Methods to Discover the Finest Brooks Sneakers for You in 2025, Per Podiatrists

Brooks sneakers appear to pop up all over the place, with signature fashions just like the Ghost on the ft of runners, walkers, grocery buyers, nurses, vacationers, and extra. But it surely isn’t simply the model’s enjoyable colorways that make them so standard—they’re additionally legit good-for-your-feet sneakers, beloved by podiatrists and pedorthists. “From a physician’s perspective, Brooks is form of our go-to shoe,” Nicole Freels, FACPM, an authorized pedorthist at Lexington Podiatry in Kentucky, tells SELF.

The one downside: How to select from Brooks’s intensive lineup. That can assist you make your choose, we requested specialists for his or her faves—plus recommendation on how (and when) to put on them—and logged some miles on a handful of pairs ourselves.

Our high picks

1. Finest Total: Ghost 16
2. Finest for Strolling: Habit GTS 15
3. Finest On a regular basis Shoe: Ghost Max SE
4. Finest Day by day Coach: Glycerin 22
5. Finest for Overpronation: Adrenaline GTS 24
6. Finest for Plantar Fasciitis: Ariel GTS 24
7. Finest for Lengthy Distances: Glycerin Max
8. Finest for Path Operating: Caldera 8
9. Finest for Velocity Exercises: Hyperion Max 2
10. Finest for Street-to-Path: Divide 5
11. Finest for Racing: Hyperion Elite 4 PB

What to contemplate when looking for Brooks footwear

Often requested questions on Brooks footwear

Store the very best Brooks footwear

Odds are, there’s a Brooks pair that’s best for you—and your ft. Discover our high picks (and a few buying recommendation from the professionals) beneath.

Finest Total: Ghost 16

Execs

• Suits a wide range of foot shapes
• Awarded the APMA seal of acceptance
• Average, snug cushioning

Cons

• Is probably not sufficient padding for individuals who like an opulent really feel

The Ghost has lengthy been a Brooks bestseller—and for good purpose. Whereas nobody shoe is ideal for everybody, this one does have a Sisterhood of the Touring Pants manner of working for a number of foot shapes, John Dewey, PT, ATC, an authorized athletic coach, licensed bodily therapist, and the proprietor of three Fleet Ft specialty working shops in North Carolina, tells SELF. (The truth that it additionally is available in slim, huge, and further huge widths helps too.)

The Ghost has a just-right heel stack, Bermel says: “It’s sufficient cushioning to supply help and influence absorption, however it’s not an excessive amount of cushioning the place you’ll be able to’t really feel the bottom.” The result’s a do-it-all shoe that works for every part from straightforward runs to cross-training to strolling, she provides.

Having logged dozens of miles working within the Ghost 16 myself, I can attest that it lives as much as its identify—I can virtually neglect it’s there, in a great way. But it surely may very well be a draw back for individuals who like an opulent midsole. “If you happen to’re on the lookout for a little bit additional oomph otherwise you need that bouncy feeling, the Ghost might be not the shoe for you,” Bermel says. “It doesn’t have all the additional bells and whistles, however it’s practical, it will get the job accomplished, and it’s snug.”

Finest for Strolling: Habit GTS 15

Execs

• Secure
• Sturdy
• Awarded APMA seal of acceptance

Cons

• Zero heel-to-toe drop could not work for everybody

The Habit GTS 15 has every part that Dr. Thomas appears to be like for in a strolling shoe: stable stability and nice sturdiness. He typically prescribes the Habit for sufferers on the lookout for ache aid, because of the shoe’s GuideRail expertise (a.ok.a. GTS) that’s designed to forestall overpronation or oversupination. In different phrases, it retains your ft aligned accurately so your ankles can’t roll inwards or outwards as you stroll. We additionally like that the shoe’s extra-roomy toe field is designed to accommodate orthotics or insoles, in case you want some extra help.

Finest On a regular basis Shoe: Ghost Max SE

Execs

• Much like the Ghost 16, however with extra cushioning and a decrease heel-to-toe drop
• Nice shock absorption
• Fashionable suede higher

Cons

• Excessive stack could also be too unstable for some
• Solely is available in one width

When Dr. Freels has an extended work day, the Ghost Max “is the one shoe I’ll put on,” she says. “I actually am an enormous fan—I don’t hesitate recommending it to anyone, truthfully.” She says the shoe’s excessive stack of cushioning is nice for shock absorption, particularly for individuals who stand on arduous surfaces all day, like well being care professionals. It’s additionally her go-to for treadmill working.

Bermel provides that she loves how cool the suede higher appears to be like—she’s additionally a fan of the smooth leather-based model, which is a superb candidate for on a regular basis put on.

