Good foot support is essential in your everyday life, but it is especially important when it comes to working out. Whether you’re hitting the gym, out for a morning jog around the neighborhood, or training for the next local marathon, your shoes eventually get worn down. The more the soles wear down, the more likely you are to sustain a foot or ankle related injury. While many factors come into play when it comes to changing your running shoes, there are a few that you should take into consideration.
 
Like changing your car’s oil every 10,000-15,000km, your shoes also have a set mileage on them. Experts say that you should change your running shoes every 350-500 miles, but again, it depends on the person and their lifestyle. This mileage roughly equates to changing your running shoes every six months to a year which seems reasonable, especially since once it reaches that time, you usually start noticing visible wear and tear on your running shoes, such a creasing, uneven soles, and even holes. Once this happens, it’s a good idea to head to the nearest shoe store and replace your running shoes.
 
As mentioned before, lifestyle matters and could lead you to replace your running shoes sooner than six months. For example, those who are training hard for a marathon will get a lot more use, and therefore more wear and tear on their running shoes if they’re going out everyday running upwards of 15km. Similarly, those who choose to go for a jog around the neighborhood will need to replace their running shoes more often than those that run on the treadmill as the pavement will cause more damage to the shoe. Weight also plays a factor since a heavier-set person will supply more weight to the shoe and cause the soles to wear down faster. In this case, it might be a simple case of replacing the sole every so often, rather than going out and buying a new pair of shoes. Pick a shoe that best fits your lifestyle.
 
How your body feels is also a good indicator of when to change your running shoes. Have muscle pain in your calves? Change your shoes. The bottoms of your feet aching every time you come back from a run? Change your shoes. Do not ignore what your body is trying to tell you. Once the soles of your shoes wear down, the support is gone, and you may as well be running barefoot in that scenario. If you’re unsure if the pain is related to your shoes, consult with your local podiatrist to rule out any serious injury.
 
If you have sustained an injury related to poor shoes, contact us today and set up a consultation so we can get you back on your feet again.