[#6] How to Choose the Right Shoe for Running and Training

I go over what actually matters when choosing shoes for running or CrossFit and how to know when it's time to replace your shoes.

Main topics covered:

• How much do shoes matter for reducing injuries
• Importance of activity-specific shoes
• Taking comfort into consideration
• How to know when you should replace your shoes

Continue the conversation:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.coach.kelseydpt
Monthly Newsletter: https://www.anteaterptp.com/newsletter
Episode topic requests: email podcast@anteaterptp.com 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Hello and welcome to Candid Conversations with Dr. Kelsey. I'm your host, Dr. Kelsey, and this is the space where I share my honest thoughts, real experiences, and the no BS conversations I wish more people were having about movement, training, injury recovery, and life as an active human. The goal of this podcast is to help you better understand your body, think more critically about rehab and fitness, and feel more confident making decisions so you can stay active long term. Before we start, a quick reminder. I am a physical therapist, but I am not your physical therapist. Nothing here is medical advice. So if you're dealing with something specific, please reach out to your PT or schedule a session to work with me. Alright, now let's get into today's conversation. So when it comes to shoes for things like running or CrossFit, how important are they? Like, are they going to be the main thing that causes you to get injured if you don't have the right shoes, or are they just kind of a nice to have? And so the quick answer to that, or the short answer, is that they don't matter enough to be like the main cause of injury, but they do matter enough that if you do get the proper shoes, um, you're gonna notice a huge difference, both in your performance and probably in your um uh injury rates or even like getting developing aches and pains and things like that. And so when we're talking about shoes, I think, and especially with running shoes, I feel like people fall into two distinct camps. Um so on the one side, you're gonna have people who are going to either maybe recommend a specific brand or just overall recommend something that is uh very, very supportive and super cushion-y. So a really popular brand that would be recommended by a lot of the surgeons that was associated with my old clinic um were HOCAs. And the the problem with that is a lot of the patients that I would treat at that clinic um could not afford HOCAS. And so um, and so they were coming to me saying, like, okay, well, this you know, doctor is telling me to get these shoes, but I can't afford these shoes. Like I, you know, especially as somebody who is used to paying um buying shoes on sale and spending less than $50, like spending $120 plus dollars on a pair of hokas is just not in their budget. Um and luckily, this, you know, the doctors would also send a physical therapy, but they were basically saying, like, okay, yeah, you can go to physical therapy, um, but you know, if you buy these hokas, it's gonna solve all your problems, basically, is the way they were framing it, which isn't necessarily true. Um, on the other side of that camp is the people who are all about minimalist shoes. So, you know, they're all about like you need to strengthen your foot. Um the Krishna shoes are like ruining your feet or whatever, and like everyone should be able to use minimalist shoes because that's how we did it like decades and centuries ago. Um, I will admit, um, in the beginning of my career and even through physical therapy school and before that, I was also sort of in the minimalist shoe camp. And I think a lot of that came from CrossFit. Um, because uh back when I started CrossFit in 2012, like I feel like there was started to be a lot more emphasis on like the minimalist shoe thing. Um and that's also kind of when um Reebok came out with like the cross, the first CrossFit specific shoe. So the nanos they had like a low heel to toe drop. Um, and then they were I think the reason why a lot of people like them is because they were perfect for lifting, but then um also provided like very, very minimal but some support for running, so you'd be able to run in them. And besides the nanos, like I think zero shoes and also um innovates were also super popular uh with crossfitters. Um I remember I had a pair of innovates for a couple years um before going back to the nanos, and then you know, ever since then, then you know, Nike jumped into it, and then Noble was created, and so now we have all these other options for minimalist shoes. Um but over the years I've kind of changed my mind, especially because like now realizing that there is really no one size fits all um for everyone uh when it comes to shoes. So at the end of the day, when you're trying to find the right shoe for you, whether it be for running or for crossfit um or for anything else, but um, I'll talk about that in a little bit. Uh when you're trying to find a good shoe for you, there are three things that matter. So the first one is is it going to um help you in whatever activity that you're choosing? So um, you know, is it