Asics Unveils the Gel-Slowcush, a “Zone 2” Max Cushioning Running Shoe

Asics has unveiled yet another totally new shoe, the Gel-Slowcush.

It’s positioned as a max-cushioned neutral road trainer for those “zone two” heart-rate efforts. In the spirit of max cushioning underfoot, the Slowcush has 48mm of stack under the heel.

It goes on sale globally Oct. 1 for $200 USD.

Asics designed it for easy runs, recovery miles and lower-intensity training rather than for racing or faster workouts. That kind of running has moved toward the center of amateur training advice over the past several years, much of it under the heading of zone 2, a heart rate range of roughly 60 to 70 percent of maximum at which a runner can still hold a conversation.

Paul Lang, senior manager of global product for performance running footwear at Asics, said the company started from the question of how to make easy runs more enjoyable rather than from speed or performance gains.

The specs

Asics lists the Gel-Slowcush at 48mm of stack under the heel and 40mm at the forefoot, an 8mm drop. It weighs 298 grams (10.5 ounces) in U.S. M9/W10.5. The shoe is sold in unisex sizing rather than in separate men’s and women’s lasts, running from a men’s 4.5 to a men’s 14.

Two new cushioning materials sit in the midsole. FF Luxe Plus is a new foam that runs the length of the shoe and does most of the cushioning work. Beneath it in the heel sits PureGel Plus, the newest version of the gel insert Asics has used in running shoes for decades.

Asics has changed how that gel is made. The company now physically foams it, expanding the material with gas so that it forms a hexagonal cell structure rather than a solid block. Asics says the process makes the gel about 20 percent lighter than the previous PureGel while compressing more softly under a landing, and that the cell structure keeps the cushioning from bottoming out under full body weight.

The outsole, which Asics calls Hybrid Asicsgrip, pairs the company’s softer Asicsgrip rubber for traction with its harder-wearing Aharplus compound in higher-wear areas. The upper is engineered mesh with a padded tongue. The shoe launches in two colorways, orange glow/tomato and soft oat/simply taupe.

A crowded category

Nike and Brooks have both sold well in the max-cushion category over the past three years. Nike’s Vomero Premium stands at 55mm in the heel and sells for $230. Brooks launched the Ghost Max in 2023 and the Glycerin Max in 2024, and now sells the Glycerin Max 2 at 45mm for $200 and the Ghost Max 3 at 39mm for $160.

These shoes share a very high stack of unusually soft foam tuned to feel plush rather than responsive, based on the premise that most runners cover most of their weekly mileage at an easy effort.

Asics already sells the Gel-Nimbus 28 and the Glideride Max, which could be seen as adjacent territory to the max cushioning category. The Gel-Slowcush is very much a new franchise rather than an update to either.

Marathon Handbook received test pairs ahead of the announcement, and they are on the feet of our test runners now. A full review will follow on our YouTube channel shortly.