Everyday trainer for heel strikers

Saucony Ride 17

The just-right cushioning of the Pwrrun+ midsole makes the Ride 17 ideal for runners who land heel first.

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1. Read our detailed review of the Saucony Ride 17 here.

In our review, we heaped well deserved praise on the Saucony Ride 17.

Saucony replaced the EVA midsole form factor of the Ride 15 and 16 with a Pwrrun+ (expanded PU foam) midsole for the Ride 17. This material is similar to that used on the Triumph 20 and 21, but is a slimmer and firmer variant.

On top is a thick footbed made of the same material as the midsole. Together, they create a cushioned ride for heel strikers that feels supportive and efficient.

With an 8 mm drop, most of the cushioning is packed under the heel. It has generous stack heights too; the heel and forefoot are 35 mm and 27 mm thick respectively.

The Ride 17's insole is made of Pwrrun+ E-TPU foam. It's thick enough to be replaced by a stability Orthotic.

The Ride 17's insole is made of Pwrrun+ E-TPU foam. It's thick enough to be replaced by a stability Orthotic.

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The cushioning depth makes everyday runs comfortable up to a half-marathon distance. The Ride 17 doesn’t feel slow either; there’s a firm tinge to the midsole that prevents the cushioning from getting mushy.

The mild rocker effect adds efficiency to the ride as well. Just know that the Ride 17 isn’t a great tempo shoe, but it’s versatile enough for most levels of run intensity and experience levels.

In short, if you had to distill all your running needs into just one shoe, the Ride 17 gets many things right.

The comfortable and true-to-size upper has nearly no flaws; an optional 2E is also available.

If you like your daily trainer to be soft and lightweight, consider the next shoe on this guide – the Asics Cumulus 26.

Soft daily trainer for heel strikers

Asics Gel-Cumulus 26

The Cumulus 26’s redesigned Flytefoam midsole ensures soft yet supportive landings for heel strikers.

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You should pick the Asics Cumulus 26 over the Ride 17 if you prefer softer and lighter cushioning. Also, the design tweaks turn the Cumulus 26 into a markedly different shoe than the Cumulus 24 and 25.

And what may those drastic design tweaks be?

In what’s a first for the Cumulus, Asics leaves the rubber outsole out of the picture. In its place is a firmer base made of EVA foam, with a soft Flytefoam core on top. Like most trainers of its kind, the Cumulus 26’s cushioning is rearfoot biased.

The Asics Cumulus's midsole is soft but not mushy.

The wide midsole of the Cumulus 26 produces a neutral and supportive ride .

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The 8 mm heel-to-toe is produced from stack heights of 38.5 mm (heel) and 30.5 mm (forefoot), so rearfoot-landing runners get most of the soft cushioning. The under-heel area has an opening to expose the soft Flytefoam layer, and this adds stability by keeping the body-weight centered.

Not having a rubber outsole has its drawbacks, such as reduced performance on dry and dusty surfaces as well as slushy sidewalks. In return, the Cumulus delivers weight savings. At 255 grams or 9 ounces, this is a lightweight everyday trainer with plenty of comfort for up to a half-marathon distance.

The soft and true-to-size upper has a comfortable interior environment. The tongue follows the Nimbus’s cue and uses a stretchy mesh for a conforming fit.

Best for overpronating heel strikers

New Balance Fresh Foam 860V14

The 860V14’s ‘stability plane’ plate favors heel strikers more than it does forefoot strikers.

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New Balance sells two popular gait-correction shoes – the Vongo V6 and 860V14. Out of the two, the 860V14 is a better fit for heel strikers.

While both models use a similar approach to managing pronation, the ‘stability plane’ plate inside the 860V14 is designed differently than the Vongo. And what is the ‘stability plane’ plate?

This plate is sandwiched between two layers of the Fresh Foam midsole. On the inner (arch) side, the plate has a solid structure. On the outer side, the plate has small windows cut into it.

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This variance makes the plate on the outer side more flexible. That way, the ‘stability plane’ plate makes the arch side supportive and directs the loading or tilt towards the outer side. That is the principle behind most pronation-control (stability) running shoes, and both the Vongo and 860v14 manage this well.

