Reviews

As someone who has been into the world of “functional fitness” for some time now, I have been through a lot of different training shoes. Some of these shoes have been pretty great while others…well..you gotta have something to mow the lawn in!

The Reebok Nanoflex TR 2.0s and the GORUCK Ballistic Trainers are two of my “modern era” favorite training shoes and, with enough niche similarities to categorize them together, breaking down the pros and cons of each shoe is a no brainer.

The ATX Gold bar markets itself as a “powerlifting barbell”…

Thankfully, it lives up to it’s full namesake; if you’re looking to get serious about powerlifting, this could easily become your everyday, “go-to” barbell.

I never had allusions that the NOBULL Cupsole Trainers would become my new “go-to” training shoes, I was excited to see what the hype (or, to be honest, lack thereof, given their relationship with CrossFit) was all about.

…and yeah…they’re shoes…interesting shoes.

Not “bad” shoes…but…interesting shoes…

The Rucker – Long Range is one of the company’s, for lack of a better term, “secondary” offerings. It doesn’t get the same press or attention of the flagship rucks of the GR series or even of the Bullet offerings, however, it might be the most “ruck-like” of any of the bags in GORUCK’s inventory.

KingsBox’s “The Great Bar”) is one of many of the brand’s multi-functional bars. It does a lot of things well, while also being a durable enough to handle just about any task.

If you’re looking for a garage gym centerpiece barbell (or only barbell), this is one that is definitely up to the task.

The Spirit B52 and Raptor F22 are two of MAJOR FITNESS’ flagship products. The F22 gets the (slight) nod here due to its slightly smaller space requirements and lower price tag, however, the merit attributed to this distinction is largely based on personal preference. Ultimately, both of these machines get the job done.

(the “job” being facilitating a legit home gym workout)

The Spirit B52 combines everything you could generally ask for in a standard home power rack with the luxury of a Smith Machine. While most people probably don’t go out of their way to purchase a combination machine like it, they almost certainly would not regret the extra functionality and exercise versatility it presents.

The Rough Runners primarily attempt to serve this decreasingly niche fitness requirement, banking on the more nimble members of their consumer base being dissatisfied with how their ruck running sessions feel in “traditional” running shoes and less-than-satisfied with how some of their other offerings just don’t seem like the right shoe for the job.

And in my experiences with the shoes, they do a pretty good job.

If you’re looking for an all-in-one home gym solution, Major Lutie’s/Major Fitness’ Raptor F22 is an excellent choice. It’s solidly built, simple to assemble, and provides a range of optionality that covers just about every exercise you could want to perform.

It has a sleek, dynamic design, an attractive color scheme, and should fit comfortably into most garages or basements without compromising on the space one needs to easily perform any exercise.

I know when I was looking for my first “real” ruck that I had to sift through a lot of bags that looked like (and were priced like) expensive travel luggage…when all I wanted to do was carry around 20 or 30 pounds worth of ruck plates.

Thankfully, the GORUCK Bullet ruck was there to bail me out!

Let’s discuss why the GORUCK Bullet is the best “starter ruck” for rucking enthusiasts and why it makes for a better “investment” than some cheaper and more expensive options.