Today let’s talk sneakers! I think there are so many questions about sneakers because they are truly the only piece of exercise equipment you need to invest in. And to be fair, you can find decent sneakers at most price points. But the investment isn’t just in terms of actual cost. There is also a cost in terms of overall physical health and mental enjoyment of your workouts.
It is super important to find the right pair of sneakers for your individual feet. Unless you are swimming or an aerialist, your feet support your entire body. And your sneakers support your feet.
The arches of our feet are structurally really really really important. I feel like I should add another really. Think about architectural arches, like in a building. Arches are designed to disperse downward forces over a greater area. Guess what? Our feet work the same way.
Our arches are designed to disperse the downward force of gravity from our entire body across a greater area. If you have ever worn a pair of high heels and the balls of your feet are killing you after an hour, you know exactly what I’m talking about. But past that, not all arches are the same.
You can have high, neutral, or low arches. And the height of your arches affects how your feet disperse the downward forces. If you have high arches, your feet are good at that, but high arches also tend to mean your feet are a tad less flexible. If your arches are neutral, that just means they are neither high nor low. And if you have low arches, or flat feet, you may find that you have pressure points on your feet that others don’t experience because lower arches don’t disperse the forces as well.
Individuals with high or low arches tend to be at risk for over use type injuries. Again, because the arches either don’t disperse force as well (low arches) or are a bit inflexible (high arches), that complicates movement patterns across the whole body. And not to bore you with boring biomechanical details, suffice it to say that things like shin splints, IT band issues, and low back and hip pain are more common with high and low arches.
How do you know what type of arches you have and what sneakers to invest in then? Well, I am glad you asked. Because coming at you in my first ever video, I have a handy test you can perform at home and more details about which sneakers may suit your particular arches!
Until next time, be well friends!
