There’s no question that aesthetics mean a ton when we make sneaker purchases. For us, our kicks are separated into two categories: street and gym, and yes most of them are something we can easily rock while we run errands. That said, even though we try to buy shoes specifically for our workouts, we too make uninformed choices.

For those who work out for a living, comfort and performance always come first, which can lead to some pretty unexpected gym choices. For instance, more than one instructor told us that a go-to shoe for themselves and their clients is the Converse Chuck Taylor Classic—a shoe that you typically wouldn’t associate with heavy duty workouts.

Intrigued? We were, too. So to find out what sneakers these instructors actually work out in, we sent them a few questions (the what and the why) for an in-depth look at what works best for targeted workouts. After all, these are the shoes they wear to teach multiple classes a day, dash from gym to gym, and do workouts of their own.

Scroll down to discover the best sneakers for your training session, from the instructors that know best.

Name:

Janna Harris ( IG: barreinyourbedroom)

Where You Can Find Her:

Private Barre Studio / Barre and Bites Events (follow @barreandbites on IG for event dates and details)

Sneakers Janna Loves

Nike Roshe One Training Shoes : Roshe’s are my absolute favorite. I have super flat feet, so I need something stable, but not too much arch support or I'll be in pain for days! The Roshe training shoes are lightweight, durable and easily go from a light cardio session to the weight room, and if they're black, they're perfect and go with everything!

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Converse Chuck Taylor: They're comfortable (for me - again with the flat feet), totally suitable for a weightlifting session. Again, if they're black, they're perfect :)

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A Good Pair of Barre Socks: Because my favorite form of training is barre, I truly spend a lot of "workout time" barefoot or in barre socks. Overall, I always select a shoe that is comfortable. I workout hard, so my body will already be sore enough from the physical stress, I don't want my shoes to add to any soreness or interfere with my biomechanics (gait). In fact, the right shoe should help combat some soreness (and definitely injury) by providing the appropriate level of shock absorption, compression and stability throughout the workout.

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Name:

Jeremy Dumenil ( IG: jeremydumenil)

Where You Can Find Him:

Personal Training (By Appointment Only);

Bootcamp:

Desoto High School 4:30 a.m. MTTH

Les Zeiger Park 8:00 a.m. MTTH

Les Zeiger Park 5:00 & 6:15 p.m. MW

Hampton Uplift 5:30 p.m. TTH

Sneakers Jeremy Loves

Reebok CrossFit Nano - all cross training

Converse Chuck Taylor - weightlifting

Nike Metcon 2 - cross training

All 3 pairs of shoes are great for weight training, which should be the foundation of almost every exercise routine. They are still lightweight to allow for running, sprinting, and functional training at the same time. The flat shoe forces your feet to remain grounded in a squat and helps prevent your heel coming off the ground or too much movement in the shoe. This will help you focus more on other areas of your movements.

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Check out 3 more Trainers and the kicks they love