Shoes
Apparently this is long over-due. I’ve needed to write an article about shoes and footwear for way to long. The funny thing is what acted at the catalyst for this article.
Here’s the background to the story: A few weeks ago a new client joined our Newport Beach fitness and Transformation Facility™. She came into the facility, checkout out the place and then we sat down to begin her consultation. We chatted for a bit and in the process I learned that she’s been an avid exerciser most of her life and that she typically exercises 3-4 days a week. She has a gym membership and the majority of her exercise came in the form of walking, swimming and some light weight bearing activity performed mostly on machines. She’s had a couple of “personal trainers” but never a professional coach. She also seemed to eat a relatively balanced healthy diet. In short my point is this; this woman is not a complete newbie when it comes to exercise. In actuality she’s been doing this for quite some time.
In the first few times working with her I notice a direct correlation between her shoes and a lack of stability. Basically every time she performed a movement barefoot, her stability was decent and every time she performed a movement in her tennis shoes, her stability was poor.
It might have had something to do with the fact that her tennis shoes were at least 7-8 years old. In fact she got them second hand from her daughter and “couldn’t exactly remember how old they were.”
The reason for her instability was simple: her shoes were shot! There was no support left at all. In fact she was much more stable barefoot than in her old tennis shoes.
Throughout the years I’ve had many conversations with shoe experts, sports performance coaches and rehab professionals regarding shoe technology, longevity and durability. On the whole I’ve learned several important factors to take into consideration about athletic shoes.
1) The first and most important is that most athletic shoes are only designed to last 3-12 months. Even if the use is minimal most tennis shoes will begin to structurally break down after a year. If your feet hurt then it’s time to buy a new pair! And if your shoes are older than one year…buy a new pair.
2) The bottoms of the sole are not an indication of how much life is left in the shoe. This is not a tire….it is a tennis shoe. Just because you can see sole left and they still “look good”, does not mean that your shoes are still good.
3) At the very bare minimum use one pair of shoes only for training. Every time a see a gym rat or casual exerciser use their “gym” shoes for casual outings, washing the car and grocery shopping it makes me cringe. Buy at least one pair of shoes and keep them as your gym shoes. You wouldn’t wear ice skates to walk around the park, now would you?
4) When picking a pair of “gym” shoes I typically recommend a flatter soled tennis shoe, especially for weightlifting. The Nike free, Vibram Five Finger, Converse All Star (aka Chuck Taylor) wrestling shoe or similar work great for this purpose.
5) If you are a “runner” / enjoy aerobic based workouts I suggest also having a pair running shoes. Avoid mixing and matching. The stressors and loads placed on the shoe for each application will vary greatly and so will the shoe breakdown and molding of your foot.
6) Avoid buying “running” shoes for heavy weight lifting. Not only do most running shoes have a significant lift heal lift (which is not ideal for most weight training) but they are also not built to withstand the forces and pressures of weight bearing activity. In my early days of heavy weight training I would go through a new $70-$100 pair of running shoes every 2-3 months. “Then a light bulb went off”, and I realized that these shoes were not built to handle heavy loads. Looking back, it seems so obvious, but at the time I had no clue. And to this day most people still lift weights in running shoes.
7) One of my general guidelines when buying a new pair of athletic shoes is if it immediately feels very comfortable and natural when you put it on; it is probably a good fit. I also suggest trying on more than one brand/model until you find the shoe that feels just right.
8) You do not always get what you pay for when it comes to athletic shoes. For example if you buy a pair of shoes near the end of 2009 just before the 2010 model comes out, you can typically save 20-40%. Also, and this may come as a shock to some but many of the top well known brands put a huge percent of their dollars into marketing instead of shoe technology.
9) Avoid buying shoes based on looks alone. Within the last few years a huge trend of non athletic shoe companies began putting out a plethora of shoes that only “look good”. These shoes are not actually designed for anything athletic. They are only designed to look “cute” so you will buy them. Avoid buying shoes from non athletic based companies.
10) Last but not least, in case you are wondering what brands I recommend beyond the shoes I’ve already mentioned, I personally have found that Asics and New Balance seem to work well for most people and they have excellent technology.