Guide

How to choose running shoes that are best for your feet

17.5.2019

Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson

Forrest Gump runs. You know – the guy from the comedy film. He runs and runs from the west coast of the US to the east coast and back again. He runs until his beard reaches his belly button and his Nike «Cortez» are ripped to shreds.

Forrest Gump lends his name to the film where he runs for three years, two months, 14 days and 16 hours. He does so in the legendary «Cortez» trainers developed by Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman. What was considered state of the art in terms of running shoes in 1972 is now considered a casual retro shoe. Essentially, the priority when it comes to buying the best running shoes isn’t the design or even if the colour of the shoe goes with your outfit. If you train regularly, it’s important to choose a running shoe that’s going to complement your body, running style and training goals. Otherwise running will just damage your joints.

So what’s the perfect or the best running shoe? The honest answer is there isn’t one or at least not the same one for everyone. But you will discover there’s a best running shoe for your foot. That’s why it’s important to analyse your body and your running habits.

Step 1: analyse your foot shape

The shape of your foot is the first important factor when it comes to picking the perfect running shoes with the right shock absorption and stability for your body. The main foot shapes are regular (1), high arches (2), dropped arches or flat (3). Many runners have dropped arches or the extreme variety, which is flat feet. When the lengthways arch drops, you end up with misalignment and a lack of (your body’s own) shock absorption. This can cause a whole host of other problems. My personal «favourite» is tendonitis in the ankle.

How do you check the shape of your own feet? There’s an easy test for that. All you do is walk with wet feet across the floor and observe the foot prints. This should give you a good indication of your foot shape.

Step 2: static analysis

The next step is to analyse your legs. There’s also a little test for this. You stand barefoot with your legs relatively close together and put your hand between the knees without letting it touch them. If your knees go closer to your hand when you squat then you know the axis of the legs is dropping inwards and there’s overpronation. This is often the case for people with dropped arches or flat feet. When the gap becomes bigger and the knee drifts out, it means there’s underpronation. That’s when your weight rolls onto the outer side of the foot. This normally affects people with normal feet or high arches. If the distance between the knees and the hand remains unchanged, your foot-knee-hip axis is relatively stable.

Step 3: analysing running conditions

Before you choose your running shoes you want to ask the following questions:

How often do I intend to go running? This has an impact on your running goals. For instance, do you have long-term plans to improve your overall fitness or is your main focus training for a specific running event?
How long do I want to run in each interval? The longer you run, the more your vessels expand. This is why your foot swells much more in a marathon than when you run ten kilometres, for instance. If you plan to run longer distances, you’ll always want to buy running shoes one size bigger.
Where will I be running most? Shoes that work well on asphalt are usually also suitable for gravel surfaces. But if you’d rather run on poorer surfaces, single tracks or in snow in winter then it’s best to invest in specialist trail running shoes.

Step 4: types of running shoes – which is the right running shoe?

The «comfort shoe» for training on tarmac

Now you’ve done all the analyses on your feet and made decisions about your running plan, it’s time to pick the best running shoes for your body. As a general rule, you want to wear long-lasting «comfort shoes» for 70% to 80% of your training as these are adapted to your body’s shock absorption and stability.

If you suffer from overpronation (where your weight rolls onto the inner foot) and have dropped arches or flat feet, the recommendation is to wear a supported shoe with enough shock absorption. The level of absorption and stability differs according to the model and brand of shoe and the different technologies they use. But it’s all a matter of personal preference so it’s best to try various shoes with similar shock absorption and support. This should help you find out which shoe is most comfortable and best suited to your running style.

His and hers

How to choose running shoes that are best for your feet

Step 1: analyse your foot shape

Step 2: static analysis

Step 3: analysing running conditions

Step 4: types of running shoes – which is the right running shoe?

The «comfort shoe» for training on tarmac

Competition shoes for the street

Trail running shoes for training

His and hers

Trail running shoes for competitions

His and hers

The «alternative shoe»

Step 5: how to take care of your running shoes

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