gonna help you with running? Is it gonna help is this like a running specific shoe? Or is this shoe gonna help you with CrossFit um or other sports like basketball? So that's number one. Number two is if they are comfortable, because you know, if everybody says that barefoot shoes or minimalist shoes are good for you, but they're just so uncomfortable for you, then that's probably not a good way to go. And then the third thing is paying attention to the age of your shoe. So, like how long you've been wearing them, how much wear they have. So those are the gonna be the the three things that matter the most. And then everything else is is almost just noise. Like some of it is marketing, some of it is hype, but they're just kind of extras. And so going back to the activity-specific shoe thing, I feel like uh I feel like other shoes, I mean, so it's gonna be pretty obvious. Like a cycling shoe, it serves a specific purpose. Like most cyclists are gonna use um clips where like they clip into their pedals, so like it's that's pretty specific. Same thing with basketball shoes. You're gonna need to have something that's a little bit more of a high top to kind of protect your ankles. Um, clearly, I don't play basketball or uh or soccer slash football or American football, but all those sports are gonna have specific shoes for those sports because these these shoes are made to um are made for a purpose, they serve a purpose for those sports. But I feel like when it comes to running and CrossFit, and those are the worlds that I'm in, so I feel like when it comes to running on CrossFit, people will tend to use whatever shoe they have available to them until maybe like maybe one day they'll try like a specific like a CrossFit-specific shoe or a running specific shoe, and then realize like, oh yeah, these do make a difference. But I feel like those two things, like people don't really tend to think about buying a specific shoe for those two sports. Um so when it comes to CrossFit, you wants to um CrossFit was a little um was very specific and it had very specific needs, and I think that's why um a specific shoe was created for it. And because when someone does CrossFit, they do a little bit of everything. And over the years, it's been like, you know, we've seen like the nanos, like there was like this huge um stereotype. I don't think that's the right word. But there's this huge thing where it was like it seemed like the even-year shoes, so like nano twos, nano fours, nano sixes, like those were even year shoes always ended up being really good. And then the odd number shoes were like an outlier. So like like the sevens were terrible, and you know, like I think the sevens was like the big one that they were terrible. Um, you know, fives weren't as great. So it's like so it's like they would m make progress, and then the next year after that they would kind of slip a little bit or like come out with a shoe that weren't wasn't as great, and then the year after that they would make take that feedback, I guess, and make a lot more progress or something like that. So it would sometimes kind of be like a a thing where it's like, oh, you know, like only buy shoes every two years because the odd-numbered nanos are like not great. Um, and then the same thing could be said with Nikes. Initially they were like super clunky, um, because it was they were put into more of like a lifting emphasis, um, but then over time they loosened up a little bit more so that like it was slightly more comfortable to run in them. Or sometimes people would have both. They would have a nano and a uh Metcon shoe, so that if the workout was more lifting heavy, they'd wear the Metcon. And if the workout had more like running or something, then they would wear the nanos. And so the difficult thing with CrossFit is that people are both running, so they need something that's more flexible, like for running, and they were lifting in it, so they needed something that was sturdy enough to withstand lifting and also rope climbs. I think the rope climbs is the biggest thing because those ropes will just uh eat through most shoes, so the shoes needed to be durable enough to withstand the rope. Um because I've definitely seen firsthand like someone's running shoes get absolutely destroyed. Like you can see the actual hole that the rope made in the sole of their shoes, their running shoes. Um, and so they there needed to be a shoe that satisfied all those requirements. And the same thing is said for running. So I think that's where like coming back to the minimalist or barefoot shoe thing, um, a lot of the argument was that yes, you know, even though running does have like impact, your feet should be strong enough to withstand that impact. And so you should be able to um, you know, strengthen your feet and walk around with minimalist shoes and then you know be able to eventually run with minimalist shoes. But I feel like um in the push towards minimalist shoes, there wasn't as big of a push on the fact that you can't just transition from a soup wearing super cushion-y shoes all the time to all of a sudden wear all of a sudden wearing barefoot or minimalist shoes. And if and I think some of the argument was also that, oh, you know, that's