Shoe smarts
Every athlete needs the right shoes for a healthy (and safe) fitness routine
By Darci Swisher CTW FEATURES
E
xperts say that a sport-specific shoe should be worn when doing one sport more than two or three times a week. Training shoes – the go-to
shoe for most gym rats – simply don’t provide the stabil- ity and support an athlete of any level needs to stay the course.
Of course, for the most athletically oriented, this
translates to a lot of shoes, and a lot of decisions. The American Council on Exercise recommends seeking a specialty athletic-shoe store with staff members who are knowledgeable about selecting the most appropriate shoes.
Running Running shoes are specially designed for straightfor-
ward motion, and to be picked up and put back down again around 1,500 times a mile, says Kris Hartner, owner Naperville, Ill.-based Naperville Running Company, which was voted the 2009 Running Specialty Store of the Year.
But choosing a running shoe
isn’t all that straightforward. Running shoes fall into two cate- gories, stability and neutral, and only an expert at running spe- cialty store can truly determine which category a foot fits in, and to what degree, Hartner says.
That’s where fit specialists come
ting shoes and someone’s not asking you for feedback, then I’d be worried about that person fitting you, if they’re doing a good job.”
Hartner and his employees then have clients run on
the store treadmill – a step they record on video – to catch the interplay between a foot and a shoe. “You see how a shoe fits when they’re running, how it’s working for them with their body,” he says.
Hartner recommends shopping at stores with at least
seven brands on their shoe wall, so there’s more to choose from in each category. He also advises runners to consistently alternate two pairs of shoes, of different brands – perhaps one being a lighter shoe for shorter runs. “It’s good for feet to not be running in the same shoes every day,” he says, as well as good for the life of the shoe.
Tennis Since movements during a match of tennis are primar-
“If a player feels any
increase in knee or ankle pain during or after
in. Their job is to see how a foot interacts in a shoe through a gait analysis, which is accomplished by watching a runner run, either on a treadmill or the floor. Once the category is determined, a variety of appropriate shoes in different brands pulled, and the ones that don’t fit properly eliminated, it’s up to the customer to pick the shoe that feels best, Hartner notes.
“They pick the shoe in the end,” he says. “If you’re get- 58 Health Connections
playing, the cushioning in their shoe is most likely worn out and they should
get a new pair of shoes.” — Adam Queen, vice president of Your Service Tennis, Atlanta
ily lateral and include repeated abrupt stops, a tennis shoe’s forefoot typically has a wider base as well as a stabil- ity system to reduce the ten- dency for the ankle to roll over, according to Adam Queen, vice president of Your Service Tennis, a tennis specialty retailer with seven stores in metropolitan Atlanta. In addi- tion, tennis shoes are often designed to keep players on their toes, which is accom- plished through a higher heel and lower toe.
“This reduces the time it
takes to get moving from a stopped position, therefore increases the number of balls the player can reach and return during a rally,” Queen adds.
He points out that tennis shoes are generally con- structed of more leather than mesh because they need
January/February 2012
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