Choosing Proper Footwear for Your Workout!

         This is one of the most important decisions that you will make as you begin (or continue) on your exercise journey. When performing exercise, you are putting quite a bit of stress on your feet, especially if you are doing high impact activities that involve jumping or sprinting. If your feet are supported and cushioned properly, you are at risk for injury or developing blisters. Nothing will cut a workout shorter than a few painful blisters. Exercise can be demanding enough as is. There’s no need to subject your self to additional pain! There are a few factors that will determine what type of shoes is best for you: what exercise you will be doing, your natural gait, and the anatomy of your feet.

Let’s get to the bottom of this.

Your feet may have a normal arch, flat arch or high arch. If you are unsure, the best way to test this is to wet the bottom of your foot and step onto a paper bag or a piece of paper. The imprint that your foot makes will tell you what type of arch you have.

A normal arch is the most common of the three. The imprint will look like this.

This gives you more freedom in the shoes you just because just about any shoe will do you justice. You may choose a shoe with more stability or cushioned support, but it’s really up to your preferences.

If your arch is flat as shown below, you probably have a tendency to overpronate. 

This means that the inner parts of your feet come into contact with the ground too much when you walk or run. They roll inward excessively. You can find evidence of this if you look at the bottom of your shoes and the parts of the your shoe that run down the big-toe side are more worn down. When you overpronate, you excessively move your foot, which increases the risk for injury. You need shoes that provide a lot of stability to prevent this from happening. It would also be beneficial to select shoes that have arches formed into the soles. Neutral arches appear flat when you look at them. This provides support and prevents you from overpronating as much.

A high arch increases your tendency to underpronate, which is when your foot does not roll inward enough. You will then put quite a lot of stress your legs because your feet don’t absorb the shock of high impact. 

If you look at the bottom of an old pair of shoes, you will see that the outer parts of your shoe are more worn down. You should select shoes with a neutral sole and with stability to reduce how much you underpronate.

Okay, if this was confusing, don’t fret. If you go into a proper shoe store, they should be able to help you find what’s best. Some stores even have a treadmill in the store and the employee will observe you run and help you from there! Just make your best effort to select shoes especially for your type of foot and gait.

Now that we’ve discussed foot anatomy and gait, let’s talk about how the type of exercise you do affects your choice. Firstly, remember to choose a shoe size that offers a bit of wiggle room. You should be able to squeeze the very tip of your shoe and feel some space. You shouldn’t be grabbing your toes. This means your shoe is too small. Don’t just choose a smaller shoe because it’s cuter and it makes your foot look more petite.

If you will be primarily walking, lightweight, ventilated shoes with a rounded toe will be best for you. A flexible sole will provide some comfort.

If you will be running, pay close attention to the type of foot that you have as this will affect your choice. Refer back to that section! Lightweight shoes are preferable. Knowledgeable staff at a running gear store can provide some help.

If you are doing agility work, cross fit, aerobics, boot camp, or dance, you will probably be making sharp movements and alternating between high and low impact. You need shoes that provide safety first to lower injury risk. The safest type of shoe to go with should have stable ankle support, flexible soles and neutral arches.

So, I know this was a long blog, but I do hope it was helpful and that you make carefully weighted decisions when buying shoes in the future!