kind of implied, like, but it's not really implied. Because if you're being told like that your cushiony shoes are ruining your feet, of course you would want to all of a sudden go to like the more minimalist shoes, you'd want to get rid of your cushiony shoes. So there wasn't a big enough emphasis on the fact that you actually have to train your feet unless you've been like walking barefoot your whole life, or like walking barefoot or using barefoot shoes or whatever, your whole life, like there it's not going to be an easy transition to go from a cushiony shoe to a more minimalist shoe. And even then, like not everyone's foot type is going to tolerate having more of a minimalist shoe. Like, there is a reason why we've developed shoes to be a little bit more supportive and more cushion-y, uh, especially for running, because like I mentioned, um, running has a lot of impact. Like, if you break down running, you're basically doing one-legged hops, like alternating one-legged hops, but you're resisting your body weight collapsing from gravity and like jumping like multiple like hundreds and thousands of times um when you go for a run. And so there's a reason why like different shoe technologies have been developed for running shoes. So, you know, cushiony shoes aren't like evil or anything, they're they're made for a reason, but um, it just might not be everyone's preference. So, like me, for example, I don't necessarily like super cushion-y shoes, but I do still appreciate some cushion. Like, I do notice a difference running in my dedicated running shoes versus um my nanos. Yeah, because I have nanos now. I I kind of like went back and forth nanos and metcons over the years, but um, so yeah, if we have a running workout and I wear my CrossFit shoes, um, I do definitely tell the uh can tell the difference between running in those and running in regular running shoes. Um because besides the cushioning aspect, running shoes also helps to reduce some of that fatigue when you're running. Um it through being a little bit more efficient, so it makes your foot a little bit more efficient in like going to that toe off. Um and I can definitely tell the difference. Um like I mentioned, if we're doing like a running workout, like we had to do like sprints the other day, and then for some reason I wore my CrossFit shoes instead of my running shoes, and I'm like, wow, it's just a lot harder to sprint, you know, 200, 400 meters wearing these CrossFit shoes because it's like I have to do all I'm the one doing all of the work versus if I'm wearing my running shoes, then I feel like the shoes are helping me a little bit more. And there's even a bigger difference when I wear the shoes that I bought for like racing in. So I don't have carbon-plated shoes, but I have I do have shoes that are a little bit more curved, so it's just like the shape of the shoe again reduces some of that fatigue. Um so that it doesn't take as much of an effort to propel myself forward. Like the shoes are helping me to do that. Um and why wouldn't I wear those all the time versus my trainers? I'll talk about that in a little bit when I talk about the the age of your shoes. But um, so yeah, so my point here is that like, you know, maybe you prefer a certain type of shoe to another type of shoe, but if you're not sure, then you know, the first thing to look at when you're looking for shoes are is this going to help me in my sport? So if you're looking to do CrossFit, yeah, CrossFit has some running. So it wouldn't be a bad idea to use running shoes, but it also has a lot of lifting um and things like that. So having some sort of hybrid shoe would be a lot better. Or a shoe, um, I know CrossFit, the word CrossFit is trademarked, so I feel like a lot of brands now just call them functional fitness shoes or something, or cross-training shoes, but um buying uh something that's made for your activity for CrossFit or sp specifically for renting is going to be your best bet. And I know when it comes to high rocks, it because it has a little bit of both, it has like the running and the some some lifting. Um, but I think for high rocks, I found that more of a dedicated running shoe is going to be better, obviously, because running takes up like two-thirds of the race. So um, so yeah, looking at all the things that what you'll need for your activity is the first thing to pay attention to. So the second thing is are they comfortable? So again, going back to the barefoot thing, I feel like at its height, because I feel like it's not as big of a fad now as it was before. Um, or maybe people have now like conditioned their feet to to accept more minimalist shoes, but um as a physical therapist, some like I think a lot of people assume automatically assume that um I'm going to recommend minimalist shoes. And so I have had people come up to me to me and be like, oh yeah, like I tried these minimalist shoes and like they kind of hurt or whatever, but you know, I know they're good for me. It's like just because they're good, like if they hurt, that doesn't that means that they're not good for you. Like there's no amount of breaking in the shoes like that is going to make them not hurt for your feet. And so so that's one of the the red flags