Arsenal FC’s Trainers – The PUMA Ignite XT

If you’ve been looking at the English Premier League in the USA you would have noticed PUMA’s new training spots featuring the all new IGNITE XT training shoes being by Arsenal FC, Manchester City’s Sergio “Kun” Aguero and sprint god Usain Bolt.

We’ve been training to maintain our match fitness in the PUMA IGNITE XT as well over the past couple of week. This is our World Exclusive review of the statement product in PUMA’s second Forever Faster campaign.

Technical Specifications

Here is a look at the key features and what’s under the hood of the IGNITE XT from PUMA.

Ignite your training sessions. Our all new IGNITE XT – a version of our super-responsive IGNITE running shoes specially engineered for cross-training – is geared for athletes looking to maximize energy and movement throughout their high intensity workouts.

It’s packed with performance-enhancing features. We’re talking a full-length IGNITE foam midsole for optimal responsiveness and energy return; flex grooves to enable fast, multi-directional movement and agility; and additional heel thickness at the sides to support side-to-side movements. The shoe’s mesh upper design offers lightweight flexibility and an incredibly comfortable fit.

Aesthetics

The PUMA IGNITE XT comes in a slew of colorways. The one that you will see in PUMA’s commercials is the stunning Cloisonné-poseidon / Sulphur spring (bright blue and bright yellow for us simpletons) version of the shoe. The women’s version of the IGNITE XT that we trialed is the tamer Clearwater-blue / Coral sulphur spring combination. Options about for those preferring a more traditional look including black and white.

Regardless of what color is chosen, the IGNITE XT is a stunning specimen of athletic footwear. It is one of those shoes that look better in person that they do in web media. We were particularly fond of the way that the two separate mesh portions of the upper was combined with its synthetic part. The mesh on the outside of the shoe has a very cool boomerang shape that ends on the forefoot area.

The PUMA branding on the IGNITE XT is well done with an outside Formstripe that has a gradient effect blending dark blue and neon yellow. The PUMA No.1 logo on the tongue and PUMA Cat on the heel add more elements of the brand’s iconic symbols to the shoe. The Cat also appears on the inner part of the upper in the women’s version of the shoe.

Wear the PUMA IGNITE XT and you’ll have the fellow fitness-minded asking about it within a couple of trips to your gym, CrossFit box or wherever you train.

Fit

The PUMA IGNITE XT fits true to size so get it in your normal training shoe size.

The first thing we noticed when trying the shoe on was its innovative lacing system. As you can see from our pictures, the outside of the tongue area opens up to let you slip your foot into the shoe while the inside is connected to the rest of the upper. This makes it extremely easy to get your foot into the shoe and assists with obtaining a fit of your liking after adjusting the laces.

Once on the foot the IGNITE XT offers a very sock like fit and requires no breaking in. We started using them for training right after slipping them on and experienced absolutely no issues with them while doing so.

Ride

PUMA has used their groundbreaking IGNITE foam for the entire length of the IGNITE XT’s midsole. The result is an extremely comfortable and springy ride. The feel on the sole of the foot is similar to what you’d experience when wearing any high-end cushioned running shoe. One of our testers currently battling with planar fasciitis raved about the cushioning of the XT and how it resulted in him feeling less pain in his sole even while running.

The PUMA IGNITE XT comes with a full heel counter that offers good foot stability. We found this to provide a great deal of support when engaged in any move that involved side to side motion. The result is a training shoe that ha a fantastic ride in any direction that you are moving in.

In the Gym

The PUMA IGNITE XT is a pure cross trainer whose natural habtat is the gym. It is built for and worked well for just about any weightlifting or plyometric move that we did with it.

The IGNITE XT provide good support for any standing upper body weightlifting move such as bicep curls or triceps press downs. It also gave us good footing during pressing moves such as dumbbell bench presses.  The shoe’s real merit, however, is experienced when doing compound moves such as snatches and clean and jerks. In each case we found the combination of cushioning and stability that it provided to be second to none.

A key feature of the PUMA IGNITE XT is its EverTrack high abrasion resistant rubber outsole. It’s a very textured area of the shoe that lends itself well to any movement where traction is beneficial. We enjoyed the connective feel that it gave with the foot plates of gym leg specific equipment such as the leg press and calf raise machines.

The Deadlift Test

The deadlift is one of the mack daddies of any cross training gym repertoire. That’s why you will see Usain Bolt doing it in the PUMA IGNITE XT spot below. To do your best at this back and leg building move you‘ve got to have you feet firmly planted on the ground, room for toe splay and good heel support.

We put the IGNITE XT through four sets of twelve deadlifts with a minute of rest between each set. Our male test moved 175 pounds per rep. Our finding was that the XT did everything we needed it to do for the deadlift. This was to the point where we did not even think about the footwear we were wearing – a definite benefit when in the midst of what can be an asskicking compound exercise.

Ventilation

PUMA’s designers used their open air weave mesh for most of the IGNITE XT’s upper. It’s a lightweight, comfortable modern fabric that works well to keep the feet cool during workouts. While training in the IGNITE XT our testers experienced no heat spots or overheating of the feet. Because of this the XT did not retain moisture on the inside resulting in the need to air them out.

Durability

After two weeks of constant wear our testers report that the PUMA IGNITE XT is holding up well and shows little sign of wear other that the normal creasing of the upper in the forefoot area. They did point out that the shoe’s high tech sole looks as good as it did coming out of the box. These should last for at least a year of regular use.

Value

The PUMA IGNITE XT has an MSRP of $90. This is on the low side for a cross trainer nowadays. This makes the shoe a steal given the versatility and excellent performance that we experienced with it. If you’re looking to get your fitness on like Arsenal, Kun Aguero or Usain Bolt this fall then we definitely recommend checking out the IGNITE XT.