Meet the Brooks daily trainer 10 years in the making

To win a race, or even accomplish a big goal, you have to anticipate what’s coming next. On Wednesday in San Antonio, Texas, Brooks unveiled its answer: the all-new Glycerin Flex, a shoe the brand says marks a new era in running footwear. It’s Brooks’s first “flex-tech” training shoe, built to work with the foot so runners can move more naturally from stride to stride.

The Glycerin Flex is the result of a decade of conversations with runners, paired with years of research and biomechanics testing. Brooks fused human insight with modern shoe tech to push ahead in a crowded category, where every brand is chasing the next breakthrough. The brand claims the Glycerin Flex is the first natural-movement, high-cushion neutral trainer built to let the foot take the lead, enabling smoother transitions and a smoother stride.

Specs

Category: Neutral cushion
Offset/Drop: 6 mm
Stack height: 36 mm at heel, 30 mm at toe 
Price: US$170.00
Release: Jan 30, 2026

Upper 

The Glycerin Flex’s engineered flat-knit upper will feel familiar to Brooks fans, as it draws inspiration from previous Glycerin and Hyperion models. It’s a one-piece knit with a traditional tongue, designed to provide secure comfort without excess structure, letting the shoe support the foot where each runner needs it most.

Midsole

The major shift from the standard Glycerin to the Glycerin Flex is the stack height. While the original Glycerin sits tall at 38 mm, the Flex drops significantly to a more grounded 36 mm, with a 6-mm heel-to-toe drop.

The midsole uses Brooks’s DNA Tuned nitrogen-infused foam, which the brand describes as softer under the heel for impact absorption and firmer under the forefoot for responsiveness. Their DNA label reflects the foam’s ability to adapt, responding to each runner’s stride to create a more personalized feel.

Outsole

According to the product team, the outsole on the Glycerin Flex took the longest to develop. Their goal was to create an outsole that moves like the sole of your foot; the result is a new S-groove geometry that flexes and shifts with a runner’s natural gait, holding its form from the first mile to the last. Runners crave the smooth feel and transitions just as much as cushioning, and the Glycerin Flex’s outsole is built around that idea.