Jogging The right and healthy running shoe

What to look for when buying the perfect running shoe

06/25/2014

Running is the trend sport par excellence. True to the motto „After a long sitting in the office quickly slip into the running shoes and off you go“ countless recreational athletes turn their rounds in parks and sports fields in the evenings. In order to really do something good for the body with the movement, one should always pay attention to the right footwear. Whether cushioning or pronation support - it depends on the individual biomechanics of the feet. Three experts report in conversation with the news agency „dpa“, on what recreational athletes should pay attention to when buying the perfect running shoes.

Running shoe technology has been constantly evolving
As Prof. Stefan Grau of the University of Gothenburg reports, the run-up boom began in Germany about 30 years ago. At that time, the sports shoe manufacturers would have sat mainly on cushioning. So the shoes should cushion the impact forces by extremely soft soles, which arise when the foot occurs. Despite the then innovative technology, no decline in injury rates was recorded, resulting in a new trend. Instead of the dampening effect, the running shoes should henceforth support and stabilize. So-called pronation supports should prevent the unwanted inward rotation of the foot. But even this innovation brought no reduction in injury rates. Gray attributes this less to a poor running shoe technology than to the changed user base. At the beginning of the run-up boom, well-trained people were among the joggers. „Today we have many badly trained people, and yet there are no more injuries. So the shoes are already fulfilling their purpose, "says the sports scientist.

Optimal fit of the running shoe is crucial
To optimally support the runner, the running shoes have to fit perfectly. According to Grau, the ankle plays an essential role. „There are extremely many people who have an unstable ankle, "says the expert. „This also includes returnees or obese. Therefore, it is important that there are shoes that have a stabilizing effect. "As explained further on, functional elements in the area of ​​the hindfoot are like cash pads with damping properties, a certain torsional rigidity, so that a rotation of the foot around the longitudinal axis is prevented. as well as good heel caps make sense.

In sports shoe stores, professional motion analysis can rule out whether a pronation support is needed to prevent the foot from being turned inwards. If such a support is used, it is embedded in the midsole of the shoe. Mostly it is colored gray.

Women and men have different fits for running shoes
Running shoes for men and women differ particularly in width, reports Grau. They should not have been made on the same last. How narrow or wide a shoe should be depends on its size, according to the sports scientist. Accordingly, small feet are rather wide and large feet more often narrow. For women, shoe size 42 is already large, so these shoes should be rather narrow cut. In men, the same shoe size but tends to be small, so that the shoe in size 42 should be rather wide.

Generally, it is advisable to buy running shoes always half a size larger than everyday shoes, because the foot when walking in the shoes back and forth and needs more space in the front. In addition, the heel must not slip out through the movement, as otherwise threatening discomfort to the Achilles tendon. In the area of ​​the midfoot, the shaft material should fit snugly, according to the sports scientist.

Too much cushioning of running shoes is counterproductive
Today's running gear cushioning systems are much flatter than they used to be, as heavily damped, soft soles made the shoes unstable. „The result was that ligament and tendon injuries increased explosively, "explains Grau, adding that today's models are also suitable for less-trained people with weaker musculature.

Another argument that shed the shoe manufacturers from the strong dampening, supplied the medicine. For example, shock loads have not been considered negative or harmful for some time now. The physician Matthias Marquardt reports in his publication „The great running shoe book "that the body even needs shock loads. „Impact forces maintain the health of your joints and prevent bone loss, "he writes in his book." Without the stimulus of shock, the risk of osteoporosis increases - not just for the elderly, but for office workers as well. „Their bones and joints experience too few impact forces that were originally intended in evolution, and therefore do not build enough bone mass, "writes Marquardt, himself triathlete and advocate of the „Natural Runnings“.

At the „Natural running“ It's about getting as close as possible to the barefoot feeling. The shoe models therefore have flatter heels and thus a reduced heel strike. In addition, notches are embedded in the sole, which make them more flexible. Untrained recreational runners should refrain from this type of running shoes, as they can cause overuse problems with too weak foot and calf muscles.

Wrong running shoes can cause knee problems
Prof. Gert-Peter Brüggemann, head of the Institute for Biomechanics and Orthopedics at the German Sport University Cologne, points out that up to 48 percent of the running injuries affect the knee joint, because the knee has its usual movement, which can be changed or disturbed while running , A good running shoe should fix this effect. „The shoe should then change the force application point on the foot and thus the levers of the forces for the knee joint. That's the only thing a shoe can do, "says Brüggemann, whereby the sole shape and the distribution of different materials in the shoe play an important role. „A shoe should always be an enhancement of what nature wants to do, "the expert concludes.

Marquardt also supports this view. For example, the pronation, the inward rotation of the limbs, was considered harmful for a long time. Meanwhile she is recognized as „crucial for a healthy running movement, "writes the physician in his book „always a compromise“.

Running shoes need regeneration time
As Prof. Ingo Froböse of the German Sport University Cologne explains, running shoes like humans need a regeneration time of at least 48 hours. Anyone training a lot should therefore have at least two pairs of running shoes and take turns. In addition, runners should pay attention to when the running quality of the shoe subsides. Then a new pair should be purchased. According to Froböse, however, you often notice the difference when new running shoes are tried on. The expert advises depending on the weight of the athlete at the latest after 500 to 800 kilometers traveled to buy a new pair. His tip: Running shoes should always be bought in the evening, as the foot spreads during the day similar to jogging.