One very underestimated piece of equipment that often goes overlooked are the gym shoes on your feet! Wearing the wrong shoe can lead to movement dysfunction, which can lead to pain down the road. By establishing what type of exercise you will be doing you can properly choose the right footwear.
Your gym shoes really do matter!
Running
If your form of exercise is running than you want a shoe that is going to give you comfort, cushioning, and rebound. Running shoes generally have a higher heel and mid-sole, meant to give you padding from the hard ground that you will be running on. This will help give your joints a cushion from the pounding that can occur, especially if you are a bigger individual looking to lose weight. Breath-ability is another feature to look for with a running shoe, this will help keep your feet dry and odor free!
These Saucony shoes are a good example of a quality running shoe. As you can see it has a mesh upper for air flow, and a high cushioned sole for comfort.
Training
If your looking to hit the weight room a good cross training shoe is a must. Whether you plan on weight training or pushing sleds, your shoe must be able to live up to the demands. The biggest thing you should look for in a training shoe is stability. What I mean by this is a shoe that generally has a lower heel and sole drop, and the material of the sole will be more firm. This is important because you will have more of a stable base when performing squats, lunges, etc. The more stability you have, the more force you will be able to transfer into the ground. Most cross training shoes will also be fine to run for short distances (1-5 miles), but they will not have the cushion you would need for longer distances. Breath-ability is also important in cross training shoes because you will be sweating in them also.
These New Balance shoes would be a good choice to weight train in. They have a low and stable heel, good for force transfer and stability while still having some cushioning to run shorter distances with.
Next time you are going to run, or train at the gym be sure to grab the correct shoe for comfort and functionality!
