Reebok Legacy Lifter 3 Review – My Raw Opinion

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This article is a transcription of my video review found on the ListedFit YouTube channel. Make sure you go over there and subscribe!

I’m going to try the Reebok Legacy Lifter 3 out for myself and share some of my thoughts on the shoe.

What’s the fit like, how do they perform, not forgetting this pump feature that they’ve added, are they worth an upgrade and overall, do I think they’re worth an investment?

These are the long-awaited Legacy Lifter 3 from Reebok. 

Now the newest thing you will notice is the pump feature. If you aren’t sure about what this is, it’s basically a way of giving you an even more snug fit in the shoe. After you’ve laced them up.

So you lace them up and strap them just as usual and then give the pump just a few presses to feel the air compartments in the upper surround your foot. 

You could call it a throwback from the Reebok archives. The first Reebok pumps came out in 1989 in a pair of basketball shoes and I remember in the 90s asking my parents for a pair of Shaq Attaqs and not getting them. 

It was a cool feature, you could argue whether it was actually effective and it sort of came and then went away, and now it’s back.

Are the Legacy Lifter 3 True-To-Size?

I would say that yes they are true to size. Order your regular size in these. And also bear in mind that these shoes do take a bit of breaking in so if they feel a bit rigid at the beginning for you, that will change over time.

Legacy Lifter 2 vs 3

How Different are the Legacy Lifter 3 from the 2?

There really isn’t really much difference between the Reebok Legacy Lifter 3 and Legacy Lifter 2. 

You get the same materials in the upper, the lacing and eyelets are pretty much the same and the design is the same. The narrowness of the shoe overall feels the same too, this is something I had hoped Reebok played with because I found the Legacy Lifter 2 to be very tight and narrow in the forefoot.

I get it, some people prefer a more narrow shoe, but personally, I prefer a bit more toe space to splay my toes out a little bit and improve my balance. Especially in a shoe that I’m doing squats in.

Things like this are why I think a lot of people are moving towards barefoot and minimalist shoes for working out. Narrow shoes just aren’t effective for everyone and I completely get it. Check out our piece about minimalist shoes on the main website. 

They’re not very different from the 2 at all and that was disappointing. Reebok is making no secret about the pump being the main star of the show here.

How Did the Pump Feel in the Legacy Lifter 3?

So I just put them on and worked out as I normally do and I squatted with and without using the pump

They performed well as a lifter but the fact of the matter is this:

After you’ve laced them up and then put the strap on them, I didn’t really feel that I needed any extra snugness and even so, after I pressed the pump a few times and then did my next set of squats, I didn’t really feel that much difference. 

A bit disappointing.

In my mind, I had imagined that the pump compartment would go throughout the whole shoe and maybe make me feel even more stable in this shoe. Maybe the sides and the ankle would get some pump, but the air compartment is literally only in the tongue of the shoe. 

It left me wondering to myself what’s the point of this addition apart from a nostalgia trip. 

Are They Legacy Lifter 3 Worth the Upgrade?

If you have the Legacy Lifter 2 already or you see the Legacy Lifter 2 on special offer, you might be wondering to yourself whether you should go for the Legacy Lifter 3.

Having tried both of these shoes, in my honest opinion, if you have the Legacy Lifter 2s already, keep them, give them a hug and be thankful that you have them. If you can get the Legacy Lifter 2 at a discount, which is going to be very likely right now as this new model is out,  I would honestly grab the discounted Legacy Lifter 2. 

Reebok Legacy Lifter 3 Review – Summing Things Up…

I like the pump feature but I think it only works as a fun feature. The nostalgic vibe I got when I first heard about these shoes up until the point when they arrived was there

However, once I put them on and pumped them up to see how effective they were, I was quite disappointed. 

I think if Reebok had released a pump version of the Legacy Lifter 2 as a special edition, I would probably have bought it and been cool with the added feature. 

But because they’ve done this on the full release it feels kind of gimmicky. The pump feature addition doesn’t do enough for me to jump for joy about it. If it’s about giving people a better fit to give a feeling of securing the foot better, an extra strap like the Legacy Lifter one had would have made more sense as a consideration.

I don’t think the pump enhances performance enough and it just gives me the idea that this was done for the wrong reasons. 

It’s my belief and I stand by it that sometimes brands get bored and add features that nobody really asked for or needed, they just throw things out there and see if it works. Sometimes they get away with it and sometimes they don’t. And in this instance, they don’t.

The shoe itself is good enough, but still a little too much on the narrow side for me, but that’s something you could argue is a personal preference rather than something that makes a shoe bad or not. And I think that Reebok know they had a good shoe with the previous model, they just didn’t know what to do with it. 

If they had changed a couple of things with the previous model such as addressing the space in the toe box and maybe used different materials in the upper and then released that as a special edition without even having this pump feature it would have been a better experience. 

But I feel like these just didn’t do enough to make me stop using my Romaleos.

Let me know what you think of the Reebok Legacy Lifter 3 with the pump, will you go for them?

Let me know in the comments below. 

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Reebok Legacy Lifter 3 Review- The FAQs

Are Legacy Lifter 3 True to Size?

Now the answer to the question of are the Legacy Lifter 3 true to size is that yes they are, after trying them for myself I would say to go ahead and order your original size.

However, something you need to be aware of when it comes to how do Legacy Lifters fit is that the Reebok Legacy Lifter 3 just like the Legacy Lifter 2 before it (which is pretty much the same shoe) is a very narrow shoe. If you’re somebody with wide feet, you may have a bit of difficulty with the fit of these shoes.

It is recommended to order a half-size larger

TL;DR Are the Legacy Lifter 3 true-to-size? yes, they are, but if you have wide feet, consider ordering a larger size.

What Is the Legacy Lifter 3 Heel Height?

When it comes to the question of what is the Legacy Lifter 3 heel height, one of the key features of the Reebok Legacy Lifter 3 is its heel elevation of 0.86 inches or 22mm, as mentioned, the Legacy Lifter 3 is pretty much the same as the Legacy Lifter 2 in many ways, including the heel height.

The Legacy Lifter 3 is a very stable shoe with a slightly higher elevation than many others.

The higher heel elevation allows the user better ankle mobility and deeper squats, which is essential for powerlifting and Olympic lifting movements.

T:;DR The heel height of the Reebok Legacy Lifter 3 is 22mm