How to Select the Perfect Running Shoe for You

By Sam Montogomery


Each person has her or his own needs from their shoes. Among the things that you have to determine when selecting the correct shoes for you are the biomechanics, weight, foot shape and the surface that you run on. This means that what suit best for your friend may not be ideal for you.

This may sound selfish, but this process is all about you. Just because your friend, mother, or your running coach wear the same shoes, that does not mean it is the right pair of shoe for you too. There are different designs of shoes because there are various purposes for them.

Shoes for training flats, performance trainers and 'go fast' shoes that are ideal for fast training days are also available. For those runners who spends more time on rough terrains, there are also trail shoes that offer certain advantages.

Sometimes, selecting the proper sports shoes can be a little confusing, but you can still eliminate this confusion and proceed to finding your ideal shoe.

No matter what your purpose may be, your selection of running shoes can make a big difference in your running experience.

First, ask yourself, what is your aim in using these athletic shoes? The distance and type of activity such as road race, walking event and road race can play a part in choosing the correct footwear. Similarly, the surface you run on, whether it is on a road or treadmill can also affect in selecting the right shoes.

When choosing the right running shoes, biomechanics is one of the most important factors to consider. While you run, this will be your pronation tendency or the degree of stability. The participation of a second party or the help of your coach or another individual to observe you properly will be required in the evaluation of biomechanics.

Having someone filming you while running is the ideal way to understand this process. Your chance to observe the nuances of your biomechanics is by watching the frame-by-frame footage of your gait cycle. As a result, you will be conscious about the degree of stability or the pronation that you will need in a running shoe.

Once you get your biomechanics, the next thing that you should consider is the type of your foot. At a certain category, foot characteristics will enable you to realize the shoes that are proper for you while biomechanics will assist you in selecting the right shoes based on stability. After you get this infomation you can buy the right shoes for athletes to suit you.

Some of the things that you have to consider are the width of your foot, your arch type, past injuries and other inconsistencies in your feet. Having a high arch will require a different level of support in shoes as compared to an individual with a flat arch. Foot width can sometimes be difficult to comprehend because various shoes are made to suit various widths of feet.

They have convenient shoes for you regardless you have overpronate and flat feet, pronate or normal arch type, underpronate and high arched feet or if you want to race and run fast. Visit your local Shoe Clinic to have an idea of what sort of running shoe you should search for and they can help you select the proper running shoes for you.




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