is like if it feels off already, like it's probably not going to get better after wearing them for a lot longer, especially if it's been like more than a few weeks. Like the break-in period is not more than a few weeks. Taking recommendations for like brands or whatever from other people, like it's a good starting, it can be a good starting point, but everyone is so individual. Like, for example, I think when I was first looking for a dedicated running shoe, once I realized, like, okay, yeah, running in nanos is probably not the best thing all the time. Um, when I was looking for a dedicated running shoe, I think all of the recommendations online um pointed towards the Brooks glycerin. Um, well, besides Hokas, but like Hokas were like expensive and also kind of ugly. So the Brooks brand like glycerin uh model was something that was recommended from a lot of websites, and I knew a few people who had them and liked them. But when I went to try them on, um I just I didn't really like them. They they were a little too cushion-y for me, and that's because at that point my feet had been used to like again the more minimalist shoes. But then I did try ultras, which were are they are a minimalist shoe, but they're specific for running, so there's a little bit more padding, I think. Um, but their heel toe drop is a lot lower. Um I did not really like them either. They they didn't really work well for my feet somehow. Oh, and ultras are also have a wider uh toe box. Um, but I didn't really like those either. So um trying a few different shoes made me realize like kind of my preference. So definitely still need slight support, but so you know, something that makes your foot feel pretty good, and then when you're running in them, um uh sorry, when it comes to comfort, finding something that feels good on your foot doesn't make and makes it so that it doesn't feel like your foot's gonna fly out. Like that was that was important to me. So not feeling like my socks are you know being eaten by the shoe, um, having the right sock also helps, but also not feeling like my heel is coming out of my shoe, and then I know a lot of times like shoes will have like an arch or something, and but the arch support is in like the wrong place for my feet specifically, and so you know ultimately comfort is going to be your biggest guide. So getting recommendations on shoes from other people can be helpful, but it's not going to be the end all be all, unfortunately. Um, and I say unfortunately be because there's less and less places nowadays where you can go to try on a lot of different pairs of shoes. Um like a lot of times we have to rely on buying multiple different types and like returning the ones that we don't like, which can be tedious and it's like bad for the environment and all that stuff. Um so yeah, so the second thing to think about with shoes are are if they're comfortable. And the third thing are the age of their shoes. So I don't know about you, but growing up, it was um when looking at whether we should replace our shoes, I mean, besides like, you know, if we outgrew them, because you know, going through growth spurts, um, we would look on like the soles of our shoes and see if they were like worn out or something. Um, or sometimes um this never happened to me, but some I know some people have like developed holes in their shoes. Um I guess I was never that hard on my shoes. Um, but definitely like the wear pattern on the bottom. And I've known some people to like like literally wear their shoes to the ground, like it wasn't until like they got holes on the like the soles of their shoes that they kind of threw them away. But even then, like I've known people to like duct tape their shoes together. Um and I mean if it still serves them, then why not? Um, and I know sometimes it's because you can't afford new shoes, but these particular people were just really like frugal. Um but um so to kind of speak earlier a little bit on the foam. So so this is related to the age of your shoes. So when it comes to running shoes specifically, the they have like a type of foam in there in them, and that's kind of what helps to absorb some of that impact when you're running. And they're the foam is um meant to last like after a certain amount of time it's going to degrade obviously. And so the foam in training shoes um usually lasts about 300 to 500 miles. It really depends on the shoe and like the like or the manufacturer or whatever, but that's kind of usually the the range. And so if you're running about 20 miles a week, then those shoes might last you three to six months, I think, or like four to six months, I think, when I did the math. The foam in like racing specific shoes, so so not necessarily well, also kind of the carbon shoes, but like more of like a little bit like higher end but still mid-tier range shoes. Sometimes those foams aren't as dense and so they don't last as long. And so that's why it's more like if you want your shoes to last longer, you know, buy a train like a training shoe and like to train in versus like your the shoes that you're going to race in because the foam in those um I think it's because they're more lightweight because when you're racing when you're in a race you you don't