Minimalist shoes, running shoes, cross-training sneakers, weightlifting shoes. As sports physical therapists, personal trainers and performance coaches in McLean and Bethesda, we are asked all sorts of footwear questions. If you are like me, and do several different things, it may seem that you need a special shoe for each activity.
In my closet you can find running, hiking, cross-training, basketball, and special weightlifting shoes. But these days I mostly use 1 pair for all of my training.
I’m more of a generalist now. I dabble in many different things but spend most of my “fitness time” exercising in the gym. Sorry ego, my days of being a specialist are behind me.
If you are training for a particular sport or are a high-level runner, you are a specialist and likely need a special shoe for your sport (and the footwear recommendations in a sports physical therapy setting will be different). But if you are a generalist like me, you need a shoe that is comfortable, designed for your foot type, and can do everything that you need.
Here are 3 things that you should look for to choose the right shoe for you.
- It must have a firm and snug heel cup. Your heel sits at the base of the shoe, in a place called the heel cup. The heels cup should fit snugly around your heel and should not be much wider than your heel itself. This prevents your heel from sliding within the shoe, which may negatively impact foot mechanics.
- The shoe must have a toe break that bends where you toes bend. Place your shoe on the ground and hold it there. Pull the front of your shoe up from under it. The folding point of the shoe should be located where your toes bend. If your shoe folds at another location, your shoe is not accommodating to the mechanics of your foot and can lead to breakdown within the structure of the foot itself.
- You should be able to feel the entirety of both your feet on the ground as you are standing still in your shoes. People are often unable to feel their arches, which results in more stress on the areas that have more contact with the ground.
There are 26 bones and 30 joints within the foot. This results in many ways that our foot can compensate but these 3 tips can help solve these issues.
Would you like help finding the right brand and model shoe for you? Our performance physical therapy team would be happy to provide you with recommendations based on the brands and models that are on the market right now!
