NOBULL ALLDAY Performance Review

It’s a good time to be NOBULL, as the fitness brand has announced major plans with legendary NFL quarterback (and now Netflix star) Tom Brady (Editor’s Note: Who had the Tom Brady’s Roast pegged as a hit? Not us). And that explains the high end – and generous – gift boxes that arrived at the WearTesters offices with the new NOBULL ALLDAY alongside a bevy of other gifts.

We’ve definitely had some mixed reviews of NOBULL product in the past and we want to give credit to the company for coming back to share their new training shoe with us – some brands would see that as a deterrent to further engagement, but the horns have come back to us multiple times with new products.

But does NOBULL’s new trainer live up to its lofty mission of being “the ultimate workout shoe”?

Please note that while NOBULL sent us pairs of the NOBULL ALLDAY, the company had no involvement in this review, didn’t receive an advance look at it, and has not attempted to influence it.

How do the Authors Train?

Arune Singh (age 42, 5’11”, 210lbs): Trains daily with functional fitness programming provided by Deadboys Fitness, founded by Colby “Seth Rollins” Lopez and Josh Gallegos, along with logging 30-40 miles of running per week. He also has a medical history of Sleep Apnea and Myasthenia Gravis, meaning Arune’s focus is on lean muscle mass.

What is the NOBULL ALLDAY?

NOBULL describes it as:

“NOBULL ALLDAY is more than a sneaker. It’s your versatile, comfortable, and durable ally in self-care. Designed to handle it all, just like you. Crafted to support you in honoring your commitment to hit the gym. A HIIT class. Hit the bag. Hit them all. Get it all done– All. Damn. Day.”

(Editor’s Note: “durable ally in self-care”…for real? Who is writing this cheesy web copy?)

Training

Even though I think of CrossFit when I think of NOBULL, the ALLDAY seems more like a casual training shoe in line with the Saucony Freedom Crossport or Puma PWR Nitro Squared.

The NOBULL ALLDAY looks and feels like the iconic Adidas NMD, even on foot – which makes sense since the company describes it as a “stability running shoe with medial post for motion control”. It also explains why the ALLDAY had me rolling right onto my toes when I went down for deep goblet squats – it’s a running shoe

(Editor’s Note: But is it really though? Our running testers vehemently disagree with that classification.)

I’d describe it best as a “casual fitness” shoe – take it to the gym for those sessions where you’re mostly on the machines or doing the lifts, like bicep curls, where the general lack of stability here might be less noticeable.

If you’re looking for something to get you through your Olympic lifts or to bring to those aforementioned CrossFit sessions, the NOBULL ALLDAY won’t be your shoe. The stability felt minimal for me on lifts like heavy goblet squats and even more lacking with one legged  RDLs or RFESSs.

But if you’re the kind of person who wears something like the Brooks Ghost to the gym for your training, this probably works for you. You won’t have a ton of ground feel but you’ve probably learned to train without it.
This isn’t the worst training shoe I’ve worn but there’s also nothing it does particularly well either (Editor’s Note: at WearTesters we offer blunt assessments of product performance. This is a good example of that).

Cardio

Much like with the training, there’s nothing particularly exceptional about the NOBULL ALLDAY when it comes to cardio training. I’d much rather do sprints in this shoe than a shoe like the Nike Metcon 9, but given my scathing review of that shoe it’s not the highest bar.

Sprints are fine, though unexceptional in the NOBULL ALLDAY, though I can’t imagine running more than a mile or two in these. Perhaps much tougher and seasoned runners will feel differently.

The NOBULL ALLDAY isn’t flexible enough for me on the rower, as I never felt like I could get up on my toes and then push through on my heels. Everyone probably has their preferred rowing form but I felt like mine had to be adjusted to the point of inefficiency.

Shadow boxing was better than rowing, but I never felt like I was able to get the stability and ground feel that I needed.

I really wanted to like this, but it’s a mixed bag (Editor’s Note: like Mixed Nuts, they always throw some worthless filler nuts in there).

Comfort

If there was one category where I was convinced the NOBULL ALLDAY would excel, it was this one – and it may well for you.

But as someone with a slightly wider foot, I had an incredibly difficult time getting comfortable in it from day one. The ALLDAY has far too narrow a toebox and the midfoot follows a similar trajectory. That Ripstop upper doesn’t give you much flexibility in either area.

Maybe a wide fit version of the shoe would allow me the opportunity to appreciate everything NOBULL did here, but right now it’s just not a good fit (pun intended).

Sizing

As usual I went with my standard size 9.5 and I think it’s the right one.

I talked a lot about fit in the Comfort section, but in case you skipped it – this shoe is not for wide footers.

Aesthetics

Lest I be called too negative, I wanna say this – I absolutely love the look of this shoe. 

I received the all grey colorway with gorgeous gumsoles and that’s 100% my vibe, as the kids would say – and one that passed the Wife Test, as she hoped I’d keep these ones (though that was before the ALLDAY conspired to crush my feet).

I compared these to the Adidas NMD and that’s a compliment – the OG model was gorgeous and these shoes have a similar silhouette (at first glance) along with the heel detailing.

This is the kind of shoe you can wear from Equinox to Erewhon to Sugarfish.

Sorry dear reader, these LA-specific references drive my Editor nuts and I’m a child (Editor’s Note: watch it Arune. You’re on thin ice).

Price

At $149, the NOBULL ALLDAY is at the median training shoe price these days.

If this is a shoe that covers all your fitness needs, it’s a fair price to pay – and has wonderful aesthetics that’ll make it a really effective lifestyle shoe too.

NOBULL ALLDAY Final Verdict

We’ve been saying that 2024 has delivered some of our favorite training shoes yet and it’s been incredible to see this growth from shoe companies.

Unfortunately, the NOBULL ALLDAY doesn’t quite stack up to the competition and really failed for me in almost all categories. I’d be willing to try a wide version of the shoe to see if there’s a different experience but right now this is a hard pass for me.