down & Stretch ~8–10 min

Walk first, stretch second. Let your breathing come all the way back down before you hit the floor, this is the part that actually lets you want to lace up again tomorrow.

• 2–3 min easy walk until your heart rate settles

• 1:00 Samson Stretch (each side)

• 1:00 Couch Stretch (each side), easy

• 1:00 90/90 Hip Rotations

• 1:00 Tempo Cossack Squats (slow and controlled)

• 1:00 Standing Calf Stretch (each side)

• 1:00 Figure-Four Glute Stretch (each side)

Coach’s cue — Breathe into each hold instead of forcing it. 

The NOBULL Bottom Line

Match the shoe to the day and the whole session gets better. Stable and forgiving for your first lifts in the Outwork Flex. Grounded and solid when it’s a heavy barbell day in the Outwork OG. Light and versatile for the everyday grind in the Drive 2 in Mesh. Supportive and locked-in for lateral and sled work in the Drive 2 in Ripstop. Soft and forgiving for the miles in the Journey 2.

Enjoy moving, my friends. 

— Jamison

Author Bio:

Hey, I'm Jamison. I serve as Content & Community Director at CompTrain (comptrain.com), a strength & conditioning programming platform, where I get to think about how we communicate the deeper “why” behind training to a global community.

I’m the founder (along with my wife Lesley Price) and owner of Elysium Training (elysiumtraining.health), where we help people pursue strength, health, and human vitality through training that actually fits their lives.

I write The Better Way publication that sits at the intersection of these things. It's a place where I can explore what I’m learning about training, philosophy, life, faith, and (very importantly), dogs, and share it with people who care about living deliberately.

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