Choosing The Right Running Shoe

The amount of pain we experience when running can almost always be traced back to the shoes we wear.  Our culture’s strong reliance on 'cushioned' shoes along with artificial support (orthotics) has led to weak feet that are unprepared to absorb the impact forces of running. This contributes to knee, hip, and low back pain and easily gets exacerbated with the many miles put in to reach our running goals. 

When it comes to picking the right shoe for you, we should trade in the highly cushioned or stiff shoes for shoes that encourage proper alignment, strength and movement of our feet.

Choosing The Right Shoe

At Evolve we like to keep things simple. When choosing running shoes we look for the following things to improve alignment, strength, and movement of the foot.

• Widest in the toe box (better alignment)

• No heel elevation (better strength)

• Flexible Soles (better movement)

What the following video to learn how heel elevation and toe sply in our shoes can lead to ball of the foot pain:

Transitioning to the Right Shoe

It's also important to note that it's not a smart idea to go straight from a highly cushioned and/or supported shoe straight to a highly flexible and minimalist shoe. The joints and tissues need time to adapt to the new alignment and movement in the foot. Finding the right transition shoes can help your feet (and body) adapt to the more natural footwear.

For more information on transition shoes we recommend checking out this page.

Shoe Brands

For more information about specific brands of shoes that promote alignment, strength, and movement in our feet we recommend checking out the Correct Toes website.