The shoes? It’s gotta be the shoes!

Posted In: ChiRunning | Fitness | Running May 10th, 2011 divider No Comments »

Shoes is one of the topics I get asked the most when I do talks or teach workshops. In the running world, t’s almost as controversial as stretching!

My advice with shoes is as follows:

1) Less is usually more
-The less obstruction you have with the ground, the more your feet can give you feedback. It might feel weird at first since your feet will actually have to do some of the work but it will pay off in the long run. Just make sure you read #3.

2) Fit is everything
-You can have the greatest shoe on, but if it doesn’t fit your foot, you’re wasting your time and your money. It should fit like a slipper, and trust me it does happen when you get the right shoe. With the recent explosion of minimalist shoes, your foot doesn’t need to conform to the constraints of a shoe. Now you can get a shoe that fits your foot!

3) Baby steps
-Your body will adapt to just about anything you put it through. If you’ve been wearing big bulky shoes for the past 40 years (for either walking or running or both), make sure you slowly transition to the new shoes. Taking your time will help with injuries. You can have great form but if you do too much too soon in your new shoes, you’re still very likely to get injured.

Here’s a great article from ChiRunning guru Danny Dreyer about minimalist shoes.  It gives you a bit of theory behind their recommendations and a quick history lessons on shoes as well.

I don’t recommend one model versus another, I tell people to go and try a bunch on to see what fits and what feels good. But if you have good form, try to stick to minimalist shoes or at least neutral stuff. You’ll see that you will save money and your feet in the long run!

As always, send me your questions, I can talk about shoes forever it seems…