Workouts are different for every person. Every workout is also very different. Most people tend to have one pair of workout shoes that they typically have for every workout that they partake in. Although workout shoes can be expensive, wearing one workout shoe for several different exercise activities can in fact do more harm than most people realise. This is because different activities require different things from your feet and different shoes provide the appropriate support.
We’ve got a list of workouts and the best types of shoes to wear:
1) Cross-training
Because cross-training is a multi-modal program, its best to find a shoe that can handle everything from agility drills to powerlifting. Appropriately named, cross trainers, feature tough uppers, wider toes boxes, minimal heel-to-toe drop and flexible soles providing enhanced stability and better support for multi-directional movement.
2) Weight lifting
Weight lifting is a tricky one because you can sometimes get away with regular cross trainers, especially if your workouts don’t include the snatch or the clean and jerk, or if you’re not really focussed on improving your one rep max in the squat or deadlift. However, if that’s not the case, weightlifting shoes are vital as they have a slight heel rise allowing a deeper drop into squats, and the sole is a lot stiffer in order to offer more stability.
3) Running
Running is even trickier than weight lifting because so many people have so many different styles of running. Under-pronators land on the outside of their foot, over-pronators land on the inside of their foot and neutral pronators land fairly evenly. Then you also get runners who are lighter on their feet, as well as long distance versus short distance runners. It’s best to decide and find out what kind of runner you are so that you can find the correct running shoe to support your style.
4) Walking
A common mistake that people make is to wear running shoes as walking shoes, or vice versa. They are similar in that they both feature lots of cushion and decent stability but walking shoes should be kept separate as walking distributes your weight more evenly than running.
5) Hiking
Hiking shoes should definitely differ from your running or walking shoes. A stiff shoe with an aggressive tread will protect your ankles whilst navigating roots, rocks, mud and water. Hiking boots should also be breathable and waterproof, as well as having extra cushioning to support your feet during the repetitive impact of pounding on uneven terrain.
6) Cycling
Cycling may be an obvious one, but it does depend on how serious of a cyclist you are and what type of bike you have. Not every bike features pedals that have cleat systems, but it’s best to get the appropriate shoes for the bike that you have to support your ankles and arches.