Except that the plate on the outer side (of the 860V14) isn’t full-length like the Vongo. It’s available only under the heel area, so rearfoot strikers stand to benefit more than forefoot strikers. Also, this being an 8 mm drop shoe, heel strikers will land on the most cushioned part of the shoe.

This is the softest 860 model to date, so the ride comfort works for everyday mileage up to a 21K distance. The upper fit and feel is excellent, and no other stability shoe offers the range of widths that the 860 does.

Marathon racer for heel strikers

adidas adios Pro 3

Unlike most super-shoes, the Lightstrike Pro foam and Energy Rods work together to deliver a heel-strike-friendly ride.

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1. Read our detailed review of the adidas adios Pro 3 here.

In our review, we described the Adios Pro 3 as the ‘most versatile marathon racer’. And that’s true.

Most super-shoes impose a set of conditions for optimal performance. Racers like the Nike Vaporfly, Alphafly, and Asics Metaspeed Edge work best at higher running speeds and forefoot striking. For all practical purposes, you can heel strike in those shoes, but then it’s hard to extract the best out of them.

The adidas Adios Pro 3 makes no such demands. It works equally well at most speeds and footstrike patterns.

The key to the Adios Pro 3’s versatility lies in the midsole design.

The Adios Pro doesn’t use PEBA but a proprietary compound called the Lightstrike Pro. It’s a responsive, cushioned, and bouncy foam that works well with the Energy Rods inside the midsole. The Energy Rods are also unique to adidas. There’s no plate inside the midsole, but a set of stiff tubes that have a greater range of movement than a Carbon plate.

The Energy tubes end under the heel as concentric loops. Their articulated nature allows them to work better with Lightstrike Pro midsole, rather than pushing against it.

The synergy between the stiff tubes and foam gives the Adios Pro 3 better ride stability and versatility. The Energy Rods work when called upon, as they make the transitions smooth and snappy. The stiffness also accentuates the rocker effect for quicker push-offs.

The wide channel under the heel stabilizes rearfoot landings, and the looped design of Energy Rods doesn’t have a destabilizing ‘springboard’ effect.

Max-cushioned shoe for recovery runs

Brooks Ghost Max 2

Heel strikers can make their recovery runs more enjoyable with the highly cushioned Ghost Max 2.

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1. Read our detailed review of the Brooks Ghost Max 2 here.

On some days, all ones wants is an ultra-cushioned shoe that makes slow, recovery jogs comfortable and pleasant. Just being soft isn’t good enough; it needs to be un-boring too.

If this article was written a month ago, we would have recommended the Nike Invincible 3 or New Balance 1080V13. Both are very soft, very comfortable, and easily available.

Then the Brooks Ghost Max 2 showed up. By no means is it a lightweight shoe; the G-Max 2 weighs nearly 11 ounces or 306 grams. But it’s important to look past the specs and focus on the larger picture.

For this year, the Ghost Max 2 uses a brand-new DNA Loft V3 foam with a notable upside in bounciness. Prior versions of the DNA Loft V3 – including that on the Glycerin 20 – felt flat and not at all soft or bouncy. That has changed for 2024, as evident from the softer Glycerin 21 and max-cushioned Ghost Max 2.

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This 6 mm drop shoe has a ridiculous amount of cushioning, both under the heel and forefoot. What’s more, the midsole is ultra-wide so the cushioning is delivered in a neutral and supportive manner. So when the foot loads on the heel, the soft midsole compresses downwards to keep the foot centered.

The Nitrogen-infused DNA Loft V3 is not just soft. It feels bouncy in a way no other Brooks shoe has felt before. However, this is a ‘slow’ shoe, meaning that it struggles at more aggressive paces. It feels best at speeds slower than 5:30 min/km (8:50 min/mile).

The cushioned midsole is matched with a plush and spacious upper. There’s a lot more room inside the forefoot when compared to the Glycerin 21 and Ghost 16.

Tempo trainer for heel strikers

New Balance Fuelcell Rebel V4

The Rebel V4 gets a 10 mm wider base and a 34 mm heel stack, and that’s good news for heel strikers.

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1. Read our detailed review of the New Balance Rebel V4 here.

