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As you can see from the photo above that represents a tiny fraction of my collection, I am not a stranger to trainers.
SPOILER: Most modern trainers have numerous problems: A large toe spring, a small toe box, cushioning that wrecks proprioception and stiffness. I'm going to try to explain why all of these things are generally a bad idea for your feet.
SPOILER 2: If you have an injury and are about to try to solve it with expensive new trainers, leave this blog now and start googling sports physio in your area.
SPOILER 3: Running shoes all fit in to a scale. At one end you have good trainers that allow your feet to move naturally and don't adversely affect your running gait and at the other end you have trainers that do their best to stop that natural movement. Most trainers fall towards the wrong end of that scale.
One of the most consistently repeated questions I see on internet forums is "What trainers should I choose?" Unfortunately, this is generally met with a barrage of advice that is "runners' conventional wisdom" passed down from runner to runner. Sadly, almost all of this "conventional runner's wisdom" is wrong with little to no evidence or scientific back up, unless you count anecdotal evidence, which you really, really shouldn't.
I'm a nurse, so I'm pretty used to reading medical research and studied anatomy and physiology at university. I also completed a degree in mechanical engineering with my thesis being in medical engineering that looked at stress and strain on tendons and ligaments (Institute of mechanical engineers gave me a medal for that study and I received the highest score on the mechanical degree that year and the second highest in the department) So hopefully this will give you some confidence in what I have to say.
The number one piece of conventional wisdom we as runners have been fed is "You must go to a specialist sports shop and get "gait analysed" and "properly" fitted for a shoe. I cannot emphasise enough how shoe salesmen CANNOT carry out real gait analysis. If you want that you need a specialised physio or a biomechanical specialist, probably at a university. Even if you get that, it is unlikely they will recommend a shoe to you, although they may tell you to stop wearing a control trainer.
Our feet contain lots of moving parts; bones, joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles. They evolved over many millennia to be wonderfully elegant structures. They contain everything you need to run well. The problem being, is that modern lives and modern shoes wreck our feet. The muscles and structures in our feet become weak at which point most people try to compensate for that by stuffing bits of foam in to them also known as "orthotics" and "motion control trainers" Unless you have an actual medical deformity, this is usually a bad thing to do.
Your foot has an arch in it and it has that arch because an arch is a very strong structure. The best way to weaken an arch is to push something up in to the middle of it- exactly what motion control shoes and orthotics usually do. This may give you some short term relief from pain, but ultimately it means that the muscles are likely doing even less of the work they should be doing and will only become even weaker. A much better way to deal with problems in your feet and ankles is to see a decent sports physio or biomechanical specialist and get them to identify where your muscles are weak or turned off and where they are over-active and to give you exercises to correct this.
The perfect trainer:
I've spent the last few years reading everything I can about the way we run in an attempt to correct my own injuries and here's what I believe the perfect trainer would be:
Flexible.
Most modern road trainers are virtually solid. If you cannot "wring" your trainer out, i.e., you are not able to twist it round, it's too stiff. Your foot is meant to move and flex when you run, a trainer with a solid sole stops the natural movement. Our culture conditions us to believe we need lots of protection under our feet. We don't, but it takes time to build up your feet to not need it if you've been wearing large amounts of cushioning for years
Foot shaped.
Most modern trainers have a pointy end. Feet are not supposed to be pointy! Your toes slope down to one side meaning your toes are pulled inwards by pointy trainers. Your big toe should point forward when you run and be allowed to move and your toes should have spaces between them. Many trainers don't allow this as the shape isn't right. Most people's feet become "shoe shaped" Having your toes subtly pulled inwards doesn't tend to hurt much, so over weeks, months and years, feet become deformed. Don't worry though, it can be reversed.
No toe spring.
Most modern trainers curl upwards at the front. The "logic" in this is that it helps you spring off the floor. In fact what it does is leaves some of the tendons in your foot under constant tension. Tendons are meant to be elastic, we pull them tight then let them go gaining momentum from the elastic recoil. That's what they're meant for, you won't damage them by doing that correctly and it takes far less energy to do that than using muscles entirely for your movement. Leaving the fascia and tendons under constant tension helps to build up scar tissue and damage that will eventually become an injury
Zero drop
There should be no difference in the height between the heel and the toes. When shoes have a heel drop it helps to shorten your achilles tendon. Swapping from shoes that have a big drop (let's say 12mm) to a zero or low drop shoe will be difficult for you after years of modern shoes, but it's worth it in the end.
Very little cushioning.
