Choosing the right running shoe has never been easy.
Besides such usual variables as style, price, make, model, comfort and fit, runners also spend time considering more technical features such as cushioning and stability.
In recent years, however, the debate about what runners put on their feet has heated up. From the au naturel crowd who think shoes are unnecessary altogether, to the more conservative wave of runners who believe in shoes but not their technology, there’s a distinct shift away from the old rules of choosing shoes.
Cushioning, once considered the primary measure of a shoe’s worth, has dropped down the list of a shoe’s must-haves. So, too, have stability features, which are designed to correct biomechanical flaws. Today runners are told to rely on perfect mechanics instead of the perfect pair of shoes if they want to reduce their risk of injury.
Those mechanics include shifting from striking the ground heel first to landing mid- to forefoot first. In fact, say those who support a forefoot landing, switching from landing on your heel to landing on the front of your foot reduces so much of the impact stress that running shoes no longer need their customary well cushioned heel to reduce the risk of injury.
That shift in philosophy has caused considerable confusion among those who have spent most of their running lives pounding the pavement in cushioned shoes laden with technology. Add to the fact that there’s no proof changing your shoes or how your foot makes contact with the ground will keep runners injury free, and the confusion among average runners is justified.
The barefoot fad has died down, leaving most runners to choose a shoe that lands somewhere between the technology-laden model of old and the minimalist style that features little more than a thin sole and upper. This stripped down version of running shoe has a lower profile heel with decidedly less cushioning and minimal stability features.
Does that mean runners need to abandon shoes that have served them well for decades and buy into this new fad of running shoes?
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
http://www.thepodiatrist.co.nz
