The ‘Sole’ Importance in Shopping Running Shoes

Running is one activity we often get involve with as part of exercise or for socialization as in marathons. And your performance also partly relies on your running shoes. When out to buy a pair of running shoes, do you just consider the looks and the brand and forget the rest? If this thing is a crime then you’re probably behind bars. Here’s a short list of the ‘sole’ importance in considering what running shoes to purchase other than the fancy ads of many shoe products.

Knowing your sole. One key to buying the right running shoes for you is to identify your sole type. There are three types of sole; the normal-arched, the low-arched, and high-arched sole. You have a normal arch if the curve formed along the inner aspect of your footprint casts a band a little less than half the width of your foot from the heel to the toe. You have low arch if there’s not much of curve formed in your footprint, rather it prints almost the whole foot. And you have high arch if the print forms a very defined curve that your imprint shows a very thin band between your heel and toe.

How to get your sole type. It’s extremely easy and a certainly do-it-your-own task. It’s called the wet test. The procedure will require you to wet the bottom of each foot and stand normally on a paper bag. Step off and observe the imprint left. You may trace and cut the outline. Measure the height of the inner aspect of the foot and do the comparison.

The sole importance. It is necessary to know what type of sole you got there. This is because the type of your arch will also determine the type of your pronation and gait balance. Pronation is the movement of foot from heel to toe with each stride. A good pronation effectively reduces stress of impact in every step. A person with normal arch has neutral pronation and best balance support. Someone with low arch has mild to severe overpronation which can not effectively support balance. If you have high-arched sole your tendency is supination (outward movement) that results to ineffective balance.

The significance of knowing your sole type is on the understanding that it leads us as to the kind of running shoes to train with. The shoes should give or promote the highest stability with each stride as we run a mile more or less to decrease hazards and possible serious injuries.

If you are just beginning to do running bouts and at lost with what running shoes to buy, be advised with a running shoes specialist to help you assess of what’s the best one for you to have. Depending on your arch type, you could run best with stability running shoes for normal soles, a motion-controlled running shoes for low-arched sole, and cushioned running shoes for high arched sole.

Besides the sole type the fit and comfort of the shoes you wear also matters. No one wants to be running with blisters forming or worse leaving the shoes behind. Therefore, the character of the shoes to choose really goes more than neither the looks nor the fad in the stores but a more detailed assessment of your feet and the product at hand.