If something has inspired you to start a fitness regimen or get back into a sport you once played, do yourself a favor. As you prepare for that first outing, skip the trip to your closet for your two-year-old pair of sneakers.
Not only are they broken down,but they were probably never meant to support the type of motion you’re about to subject them to, whether it’s a long hike, a game of tennis or marathon training.
If you really want to succeed–and stave off runner’s knee, shin splints and tendonitis, not to mention the cost of rehabbing these injuries–you need the right shoes, says Gale Bernhardt, a coach for the 2004 Olympics’ U.S. mens’ and womens’ triathalon teams and a columnist for Active.com, an online community for people passionate about sports and recreational activities.
While a pair of sneakers might not exactly make you “better” at your chosen sport, the right pair can help you stay healthy, prevent you from the distractions of performance-crippling frozen, wet and blistered feet and potentially keep you on the court or trail a little bit longer.
“Anybody who has spent any time running, hiking or even kayaking knows that if you have the wrong footwear on,” says Kurt Geller, footwear product manager for outdoor-gear retailer Eastern Mountain Sports, “it ruins it.”
Just don’t assume that walking into any retailer with a wad of cash will solve the problem. Much like love, money can’t necessarily buy you the right sneaker, either.
A small study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine last fall found that there were no major differences among shoes bought from three different manufacturers in three different price ranges. Plantar pressure–the force created by the impact of the sole hitting the ground–was actually found to be lower in cheap to moderately priced shoes versus the most expensive pairs. Price also wasn’t an indicator of comfort.
“People get sucked into what shoe looks pretty, which star is supporting which shoe,” says Dr. Rebecca Demorest, an assistant attending physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York and team doctor for USA Rowing. “But an expensive shoe doesn’t mean it’s a better shoe.”
Read full article