As great as the Rebel V3 was, it had one problem. The slim heel wasn’t very supportive and its cushioned bottomed out under heavy loads.

That’s far less likely for that to happen on the Rebel V4. The midsole has a 10 mm wider base under the heel and forefoot, and the heel is 34 mm thick. Runners who land heel first will find a much changed Fuelcell Rebel, one with greater cushioning depth and support.

On the other hand, the bouncy cushioning of the Rebel V2 and V3 will be missed. The new Fuelcell compound is soft but feels flatter – something that also applies to the SC Elite V4.

The upper fit has changed too, and the Rebel goes from a snug-fitting shoe to a spacious one. The tighter upper of the previous model was better at directing the power to the midsole, but the V3 is no slouch either.

Its 7.5-ounce (212-gram) weight helps it disappear over the foot during tempo runs or a 10K race. The cushioning doesn’t bottom out, and the wide rubber outsole helps the transitions through grippy push-offs.

5K racer for heel strikers

adidas Adizero Adios 8

The EVA frame of the Adios 8 makes landings cushioned and supportive for heel strikers.

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1. Read our detailed review of the adidas Adios 8 here.

The Adizero Adios is due for an update soon, and the rumor is that it’s going to be a thicker version of the Takumi 10. Like the latter, it’s likely going to feature a full-length Lightstrike Pro midsole.

That would make the upcoming Adios 9 a very different shoe than the Adios 8 – a racer that combines a firmer EVA frame with a Lightstrike Pro forefoot.

That said, the current Adios 8 is well-designed. The firmer EVA frame supports and cushions heel strikes, and so does the transition channel under the heel. While it’s not as bouncy as Lightstrike Pro midsole, it offers the stability that many racers of this category lack.

The Lightstrike Pro forefoot is supported by a Nylon Torsion (aka LEP) system. This skeletal frame connects the heel to the forefoot, and makes the forefoot snappy while adding midfoot rigidity. The Continental rubber outsole provides the necessary grip during the push-off phase.

The Adios 8’s upper is true to size and keeps the foot secure, but it’s nowhere as narrow as it once was.

How we selected: What to look for

Wait. Do we really need an article to tell us which shoes work for heel strikers? Doesn’t that include most running shoes?

If only things were that simple. It takes a lot more than just a cushioned heel for a running shoe to be rearfoot-friendly.

There are other overlooked aspects like the heel-to-toe offset, rearfoot stability, and a midsole design that promotes smoother landings. Just how do these factors help? Here’s a quick primer.

A high heel-to-toe offset

The ‘drop’ or offset of a shoe is defined as the thickness between the front and rear midsole heights. After reviewing shoes for over a decade, we believe that a heel-to-toe drop of between 5 mm and 10 mm is the sweet spot for heel strikers.

A high heel-to-toe offset implies that the rear is substantially thicker than the front. Not only does that result in a higher level of cushioning, but the thicker heel also promotes comfortable rearfoot landings. The opposite is also true, and that is why midfoot/forefoot strikers prefer running shoes with a lower offset.

Just know that this so-called ‘rule’ isn’t a blanket generalization, but it increases the chances of a running shoe being rearfoot friendly. For most runners, low-offset models will work just fine.

A supportive rearfoot

The wide midsole of the Cumulus 26 produces a neutral and supportive ride.

Not everything ends and begins with the midsole cushioning. If the rearfoot is the first point of contact during the gait cycle, it needs to be stable.

The midsole should have a neutral ride character with minimal cushioning bias. In other words, one side of the midsole shouldn’t be excessively softer than the other.

A supportive heel midsole makes a running shoe suitable for heel strikers.

Also, the entire heel shouldn’t be overly soft.

That’s the reason why this guide excludes models like the Nike Vaporfly. While those are excellent products, the heel isn’t stable enough for rearfoot landing.

A beveled heel edge

A heel with an angled curve (also called the heel spring) allows the foot to land gradually instead of edge striking abruptly. It helps if the outsole crash pad is segmented or split from the main outsole by a groove. Such crash pads flex during landing for gentle transitions.

Not all shoes on this guide have an articulated landing zone, but we’ve tried our best to find the ones that do.