I know a shoe with a great wedge of foam is comfy and feels great, but chips taste great too, and you wouldn't eat them for every meal. Your foot needs to feel the floor so it can feed back to your body about how you are running and adjust accordingly. It's the number one thing you need for your body to prevent injury by itself. That feed back is called proprioception and the more cushioning there is, the more your proprioception is dulled.
There are relatively few trainers currently on the market that do all these things excepting barefoot trainers. Most people's feet are a long way from being able to run barefoot because of years of abuse in modern shoes with high heels, cushioning, arch support and inflexible soles. Trying to swap immediately and quickly from a heavily cushioned, arch-supported modern running shoes to a minimalist or barefoot shoe is very likely to result in injury. I believe there is great benefit in moving towards neutral shoes, but it's difficult to do and shouldn't be undertaken lightly. If your feet are strong and your gait is good, you can get away with some cushioning. If you've exercised since being a child and never really had a break, you're likely to be fine, but if you returned to running/exercise after many years of inactivity you'll need to be cautious. That doesn't mean not changing, it just means changing in small increments
Many people are going to disagree with what I have said, they will quote things such as "I bought a new trainer and all my problems went away" Whilst it may be true that your new trainer might have masked your issues, it's unlikely (but not impossible) that your problems went away, it does of course depend on what was causing your problems. If you were wearing a trainer that was very bad for your feet a new trainer might actually solve it, but that's not the case most times. There are more likely reasons such as you rested because you were injured or you did exercises that a physio gave you. Either way, relying on a new trainer to solve your injury issues is a very bad way to go about things and is a real gamble.
"But I have a high/low arch"
No, you don't. Wait- stick with me. There is no reliable tool invented that can accurately measure an arch and tell you if it is "low or high" When you are told this by someone, they are basically having a guess based on their anecdotal evidence. Besides, there is no good evidence to say that a high or low arch has any bearing whatsoever on your running. Strong muscles in your feet and a strong arch are the keys, regardless of the height of your arch
"But I over/under pronate"
No, you don't. Once again, there is no good evidence to say this has any bearing on your running or injury rate. Our feet are meant to pronate, it's part of out natural shock absorption and there is no tool to measure this let alone tell you if it is too much or too little. Once again it is personal bias based on anecdotal evidence. When you use orthotics or motion control trainers to change the pronation of your feet you are stopping the muscles working that are meant to stabilise and control the movement of your feet.
In the pictures above you can see my naturally shaped foot as compared to the shape of conventionally shaped insoles. Quite the mismatch and it's not too many years ago that my feet were shaped like the insole! And here's one of the biggest problems in trying to solve this; when most mainstream shoe manufacturers (I'm looking at you Asics et al) make an "extra-wide" shoe, they make it with the widest part at the "bunion" but as the pictures illustrate, the widest part of the human foot should be near the ends of your toes.
So all of that will have put the cat amongst the pigeons, but hopefully, at the very least I might have started you thinking differently about what you put on your feet, even if I haven't managed to convince you.
Most modern trainers curl upwards at the front. The "logic" in this is that it helps you spring off the floor. In fact what it does is leaves some of the tendons in your foot under constant tension. Tendons are meant to be elastic, we pull them tight then let them go gaining momentum from the elastic recoil. That's what they're meant for, you won't damage them by doing that correctly and it takes far less energy to do that than using muscles entirely for your movement. Leaving the fascia and tendons under constant tension helps to build up scar tissue and damage that will eventually become an injury
Zero drop
There should be no difference in the height between the heel and the toes. When shoes have a heel drop it helps to shorten your achilles tendon. Swapping from shoes that have a big drop (let's say 12mm) to a zero or low drop shoe will be difficult for you after years of modern shoes, but it's worth it in the end.
Very little cushioning.
I know a shoe with a great wedge of foam is comfy and feels great, but chips taste great too, and you wouldn't eat them for every meal. Your foot needs to feel the floor so it can feed back to your body about how you are running and adjust accordingly. It's the number one thing you need for your body to prevent injury by itself. That feed back is called proprioception and the more cushioning there is, the more your proprioception is dulled.
