NoBull Turf Trainer Performance Review

With a focus on simplicity and function, NoBull trainers have been a favorite for gym-goers for a long time. With the NoBull Turf Trainer, NoBull has taken its standard trainer silhouette and changed up the outsole by adding turf “lugs” for added traction on turf and grass surfaces.

The NoBull Turf Trainer wants to help you work out no matter where your exercise program takes you or what surface you use. Traction is almost always the most important feature of any shoe no matter what the intended activity is, so if your workouts heavily utilize turf or grass, this is an intriguing shoe. There are a few catches, but first, let’s look at what this shoe does great.

Pros

Stability

Any shoe meant for weightlifting needs to have a wide, stable base. The NoBull Turf Trainer achieves this through minimalism. You won’t find a lot of fancy cushioning or crazy cutouts. Just a firm, solid outsole that helps you stay nicely balanced during lifts. It works.

Material

The upper of the NoBull Turf Trainer is made from the same material as their Trainer+ (which we reviewed here). NoBull calls this it’s SuperFabric and I’d find it hard to disagree. It’s a soft material with tiny dots all over the surface. The result is an upper that’s surprisingly comfortable and very durable. The Turf Trainer’s material also manages to be supportive and stops your foot from sliding out over the edge, which is impressive given that one of the cons of this shoe is that it runs pretty big.

Traction on Turf

The NoBull Turf Trainer is meant to provide grip on turf and it does exactly that. The traction is noticeably better than other training shoes as soon as you start moving on the turf. Agility exercises feel immediately quicker. Jogging or sprinting on the turf feels more controlled. I cannot overstate how great these shoes are for sled pushes. Even when I’m training in other shoes, I’ll keep these around for sled pushes/pulls. The difference is night and day.

The lugs on the outsole bite hard into the turf despite how shallow they are. The traction is so good that I wish this outsole pattern was easier to find to use for grass volleyball, and I intend to try these shoes for grass volleyball whenever the weather permits. NoBull really did what they advertised here, which is what’s most important on a shoe with a specific purpose in mind.

Cons

Traction on Wood

Where the NoBull Turf Trainer shines on turf, it’s performance is subpar on wood. Using these on the same wooden platfoms that I’ve tested so many other training shoes on, they weren’t as secure to the floor as I wanted them to be. Friction shouldn’t depend on the surface area, so these reasonably could perform just as well as any other trainer. Maybe the lugs themselves were giving or twisting slightly or maybe the rubber just wasn’t biting the wood, but the traction leaves something to be desired when lifting on wooden platforms.

Fit

I double and triple-checked the size of my pair of NoBull Turf Trainers because they fit me so large.

They’ve gotten a little better through testing. Once the upper broke in, they fit a little more snug. The lockdown in the upper is also solid which helps a lot. Despite this, I have to really tighten the laces to keep the shoe tight to my foot. The length is a little long, but the width of the shoe is also excessive. There’s a benefit to having width in the toe of a lifting shoe so your foot can spread out as you lift weights, but these are wider than that. I would recommend going at least a half size down, maybe a full size if your foot is narrow.

NoBull Turf Trainer Summary

The key takeaway from this whole performance review is to think about what surface you usually train on. If you mostly use wooden platforms or traditional rubber gym flooring, consider some other options from our best cross training shoes list. 

If you work out on turf or grass a lot, the NoBull Turf Trainer is an excellent option. If you do a lot of work with sleds, the Turf Trainer is a game-changing necessity. NoBull set out to fill a specific need in the world of cross trainers, and in that, they definitely succeeded.