THE SOLE PURPOSE

Have you noticed how complicated it has gotten just to buy a pair of athletic shoes. Shoe companies have tried more and more to impress you, the consumer with high tech shoe designs with the cost well up into 3 digits. With gel, rubber and air pumped into the soles and special designs for pronation support, heel stabilization, motion control and shock absorption to name a few. But scientific articles show that these impressive features actually do more harm than good. It seems that the more we try to improve upon the natural design of the body the more we see that it cannot be done.

The soles of the human foot have millions of nerve endings that sense every precise detail of activity happening. Your brain and body take this information and work together to constantly monitor and adapt to the stress of hitting the ground with your feet and then alter your gait mechanism accordingly. Information such as the status of the muscles and joints to protect against possible injury. The monitoring procedures are extremely fast and too complicated for us to understand and appreciate the global changes happening to the body just from the data off of this system. For this complex mechanism to work properly, it needs to have no interference with the nerves that are picking up the information. Basically the thicker and more overprotected the shoe, the worse it is for the body.

Some studies show that the material used in some of the fancier shoes reduce sensation the foot feels so much that it allows the foot to actually impact the ground harder! One study on shoes with sorbothane (an energy absorbing material) increased leg stress by 26%. Pronation is a concern with exercisers. Studies show that if the heel height is more than one inch it can increase pronation.

If it's speed you want from your running shoe then again stay away from the more cushioned shoes. The thicker shoes stay in contact with the ground longer and cause increased leg reflex activity. This requires more oxygen uptake and will slow down your time.

Be careful when changing your shoe style because you can get addicted to your shoes.

The same type of problem exists for women who have worn high heel shoes for years, her foot and leg muscles adapt to the shoe. Lowering the heel height may take up to two weeks of readjusting for your muscles and subsequent calf pain.

When picking out a shoe notice if the manufacturer tried to use high tech to help your feet. The body does not need help from technology it is already the perfect machine. The simpler shoes cost less too!