Finest Day by day Coach: Glycerin 22

Execs

• Plush but responsive cushioning
• Nice power return
• Clean, snug experience

Cons

Within the not-so-distant previous, runners on the lookout for one do-it-all coach had to decide on between a softer, extra cushioned shoe (straightforward on the physique, however typically clunky and gradual) and a handy guide a rough, extra responsive one that may choose up the tempo (at the price of feeling too skinny underfoot). However the brand new Glycerin 22 has the very best of each: a nitrogen-infused midsole with squishier padding within the heel, the place most runners land, and a firmer forefoot for simpler push-offs.

After I examined the Glycerin 22s practically day-after-day, I wore them throughout straightforward runs and exercises on the highway and the treadmill. My pair held up: Though the footwear don’t really feel as space-age as they sound, I discovered that whether or not I used to be going slowly or choosing up the tempo, they struck the precise stability of soppy and springy. (You possibly can learn my full evaluation right here.)

Dr. Freels can also be impressed by the pair’s tech and says that the sneaker’s combo of cushiness and power return “goes to place your physique in a greater place long-term through the gait cycle.”

Finest for Overpronation: Adrenaline GTS 24

Execs

• Guardrails present stability for mild-to-moderate overpronation
• Breathable mesh higher
• Average, smooth cushioning

Cons

• Is probably not sufficient padding for working longer distances
• Some Brooks reviewers say it runs small

The Adrenaline is Brooks’s signature stability, or GTS, shoe, and some of the standard choices for overpronators. It’s made with the model’s GuideRail expertise, a.ok.a. plastic reinforcements, on all sides of the shoe that you can imagine like bumpers at a bowling alley, says Bermel. “They aren’t meant to vary the best way that you just transfer,” she says. “It’s extra to supply help to runners who overpronate, in order that their footwear don’t put on out inconsistently, as a result of that may trigger points down the highway.”

Lee Firestone, DPM, a podiatrist at Foot & Ankle Specialists of the Mid-Atlantic and an avid runner, can personally vouch for the Adrenalines. “I’m a pronator,” he tells SELF. “I feel they’re well-made footwear, and the GuideRails actually do assist with stability for individuals who have pronation, like me.”

Finest for Plantar Fasciitis: Ariel GTS 24

Execs

• Extraordinarily secure
• Additionally nice for correcting overpronation
• Awarded the APMA seal of acceptance

Cons

When a affected person has plantar fasciitis, the percentages are good that Dr. Thomas will advocate the Ariel GTS 24. “Overwhelmingly, the Ariel is without doubt one of the commonest footwear I prescribe for plantar fasciitis,” he says. “It’s simply so darn secure within the rear foot.”

That stability is vital for these with plantar fasciitis, he explains, as a result of any motion out of your foot wiggling round in your shoe throughout your gait cycle can irritate your plantar fascia much more. “One thing just like the Ariel that has the 2 items of plastic on both facet and a wider base goes to cease that toggling forwards and backwards,” Dr. Thomas says.

Finest for Lengthy Distances: Glycerin Max

Execs

• Numerous smooth, bouncy cushioning
• Softer foam within the heel and extra responsive foam within the forefoot
• Rocker form for easy transitions

Cons

• Max cushioning can be an excessive amount of for some runners
• Heavy

“I do know for me, and for lots of runners, they prefer to have some additional cushioning underfoot once they’re going to be on their ft for a very long time,” Bermel says. The Glycerin Max has all that cushioning after which some—an entire 45 millimeters, to be actual.

When SELF’s director of meals and health, Christa Sgobba, CPT, examined a pair, she discovered that they helped save her legs from the pounding of lengthy marathon coaching runs. “On these days, I’ve been notably grateful to succeed in for the Glycerin Max—they actually present that additional dose of TLC that can assist you get by way of that day’s plan,” she wrote in her evaluation.

Bermel agrees: “I prefer it for lengthy runs as a result of it’s received cushion and bounce, however it’s not too smooth, so I really feel like I can nonetheless run at a good tempo,” she says. That stated, she acknowledges that the quantity of cushioning can really feel clunky. “It’s not a shoe the place you might have a way of floor suggestions, which some runners actually like,” she says.

Authentic photograph by SELF author Lauren Wingenroth

Finest for Path Operating: Caldera 8

Execs

• Extensive base for stability
• Fast-drying higher
• Sturdy, grippy outsole

Cons

• Some runners might want much less cushioning on uneven trails
• Solely out there in a single width

What works on the roads doesn’t at all times work on the paths. A stable path shoe ought to have deep lugs on the outsole (like treads on a tire) for grip, a wider base for additional stability on ever-changing terrain, and a protecting higher that gained’t snag on roots and rocks. The Caldera 8’s received all of it—and it’s supercomfortable, Dr. Thomas says.

“On a path, numerous occasions your gait shouldn’t be uniform since you’re avoiding issues like ruts,” he says. “Having a wider midfoot and a wider heel is a recreation changer as a result of it will possibly introduce much more stability—that’s why I just like the Caldera.”