want your shoes to be too heavy. So because of that lightweightness they like those the foam breaks down a lot faster. And so um so yeah so it's however it's kind of difficult to know when that foam is broken down. Like you can't just look on the bottom of your shoes and figure that out because by the it depends on the person but sometimes by the time you look at the tread pattern on the bottom of your shoes like by the time it's worn down you might um like the foam might have broken down a long time before that. And that I learned that the hard way when I was having a lot of problem like foot problems and stuff. And like I kind of tried physical therapy and everything. I tried rehabbing myself I tried going to a cash pay physical therapist who was a terrible cash pay physical therapist actually. So that kind of opened my eyes I was like oh there are actually terrible ones but um in the end I was like you know what I'm just gonna buy different shoes like get new shoes um because I I didn't think they were that old but apparently they were because I bought new shoes and my foot pain magically went away so that's why I say it's like it's never the shoes until it is the shoes. So you know but over the years I've had other problems with running like knee stuff. So you know shoes aren't going to be the main thing but sometimes just getting different shoes can help a lot with certain aches and pains um especially if like nothing else has changed like if you haven't ramped up your um your training volume if your sleep and stress and all that stuff is pretty much the same but now you're dealing with like a mysterious pain like in a mysterious knee pain or something that came on like gradually then it's probably worth looking into getting new shoes and seeing if that helps. But if there's other things like if you realize like oh yeah I jumped um I increased my training volume quite a bit or something like that then maybe the new shoes might help a little bit but they probably like it would be pretty obvious um if you got new shoes and they didn't help then it it it it's not the shoes then it's probably something else that you need to look at. So yeah I was gonna say where was I going with this? So yeah so age of the shoes so making sure that the shoes I have are still working for you because even though yes the foam is technically only supposed to last you know like 300 to 500 miles you know sometimes people are able to have their shoes last a little bit longer. It just really depends on how sensitive um I guess your body is to the cushioning and the breakdown of the cushion um and I think sometimes people also don't factor in like if you walk a lot in your running shoes or for example sometimes if I'm you know out running and then my let's say I'm supposed to run five miles that day and then the five mile mark ends like a mile away from my house um I know some people are gonna run back to their house but like I personally I'm like okay I'm done with my running set so I'm just gonna walk back home. So that adds another mile to my shoes that I might not have accounted for. So um so yeah that range is it's a rough estimate but it's just another guide so that like if you feel like your shoes are about that old and you're starting to have mysterious aches and pains it's probably a good reason to look into getting new shoes. I know some people don't need a reason to get new shoes. They get new shoes anyway but if you're one of those people like me who has just one of like one running shoe or one pair of training shoes like one pair of racing shoes like I don't have multiples then that's like kind of your guide to getting new shoes. Because now that I know this I know that once um it's like a really specific pain on like the outside of my foot once I start kind of feeling that um and I kind of like calculate how old my shoes are then I know that it's probably time to start getting new shoes, uh running shoes and then using the current pair as like normal walking shoes. With all that being said, how are you able to find a shoe that works for you? So I kind of alluded to this uh a little bit earlier but unfortunately your best bet is going to be trying a bunch of different pairs of shoes. Um so there's still like running stores still exist. So if you're looking for running shoes one of your best bets is going to go to a local running store that has um a variety of different brands um and different models within the brand um themselves that you can try on. Yes I know sometimes the they'll try to do some sales tactics or like try to sell you on like socks or something which I will say like I've also found out kind of through trial and error that you know different socks or buying fancier socks um makes a huge difference. To me at least to others it might not make as big of a difference. I think it depends on like how sensitive you are to like sensory things. Like I really hate the feeling of this sock falling into my shoes. So buying a sp and and like the way that it squeezes my toes sometimes. So buying a better quality sock is uh is well not only important to me or it makes a huge difference for me is worth it versus maybe somebody else is like you know fine with like three dollar socks or or