Best Max Cushion Running Shoes 2024: Five Favorites for Recovery Runs and Long Days on Your Feet

Introduction

Max cushion shoes have a simple job: make every step feel comfortable, whether that step is part of a recovery jog, a long slow distance run, or a full day spent on your feet. In 2024 the category got stronger than ever, with brands experimenting with new foams and new takes on what plushness should feel like. Here are five favorites, from a classic tall-stack option to the softest shoe of the year.

New Balance Fresh Foam X More v5

The Fresh Foam X More v5 earns its place as the best of what traditional max cushion had to offer. It has a very tall stack height that leans slightly firm rather than marshmallow soft, which turns out to be a strength: the firmness, combined with a really wide footprint, gives the shoe a good amount of stability and plenty of surface for your foot to land on, so it never feels like it is caving in under you.

The updates this year make it noticeably more comfortable as a run-walk shoe or an all-day shoe for hours on your feet, and it works well for long distance efforts too. If you want the classic interpretation of max cushion, this is the strongest example of it.

Under Armour Infinite Elite

Under Armour has not been a regular presence in max cushion conversations, but the Infinite Elite changes that with a very promising entry. It uses a beaded foam whose exact composition Under Armour has not disclosed, and the feel sits somewhere between classic beaded foams of a few years back and more recent pace-versatile compounds: comfortable cushioning with a genuine amount of responsiveness.

The upper carries the generous plush padding typical of the category, and there is real heft to the shoe overall. It is not the pick for fast or very long efforts, but when you want extra comfort while still keeping some pep in the ride, it hits a sweet spot.

ASICS Glide Ride Max

The Glide Ride Max is a comeback story. Thought to be discontinued, the line returns with a familiar, Nimbus-like upper and a dual-foam setup that includes FF BLAST Max, a layer making its debut here before appearing elsewhere in the ASICS lineup.

What sets it apart from the Nimbus is the foam feel: a really nice amount of squish that feels great the day after a hard session, plus a smooth rolling ride that makes longer easy runs feel extra comfortable. If you want a plush shoe specifically for easy mileage, this one is an easy pick.

Puma Magnify Nitro Max

New for 2024, the Magnify Nitro Max uses nitrogen-injected NITRO foam in an unusually clever way. Normally this type of foam runs firm for daily training and recovery, but Puma’s formula tinkering produces a shoe that is very soft while staying very bouncy. It is a bit on the heavy side with a wide footprint, which makes it harder to wrangle at faster paces, so it is not really a long-run-racing kind of max cushion shoe.

As a modern max cushion trainer, though, it is excellent: a pleasure to step into on recovery days, with enough bounce that it eagerly rolls through mile after mile without the usual penalty of this category.

Brooks Glycerin Max

The top spot goes to the Glycerin Max, a shoe that instantly stood out from the moment it was first tried. It has a very tall stack of DNA Tuned foam, another example of a brand reshaping nitrogen-injected foam to deliver softness and pep at the same time. Brooks does it with two different foam densities that work together for great comfort while keeping a bit of liveliness.

Compared with the Puma, the Glycerin Max leans even harder into cushion at a slight cost in bounce, and that is exactly the point: in this category, extra plushness is not a flaw. It delivers the most comfort of any max cushion shoe of 2024, and it shows Brooks experimenting with foams in genuinely new directions.

Conclusion

Max cushion in 2024 is not one single feel. The More v5 is the best classic tall-stack take, the Infinite Elite balances plushness with responsiveness, the Glide Ride Max nails easy-day comfort, the Magnify Nitro Max adds bounce to softness, and the Glycerin Max goes furthest of all toward pure cushion. Pick the one whose balance of softness and pep matches the runs you actually do.