For my first Hyrox I ran in a pair of old Adidas runners. They were fine; they did the job, but they certainly weren’t tailored for the task at hand. Given the rise of Hyrox, where races all over the world are attended by thousands of athletes, not to mention other hybrid competitions springing up – we see you AthX – it’s no surprise that there are now hybrid racing shoes speeding onto the market too.
My intro to these hybrid shoes is with the Puma x Hyrox Deviate Elite 4, which are a result of the German sports brand’s position as Hyrox’s official performance gear partner and built upon the brand’s carbon runner, the Deviate Nitro Elite.
‘Hyrox has a different demand profile compared to road running. Athletes are not just running – they’re pushing sleds, doing lunges, burpee broad jumps and transitioning constantly between these movements and running,’ says Damion Perry, product line manager at Puma. ‘The Deviate Nitro Elite is optimised for running efficiency, but it isn’t necessarily optimised for the multi-planar stability or load-bearing demands that Hyrox presents. We saw a clear need for a shoe that preserves race-day running performance, but adds the control and durability required for HYROX. That’s where the Deviate Elite Hyrox comes in.’
Put simply, Puma has taken one of the fastest road racing shoes on the market and injected it with extra stability and grip to make it usable during lunges and wall balls. Sounds fun. Let’s test it.
Pros
- Excellent for running
- Stylish design and colourway
- Comfortable fit
- Firm midsole gives extra stability
- Pumagrip outsole provides grip
- Designed in collaboration with elite Hyrox athletes
Cons
- Lacks stability on heavier overhead lifts
- Not the best platform for wall balls
Features at a Glance
| Weight | 194g (UK size 8) |
|---|---|
| Heel-to-toe Drop: | 8mm |
| Stack Height | 40mm (heel), 32mm (forefoot) |
| As Worn By | Hyrox Men’s Pro Solo world record holder Hidde Weersma |
How I Tested
I got the training shoes in early Feb. Unfortunately, the nearest race to me was still a month away, and, with the popularity of Hyrox, who knows if I’d have been able to secure a ticket anyway. So failing real race conditions, I took the shoes down to my CrossFit gym, Gymnasium Brixton, and put them through their paces in a Hyrox class. The session I did included 7K of running, as well as plenty of dumbbell squat cleans, snatches and deadlifts, as well as burpees, walking lunges and wall balls.
I’ve also been using the shoes as my go-to running trainer for a few weeks, and as you’ll come to see, this is still where the Puma x Hyrox Deviate Elite 4’s really excel.
Initial Impressions
Out of the box, this is undeniably a beautiful shoe. With its neon pink colourway, it’s sure to stand out come race day. The shoe features a Nitrofoam Elite midsole, which is basically two layers of nitrogen-infused foam that Puma says has been made slightly firmer to enhance stability. That being said, it does make it a big shoe, and the 40mm of foam, while excellent for running, does compromise other parts of a race that need sure footing, like lunges and wall balls.
Puma says it’s made up for this on the sole of the shoe by adding something called Pumagrip, which Perry describes as ‘a new traction pattern for improved grip on the turf.’ Supposedly the little rubber balls on the bottom of the shoe work particularly well on Hyrox turf. I didn’t test them on that, so what I will say about stability is that they’re fine on things like ski ergs and burpees, but overhead movements are more of a challenge. Wall balls are the last event at Hyrox for a reason, and I’d consider removing these before pushing out 100.
Testing
From minute one of the test, these felt great to run in – light and like they were eeking every marginal gain out of me. I know some people online have complained about stability on things like ski-erg, but I didn’t find that. The first issue I noticed was when I tried to clean a pair of dumbbells (in place of a sandbag) onto my shoulders and almost toppled backwards. Later in the workout, I tried some dumbbell deadlifts (to replicate walking lunges) and I was a little shaky underfoot during those too.
The shoe
Perry explains how the Puma x Hyrox Deviate Elite 4 breaks down from top to bottom.
- Upper: ‘The upper between the road racing and Hyrox versions share the same material, our lightweight and breathable Ultraweave material, but there are subtle features aimed at improving the durability needed from the differing movement patterns experienced in Hyrox.’
- Midsole: ‘This still uses our best-in-class, nitrogen-infused, NitrofoamElite, but we tuned it to be slightly firmer to enhance stability. You still get high energy return while running, but with less deformation of the material to provide a more stable platform.’
- Plate: ‘The carbon fiber Pwrplate has been reworked from our previous Deviate Elite model using raises grooves to optimise the path of travel for your foot during running movements. This creates a highly efficient ride while running but also helps to provide more stability underfoot during strength movements.’
- Outsole: ‘This is one of the biggest changes. We introduced a harder Pumagrip rubber compound, a new traction pattern for improved grip on the turf surfaces and increased to the total amount of rubber across the full length of the shoe. Durability was also a big focus here.’
Verdict
‘We didn’t want to create a shoe that was mediocre at everything,’ says Perry.
He can rest assured that certainly hasn’t happened. Unfortunately, it’s not a shoe that excels at everything either. The Deviate Elite 4 were first designed as a running shoe, and it’s still in that capacity that the shoe shines. I’ve done long runs, tempo work and everything in between in these and I’ve never had any complaints – not with fit, performance or style. Where the shoe does fall down is on stability, where overhead movements can be less stable than you’d like them to be. Would that stop me from buying these and making them part of my race day uniform? Absolutely not. These were designed in collaboration with elite and age-group HYROX competitors i.e. the guys and girls who set records, so the chances of hitting a PR in these are still incredibly high. Just maybe consider stripping down to your socks before the wall balls start.
Daniel is Men’s Health UK’s Features Editor. He’s a writer and editor with a decade’s worth of experience covering health, fitness, tech and sports. In his time at Men’s Health, he’s written about everything from Black men's mental health to The Rock's cheat days and has logged training time with NFL footballers, Olympic gymnasts and the British Army. In his spare time he enjoys fitness of all kinds, from deadlifts to long runs, and is always on the lookout for his next challenge.
