Under Armour Reign 6 Performance Review

The Under Armour Reign 6 is the continuation of Under Armour’s long-running Tribase Reign series and again seems designed to tackle any challenging lift in the gym.

Under Armour’s place in the training shoe world has never quite seemed defined – they’re not the primary sponsor of events like the CrossFit Games and even with one of the biggest fitness icons in the world (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), it never seems like their new releases have high levels of hype or awareness.

We recently compared them to iconic 90s boy band 98 Degrees (Editor’s Note: There is no “we”, this was all Arune) who had their share of hit songs and literally had more muscle than perhaps every single one of their peers, but never touched the rarified air of N Sync or the Backstreet Boys.

Still, the WearTesters team are reviewers of good taste and because of you we wanted to make sure we said I Do to the opportunity to see what Under Armour worked up with the Reign 6.

Please note that while Under Armour sent us pairs of the Reign 6, 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”, 220lbs): Trains daily with functional fitness programming from 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.

Drew Whitcomb (age 42, 6’6″ 195lbs): Trains daily with a focus on running, strength training, and mobility. He writes the majority of our running shoe reviews and runs a lot of miles due to testing needs and his growing affinity for long-distance races. His strength training and mobility regimen center around maintaining flexibility and lifting heavy to build power as a counterbalance to all the running he’s doing. His number one focus is staying injury-free so he can keep up the sweet gig of reviewing shoes.

What is the Under Armour Reign 6?

Under Armour describes it as:

With three points of ground contact and a strategically secure upper, this training shoe is built to support your best form as you lift, move, and crush your most explosive workout.

Training

Arune: As Drew will tell you, I’m more passionate about Under Armour than any other brand – I don’t know why, especially since the shoes vary so greatly from year to year (just compare our Reign 4 and Reign 5 reviews).

This year, the Reign 6 comes not only with new branding but so many changes that I’m actually a bit surprised this isn’t an entirely new model. We’ll dig into those changes through this review but let’s talk about training:

This may well be the best training shoe that Under Armour has ever made.

With a barely-there 2mm drop, this is about as close to the ground as you’ll get outside barefoot or zero drop training shoes – and that means you’re always connected to the ground for your big lifts.

Paired with the always incredible TriBase tech, I’ve never had a single stability challenge on 300lb+ deadlifts nor when pushing myself with single leg RDLS or RFESSs. The shape of the shoe – which we’ll discuss later – allows for full toe splay so you can really push into the ground to steady yourself. The heel has a noticeably firm cushion that pairs perfectly with the heel counter that achieved the effect Nike had in mind with their Metcon set up, but without the higher drop of the disastrous latest iteration.

The Reign 6 is also a high performer in plyometrics, from explosive movements like burpees (as promised in the product description) to box jumps to single leg movements like skaters.

You may have a slight adjustment period as I did going from a higher drop shoe to this one, but there’s something incredibly intuitive about the way your body moves in the Reign 6 and I’m pretty certain everyone will hit some PRs in the shoe, as I did.

Absolutely no notes from me here – how about you, Drew?

Drew: I know a lot changed between the Reign 5 and Reign 6 but the basic value proposition of the shoe remains the same. The TriBase system keeps feet glued to the floor and provides ultimate stability. You’ll never have to worry about your shoes when lifting heavy in the Reign 6, freeing you up to think about form and power. The Reign 6 is one of the better weightlifing shoes available in the cross trainer segment.

Cardio

Arune: While I didn’t get to test the Reign 6 on an airbike, I did get to try a recumbent bike along with my regular testing regimen of a treadmill run, some sprints, and rowing,.

Repeat after me – training shoes are almost always terrible for distance running (especially as a guy at 220lbs) and the Reign 6 does nothing to dissuade me from my pessimism in this area. 

Sprints are actually pretty solid given the low drop and really natural movement in this surprisingly flexible shoe (you can roll this thing up like it was a barefoot shoe), so I think a lot of functional fitness folks will find this shoe transitions between their cardio and lifting quite well.

The midsole provides really excellent energy return when rowing – I was pushing myself at a much higher and more consistent speed than I can reach in most other training shoes (second only to the TYR CXT-1). You’re not going to be wowed by some super plush cushioning, but you’re also never going to be uncomfortable under foot for non-running cardio.

I think the last time I enjoyed an Under Armour shoe this much for cardio was the Delta, AKA the Rock’s original training shoe at the company. 

Drew: The Under Armour Reign 6 is awful for any on foot cardio that’s not jump rope, agility drills, or 40 yard dashes. Everything else feels clompy and disjointed. Even walking on tired legs can feel like a chore. Got a workout of the day that’s heavy on cardio coming up? Choose another shoe.

Comfort

Arune: It’s rare I think of zero drop – or shoes this close – to be comfortable. There are some exceptions, but I often feel like my feet are flopping around and my entire gait is thrown off, which I think some would say is why I need to wear them more.

But the Under Armour Reign 6 feels like a nice middle ground between super padded training and those minimalist shoes, with the dual-density midsole making this a shoe I can wear for an entire day, from workout to chores (and have done this repeatedly).

That’s also thanks to the foot shape I mentioned before too – it feels built for a variety of feet, accommodating slightly wider foot folks like myself while also still providing a snug, secure fit with a flexible UA WARP upper that moves with you. Some training shoes have uppers that stab your forefoot when you bend the material but UA Warp continues to be one of the most consistently comfortable uppers in the game.

Still, Under Armour has one consistent fatal flaw in their comfort and –

Drew: No, we aren’t doing this again. You need to get over it.

Arune: Let me at least make it quick – rope laces have no place in training shoes and they just fall apart here every time I train.

And yes, they’re also too short.

Drew: The laces on my pair are fine but not all laces can satisfy Arune’s refined lace palette. Just know that his standard for laces is on a level many of us mere mortals can’t touch. Which is to say, you likely won’t hate the laces as much as him, ever, on any shoe, in your life. But I digress…

The Reign 6 is very comfortable and reminds me of the Reign 2 which felt amazing on foot. There’s extra padding at the achilles and, as always, the WARP upper conforms to the foot and starts to feel like one with your foot. It’s a nice bonus for such a workhorse of a shoe to have such a well-fitting and comfortable upper.

Sizing

Arune: One of the reasons I think Under Armour finds it hard to build up any momentum (at least from outside looking in) in the training shoe market is that the sizing is all over the place each year.

Sometimes the Reign is too wide, too narrow, too short, too long, or some tuna casserole-like combination of those.

I’m hoping that the Reign sticks with this shape for at least a few iterations, as it’s a perfect TTS (True to Size) fit for me at a Men’s 9.5.

Some useful comparisons: I wear that size in all my training shoes and wear a Men’s 9 (albeit wide) in boots.

Drew: True to size fit with some wiggle room in the toebox and no dead space above the toes. The holy trinity of good fit/sizing! Credit to the team who designed the Reign 6. They made sure this shoe fit correctly. Some wide footers will be ok, but I’d recommend buying from somewhere with a good return policy in case the midfoot and heel aren’t wide enough.

Aesthetics

Arune: I mentioned earlier that a lot about the Reign 6 was different from previous models and that’s especially true when it comes to looks.

While I don’t think a single line of shoes has to all look the same – so many of us are Air Jordan fans and those shoes look different with every iteration – I will say that I wouldn’t have known this was part of the Reign line unless you told me.

The shoe feels sleeker and more low profile, almost like a high end Vans training shoe, and I’m a big fan. It takes me back to high school when I’d have one pair of shoes to do everything and so often it was a black or grey base color with some seemingly random color highlights. There’s enough little details – like the lines on the forefoot – that help distinguish it from what Nike, Reebok, TYR, On, and others are doing.

I got the “Black/Circuit Teal/White” colorway (that seems to completely ignore the bright heel in the description) and this is definitely the shoe I would’ve chosen as a teenager because it kinda works with everything but seems to have its own personality with the various color pops of color. Honestly, I dig every colorway on the Reign 6 and that’s not something I can usually say for a training shoe.

It’s a shoe that transitions from the gym to chores to a lot of casual life quite well, which may not be your priority but I think – based on what I see in a lot of major cities and airports now – many folks choose their gym shoes with that kind of versatility in mind.

Drew: I’m not sure why Arune doesn’t think this looks like a Reign. I clearly see the Reign DNA, just more refined and put together than previous iterations. Some of the colorways, like the one Arune and I received, are just awesome. It’s a shoe that takes color well and will do pretty well casually…like today when I stopped for groceries after the gym.

Is the Under Armour Reign 6 worth $130?

Arune: This is the most shocking aspect of the shoe – at $130, this is well below the median flagship training shoe price of $150.

And let’s also recognize that Under Armour didn’t raise the price from the Reign 5 and it’s only been a $10 increase since the Reign 4, which is a rarity in the shoe market,

Given the number of sales that Under Armour is always running, I have a feeling you could get this shoe under $100 on a number of occasions and that’s a great deal.

The TLDR is that this shoe is a steal even at SRP.

Drew: $130 puts the Reign 6 below the price I’d expect. With what the Reign 6 brings to the table I’d have guessed a $140 price point. I think $130 is a solid deal in and of itself, but as Arune pointed out, Under Armour coupons vociferously so getting the Reign 6 for 20% off should be easy if you’re patient.

Under Armour Reign 6 Summary

Arune: At the start of this year, I couldn’t have imagined that any shoe would rank above my beloved Reebok Nano 2.0.

But I can confidently say Under Armour has created their best training shoe ever with the Reign 6 and this belongs in the top tier of modern training shoes.

I don’t know what kind of marketing is planned around this shoe, but this is the one that UA should point to as proof of what they bring to this market and use this as a foundation for their future releases, whether Reign or Project Rock.

It’s hard for me to imagine anyone not enjoying this shoe.

Drew: While I’m not as infatuated as Arune with the Under Armour Reign 6, it’s firmly in my top tier of weightlifting shoes and solid for most cross training activities. It’s Under Armour’s current best cross training shoe and something they should build off.