less I don't know um but going to a running store to be able to try on a bunch of different pairs of shoes and there's usually a treadmill to also be able to try running in them because walking around in the store is not going to um kind of tell you what or is not going to help you figure out if that shoe is right for you. So that's usually helpful and same thing same thing for CrossFit shoes. So I've literally like done lunges in my nanos um in the store in like the Reebok Outlet store. And like the movements that because I've had shoes it's usually lunges that are the culprit where like the shoe will kind of fall off or try to like my foot will try to come out of the shoe. And so I've done lunges in the store so going somewhere where you're kind of going to be able to like sort of test out the shoes before you buy them is going to be your best bet. And ideally you would support the running store but there's technically no rule that says that you once you find the shoe that you like that m means you have to buy it there. If you're trying to save money I you know of course you can buy it online or whatever. I guess I would feel bad not supporting the local shoe store but um but again what was the other thing I wanted to say so trying on a whole bunch of shoes um finding the one that you like testing them out um oh and also not um not discounting or not discounting I don't think discounting is the right word but don't throw out a brand like maybe you just so you're trying on a different pair of shoes and you might f think that you don't like a certain brand but it was actually that specific model of that brand of shoe that you didn't like and you try a different model of the same brand and you might like that one better. That happened to me with so I did end up trying Hoka's or at least the like the salesperson that was helping me at the running store um had brought out a few options and one of them was Hoka's the very first one I ever tried on I hated I absolutely hated it. But then a few years later when I came back to get new shoes um it was a different person and they they gave me a different model of Hokas to try and I actually really liked them. However again they were super ugly um and so I think it was the pair oh that I think that's why I have ons now. So the ons were the same price um but the fit was pretty pretty similar and they just looked so much better so I bought the ons. Maybe the hokos are slightly more comfortable but I was like no the the ugliness I can't get over the ugliness. So like it's like in every other way that mattered the ons were just fine. Maybe yeah again maybe the hokos are slightly more comfy but um yeah the looks were a big enough determin for me. But yeah so when you're trying to find shoes so to recap when you're trying to find shoes first make sure you're finding a shoe that is built specifically for the activity that you're trying that you're getting the shoes for. So in most cases it's gonna be running um sometimes it's gonna be crossfit um because like all the like basketball shoes and all that like people know to get a specific shoe but for running yes it does matter getting a running shoe versus a walking shoe for CrossFit yes it does matter getting a more a shoe that's more specific for functional fitness um versus just wearing your normal training sneaker um there's a whole deep dive I can go on like CrossFit specific shoes but that's kind of the gist of it and then two are they comfortable um because what's comfortable for someone else might not be comfortable for you. So you know you can take suggestions from people but at the end of the day it's about your specific comfort while wearing the shoes. And then thirdly so this is after you've already bought the shoes um if your shoes might wear out faster than you think they do. So if you're the type of person whose feet doesn't care and you're able to literally wear your shoes into the ground you know I'm that's great for you. But not everyone is like that. And so if you feel like everything else about your training is staying the same except now you're starting to like have these random aches and pains crop up and you realize like maybe your shoes are more than six months old if you're a heavier runner and when I say heavy I mean like running 20 plus miles a week or maybe you don't run as often but it's been like a year or so it doesn't seem like it's been that long but it might be worth looking into like okay well let's get a new pair of shoes and see if that helps. Usually I will say with this usually if like if it's only been two months and you're sh and you're already hurting again then it's probably not the shoes. Then definitely you probably need to go to see physical therapy and then see what's actually going on. But if you know if your shoes are within that window of when the foam starts to kind of break down and stuff then yeah it might be worth it's an easy thing a relatively easy thing to just get a new pair of shoes see if that helps out um but yeah I hope you found this helpful um if you did and you're listening on Apple Podcasts I would appreciate giving me a follow and also leaving a rating um but that's it for today's conversation and I'll see you in the next conversation