The Pump Club Lab: the shoe test

September 26, 2026 | Read online

Your Most Comfortable Shoes Might Be Wrong For Lifting

There's no best shoe for every type of exercise. There's a best match between the shoe, the type of workout, and the results you want.

Together with NOBULL

The 3-Minute Test Your Training Shoes Should Pass

Look through old photos from the Pumping Iron years, and you'll see Arnold squatting barefoot. Shoes were barely part of the conversation. The work was the iron.

Arnold has since said they knew much less then. Some of the knee, back, and foot pain everyone accepted as part of serious training may have come from wearing the wrong shoes, or no shoes when a pair would have helped.

But like so many things, Arnold was ahead of his time. Unlike running, barefoot training has many benefits, especially if you’re wearing the wrong shoes.

When under a heavy barbell (or really when holding any weight and trying to generate force, the surface beneath your foot should hold still.

But a no-shoes approach also has some limitations (not to mention, some gyms don’t love it).

And your shoes — at least the right shoes — have a job that’s far more important than looking good.

A running shoe is built to soften thousands of landings.