Making Sure Running Shoes for Women Fit Well

Do athletic women have differently shaped feet than men? Should you choose a shoe brand that designs shoes differently for its women customers? Do running shoes for women serve different needs than for men? These are not just academic questions if you are deeply involved in your running. Choosing the wrong shoe can make the difference between grand athletic performance and shin splits in the worst cases. Let’s try to look into the issue.

Certainly, women have smaller feet – that’s a no-brainer. But their feet are differently-shaped too, what is more. For instance, the ball of the foot in a woman happens to be wider in relation to the heel that it would be for a man. This would mean that a woman wearing size 9 should have shoes made with the heelswider at front than for a man who would wear a smaller shoe. And the more a woman runs, the smaller the heel and the wider the front of the foot seem to get. What this tends to mean is that in women who run a great deal, typically 30 miles a week or more, their arches gets higher, and the entire structure of each foot gets more inflexible. Buying running shoes for athletic women then is all about going the extra mile to choose shoes that are very flexible, and fit like a glove. The slightest bit of looseness in a new pair of shoes in very athletic women will only mean more looseness as the shoes are broken in, and that could be a very unpleasant situation.

It is never hard finding the right size of running shoes for women of course; unfortunately, the right size never means the right fit, as foot shape can take away any gains made in picking the correct size. The shoe manufacturing industry just keeps one standard foot shape in mind that never actually fits most feet. The only remaining hope lies in getting shoes to fit through imaginative lacing techniques. And here, we have lots of choices in running shoes for women.

To begin with, most major shoe companies, Asics, New Balance and Nike among others, have innovative new lacing systems to make sure that tightness once achieved is not lost through loosening. Also, there are professional lacing techniques you can use yourself to help your case. Lace your shoes up as usual, except that you mustn’t cross the lace over for the top eyelet. With these eyelets, put the lace in on the same side to form a little loop on each side. Now, you can thread the end of each lace through the loop on the opposite side and then tie them up as normal. This should give you a great snug fit. Making running shoes for women fit properly is of extreme importance in preventing injuries in the forefoot. A little care in the right choice of shoe and in the right lace tying technique will go a long way.



Posted by Robby Burt



About the Author: