Men's Ultra XT Training Shoe

I have read the other reviews, and I although I own a number of Altra running shoes (both trail and pavement), these were my first workout shoes. I got them for HITT (High Intensity Team Traininbg) and Industrial Strength (think: weight lifting) classes at my gym. I am not bashful about giving a product a negative review if I feel it is warranted, but I must say that I like these shoes a lot. I find the toe box to be just perfect--not at all narrow (and I do need a wide toe box). The shoes are very light weight, and I have had no difficulty or issues using them in my classes. Would I want to run in them? No. But they are not meant for that. If I'm running (even on a treadmill), I use running shoes. I think different shoes fit different people in different ways, so shoe reviews that complain about "fit" should, IMHO, be taken with a grain of salt. You can always return them if you don't like them!

I haven't tried the latest iteration of these, but I have two pairs of the previous version, the 1.5. I bought a second pair because I loved the ones I had so much that I wanted to be able to stay in them for a long time. I do crossfit in these 4 to 5 times per week. Yes, at first they are stiff, almost uncomfortably so, but they break in very nicely. I'm 190 lbs, 5'11", and I love having the stiffness for high energy workouts, i.e. sprinting, box jumps, heavy deadlifts or snatches, etc. I wouldn't choose them for long distance running, but for our average 400-1500m sprints they've never bothered me. The stiffness also makes them excellent for strong lateral movement (tennis, etc), and I just love them.