Seven tips to get the best running shoes, and why your arch height isn’t that important
Over the years, there have been many pearls of wisdom when it comes to running shoes: high arch, low arch, over cushioned and barefoot. Here are seven experts’ tips to get you up and running
Choosing the right running shoe has never been easy. There are so many shoe companies and so many models, each touting various hi-tech features. How is a buyer supposed to make the smartest choice?
Now is the season to figure it out. With running – on streets and on trails – in full swing, lots of runners are looking for new footwear. Fortunately – almost amazingly – many experts believe shoe buying is getting simpler. You don’t need a computer algorithm.
A few years ago, “minimalist shoes,” designed to mimic barefoot running, were all the rage. The theory might have been good, but the results weren’t.
“To borrow from Winston Churchill, never has so much damage been done to so many by such little shoes,” Washington podiatrist Stephen Pribut says. In particular, many runners suffered forefoot pains and sometimes stress fractures because of the lack of cushioning. Others complained of calf strains and Achilles tendinitis.
A backlash followed quickly, but so did a new approach among shoe companies. Although they brought back thick cushioning, they also abandoned bulky devices intended to increase motion control.