In these days of confinement, we are taking the opportunity to make any purchases online.
One of the most frequent questions that I find in the consultation is, what foot size do I use? Does it vary depending on the activity? Do I need a special width? How can I buy shoes for wide feet online?
What foot size do I wear?
To find out what foot size I wear, the first thing we have to do is measure their size (ideally, we should do it late in the day, in the evening, as this is when the feet are most swollen or dilated.
We put a sheet of paper on the floor, taped against the wall.
We place the foot on top, our heel must hit the wall, body straight, normal load distributed on both feet. A little trick is to use the usual sock that will help us to have a more exact measurement.
The ideal is to have help to make a line where our longest toe ends (it will not always be the big toe, it will depend on our type of foot).
It is important to measure both feet, since one always measures more than the other, being able to find differences of up to 1 centimeter as normal.
We can also take the opportunity to measure the width and have it as a reference to choose the last if necessary.
Depending on the activity, does my size vary?
The answer is yes, it varies. We will not find large variations, but these small variations will make the footwear fit much better, we will perform the activity better and we can also carry out some prevention of uncomfortable injuries such as black nails, blisters, ingrown nails, or simply small friction abrasions.
For activities such as light running, weightlifting, Crossfit, or fitness-type exercises, which do not involve very demanding starting or braking movements, an extra half centimeter will be enough.
However, for activities such as trail running or stronger running with steep slopes and descents, exercises such as tennis, paddle tennis, basketball, fronton, shovel, or other activities that require very strong braking and acceleration, we will need one more centimeter.
Exceptionally we have some activity in which we can choose somewhat tighter footwear or just like football to have a more sensation of touch of the ball. In professional track, speedrunners have greater sensations of contact with the track ... But as we have indicated, these are exceptional situations.
The ideal is to choose a shoe between half a centimeter and one centimeter more than our foot.
Imon is a freelance writer.