How to Choose Running Shoes

Series Summary

Running is a popular recreational and fitness activity of many people. For cardiovascular health and convenience, running is hard to beat. Whether someone lives in a city, suburb, or cornfield, they can put on a pair of tennis shoes and take a jog down the road to raise their heart rate and exercise the most important muscle of the body. Before it was a fitness activity, running served as one of the fundamental sports. Footraces have tested speed and athleticism in human cultures for thousands of years. Many people are familiar with the origins of the Marathon, a race created for the 1896 Olympics that recreated the legendary run of a solider from Marathon to Athens with the news “Masters! Victory is ours!” In this free video series on running, professional fitness trainer Les Whitley discusses the benefits and techniques of running. Whitley talks about a variety of running related issues, such as how to choose running shoes, practice good running form, train for a one-mile race, control breathing techniques, break in running shoes and even how to run the 100 meter dash. These running tips are great for improving cardiovascular health and emotional well being. Watch these free videos and learn more about running today.

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Les Whitley. Today, I'd like to take a few moments and talk to you about how to choose a proper running shoe that will meet your needs for the activities you're about to begin. In choosing a running shoe, there are several key important points that you want to go into with. Number one is what you're going to be using this shoe for. Is it going to be sprinting, long-distance type running or just kind of an all around general-purpose training shoe. There are different types of shoes that will meet different needs for that depending on your level of wear and your level of activity. Number one when you go in to a store or order a shoe, make sure that it fits properly from the very start. Get your foot measured, not only in length, but also in width to make sure it fits appropriately. Try the shoe on, move around in the shoe, not just for kids to run around the department stores anymore. As an adult, we need to make sure we take time, try them on and make sure they feel good. After all when you leave the store, if the shoe feels uncomfortable, chances are, when you get out and begin exercising, it's not going to get that much better. The break-in period for shoes now a days is much shorter. So, again feel the shoe, the comfort level, what you're using the shoe for. Fit; look for, on a shoe, the arch. Ideally, you want that arch to match up with the link of the arch in your foot. If a shoe is designed where the arch is a little more fore-forwards, you need to make sure that that fits your needs. If the arch is set further back, make sure that that fits as well properly. The other thing is width of the shoe. The toe box which means this part of the shoe. If you have a very wide foot, you want to seek a shoe that's wider in the toe box. If you have a more narrow foot; again, for feel, make sure that it's fitting that width of your foot as well because in side-to-side movement, you run the risk of developing blisters that can be very painful and limit your activity. So, again, get your shoes sized appropriately by talking with a professional. Your foot care professional will help out or doing your research on line. Either way; take time, consider the shoes that you're wearing and the activities you're going to be using them for."