New Balance versus Nike

by Jen on July 18, 2011

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a Nike girl. I’ve only bought Nike runners my entire life. Now that’s saying something about a brand. To me, Nike was superior to all other shoe brands. It’s a brand I trusted with my fitness life.

For the past 5 years, I’ve been working out at home. It started with running on the treadmill, but over the past couple of years, it’s grown to so much more. In fact, I haven’t run on the treadmill in over three years. Now, my preference is high impact aerobics combined with strength training.

When we moved into our house earlier this year, we had the opportunity to finish the basement. After years of working out on carpet, I knew I wanted to change that. So we built a workout area that has cork flooring.

I love working out on the harder floor. It gives me the ability to pivot my feet so that I don’t torque my knees! This is super duper important when doing high impact sports and aerobic activities. The last thing I need is to twist my knee.

Even though the cork floor is great, I’ve noticed that my feet were starting to take a beating. After my workouts, I would get hard calluses and blisters on the balls of my feet and my big toes. Ouch! At first, I attributed it to worn out runners. So, when we went to Tucson in the spring, I bought 2 new pairs of Nike shoes, both cross trainer type shoes.

But after a month of wearing my new Nike’s, my feet were still killing me. That’s when I decided to try out some new shoes. I headed down to the nearest Short Chek and asked the experts: what is the best women’s cross training shoe?

The answer:

Source

New Balance. I was shocked. For some reason, I had the notion in my head that New Balance was a inferior shoe. There goes that branding thing again. I tried them on and……..

I immediately loved them. It felt like I was walking on air. They are lightweight, flexible, and cushioned, three very important qualities I was looking for.

But, I just had to try on a pair of Nike’s. I tried on the Nike Free XT Quick Fit which was recommended to me by a friend. As soon as I put them on, I noticed the difference. The Nike’s were narrow and hard on my feet. I had the New Balance on my right foot and the Nike on my left. I jumped and hopped around the store. I had my answer.

New Balance won! They fit my foot like a glove.

I couldn’t wait to put them to the test on my workout floor. So I put in my Insanity video and went crazy. Now, if you’ve ever done Insanity, you know how much jumping and lateral movement there is. The result: no sore feet! I was so thrilled, that once I finished that video, I put in my TurboFire video. TurboFire is also very high impact. The result: no sore feet!

For the very first time after my workout, my feet weren’t burning! When you workout as hard and as often as I do, this is such a relief. My feet love me again. And, I love my feet!

Now, I’m not telling you to run out and get some New Balance shoes. I’m just telling you what has worked for me and my feet. I urge you to try out different shoes. Don’t just stick to one brand, you may be doing your feet a disservice!

** I was NOT paid by New Balance for this report**

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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Lori: Teacher Turned Mommy July 18, 2011 at 10:19 pm

guess you need to change your topper now (o:
I need to do some more research on workout shoes too. guess I'll have to try a pair of new balance next time.

2 Suzi July 19, 2011 at 1:53 am

Nikes are really narrow, so I almost always have to size up at least 1/2 a size to get them to fit well. I do still like them best for zumba though!

One thing you may not have thought about though, I'm better part of the reason your feet were bothering you so much is because even with the cork you are still working out on concrete since you're in the basement which is much harder on your joints than a suspended wood floor. That's why I always get New Balance running sneakers for teaching aqua fitness because they absorb more of the shock to your body and give your feet more room to move – esp. if your feet swell at all (which they likely do from the shock to your body jumping on such a hard surface).

I got new new balance sneakers in Florida for teaching aqua fitness ($25!) and I'm sure I looked like a nut job jumping up and down on my heels in the stores with different shoes on my feet to see which had more cushion, but I wanted to make sure I got the best ones!

Glad your feet are happy with you again! Mine are never happy with me

3 Pennie July 19, 2011 at 2:03 pm

Good for you for getting the new floor – glad it's working for you!

I've had New Balance shoes before and they worked well for me, too! I'm now hooked on Sketchers, but I don't do Arobics right now…mostly just yoga, because of health things. So, I don't need to worry about any high-impact issues.

4 Mom vs. the boys July 20, 2011 at 2:04 am

I was always hit and miss with nike, some hurt some were great. mind you I am not doing anything as active as you are. Hubster has a pair of new balance for working out too and loves them. I always kind of thought it was a crappy brand too but apparently not.

5 Michelle July 22, 2011 at 5:35 am

I'm an asics girl (for running)… never liked nike shoes… used to wear new balance (for cross training still do)… yup… I've tried a lot!! Glad you found something that your foot likes! It makes a big difference!!

6 rah December 12, 2011 at 12:43 pm

i agree with you, I’ve bought Nike running, and i didn’t like it. Sold it and bought any shoe that would fit the price of what I’ve sold my Nike LunarFly with. I tried New Balance and I loved it instantly. It’s the shoe I was looking for. New balance is not after all an inferior shoe. I can tell from the way their shoes are constructed that a lot of thought have been given to the shoe’s design and construction. *im not paid by NB to write this.

7 Jen December 12, 2011 at 1:33 pm: I always thought New Balance was so inferior to Nike…but it’s not at all. LOL…I wasn’t paid either

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8 Lee March 22, 2012 at 2:47 pm

A few years ago, the sales girl at the shoe store told me to try New Balance. I’ve always been a Reebok guy. I thought New Balance was inferior too, but I’ve been a convert since. It’s 2012 now and I just threw away the New Balance that I bought 3 years ago. My model was the brown 740 if I remember correctly. I’ve been using the NB 3 x a week at the gym and every Sunday (and sometimes Saturday) for jogging. With Reebok it won’t last that long. Bought another pair of NB and am a happy camper

9 Jen March 22, 2012 at 3:16 pm: Funny how we thought NB was inferior! I’m so glad I made the switch…my feet thank me I have to replace mine every 3 months as I use them everyday!

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