There are relatively few trainers currently on the market that do all these things excepting barefoot trainers. Most people's feet are a long way from being able to run barefoot because of years of abuse in modern shoes with high heels, cushioning, arch support and inflexible soles. Trying to swap immediately and quickly from a heavily cushioned, arch-supported modern running shoes to a minimalist or barefoot shoe is very likely to result in injury. I believe there is great benefit in moving towards neutral shoes, but it's difficult to do and shouldn't be undertaken lightly. If your feet are strong and your gait is good, you can get away with some cushioning. If you've exercised since being a child and never really had a break, you're likely to be fine, but if you returned to running/exercise after many years of inactivity you'll need to be cautious. That doesn't mean not changing, it just means changing in small increments
Many people are going to disagree with what I have said, they will quote things such as "I bought a new trainer and all my problems went away" Whilst it may be true that your new trainer might have masked your issues, it's unlikely (but not impossible) that your problems went away, it does of course depend on what was causing your problems. If you were wearing a trainer that was very bad for your feet a new trainer might actually solve it, but that's not the case most times. There are more likely reasons such as you rested because you were injured or you did exercises that a physio gave you. Either way, relying on a new trainer to solve your injury issues is a very bad way to go about things and is a real gamble.
"But I have a high/low arch"
No, you don't. Wait- stick with me. There is no reliable tool invented that can accurately measure an arch and tell you if it is "low or high" When you are told this by someone, they are basically having a guess based on their anecdotal evidence. Besides, there is no good evidence to say that a high or low arch has any bearing whatsoever on your running. Strong muscles in your feet and a strong arch are the keys, regardless of the height of your arch
"But I over/under pronate"
No, you don't. Once again, there is no good evidence to say this has any bearing on your running or injury rate. Our feet are meant to pronate, it's part of out natural shock absorption and there is no tool to measure this let alone tell you if it is too much or too little. Once again it is personal bias based on anecdotal evidence. When you use orthotics or motion control trainers to change the pronation of your feet you are stopping the muscles working that are meant to stabilise and control the movement of your feet.
In the pictures above you can see my naturally shaped foot as compared to the shape of conventionally shaped insoles. Quite the mismatch and it's not too many years ago that my feet were shaped like the insole! And here's one of the biggest problems in trying to solve this; when most mainstream shoe manufacturers (I'm looking at you Asics et al) make an "extra-wide" shoe, they make it with the widest part at the "bunion" but as the pictures illustrate, the widest part of the human foot should be near the ends of your toes.
So all of that will have put the cat amongst the pigeons, but hopefully, at the very least I might have started you thinking differently about what you put on your feet, even if I haven't managed to convince you.
Update 24/11/20 When I originally wrote this blog 3 and a half years ago finding the trainers I described was quite difficult but this has become easier. There are several brands now providing shoes with the features I have described.
https://xeroshoes.com/ (These are my favourites and the most comfortable "natural" shoes I own)
https://www.vivobarefoot.com/uk (Very good, but also very expensive)
https://freetbarefoot.com/ (I have a pair of freet flex and they are superb. Fantastic quality. Their sizing is really terrible though so expect to have to send pairs back to get the right size)
https://www.altrarunning.eu/uk/ (Most Altra shoes have way too much cushioning and the ones without lasted less than 100 miles on me)
Merrell also do produce some good trainers and are more often sold in mainstream outlets. Vapor gloves are excellent and are extremely minimal. They also produce a line called "bare access" Some of these are good but quite a lot of them don't quite have a natural foot shape with a very narrow mid sole and often a slightly pointy end.
Some useful reading that challenges "Conventional runners' wisdom" that will hopefully get you thinking differently if you don't already:
http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2013/06/12/bjsports-2013-092202.short?rss=1
http://stoneathleticmedicine.com/2014/04/rice-the-end-of-an-ice-age/
http://www.somastruct.com/cause-of-plantar-fasciitis/
https://www.painscience.com/articles/trigger-point-doubts.php
http://barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/Nature2010_FootStrikePatternsandCollisionForces.pdf
Some useful reading that challenges "Conventional runners' wisdom" that will hopefully get you thinking differently if you don't already:
http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2013/06/12/bjsports-2013-092202.short?rss=1
http://stoneathleticmedicine.com/2014/04/rice-the-end-of-an-ice-age/
http://www.somastruct.com/cause-of-plantar-fasciitis/
https://www.painscience.com/articles/trigger-point-doubts.php
http://barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/Nature2010_FootStrikePatternsandCollisionForces.pdf
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-35980-6.epdf?shared_access_token=5N6NOUIB_Cp_MXwRs-3J7dRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0O3ndWpnACzcq8mPZ5bB6i8qCh__6LQNxxImHz2_S3r1CT-ow-3TwXOLOhHQqnQo07l1qbMdQEYpKyOTYdcoXxpQEnONig_KbGH43wPA6ggX9h7PPdwIYDdwlsayyJ1x0A%3D
Tweet me @Scott_Leach
Tweet me @Scott_Leach
