Happy feet, pleasant travel
In my first conference here in Las Vegas 12 years ago, I made the mistake of wearing heels or leather shoes. While most hotel parking is complimentary, it is not advisable to drive from one hotel to another if you want to explore. Most of the massive hotels are connected by walkways, and they are built that way to encourage people to walk the strip.
Every year, I advise our new delegates to make sure they bring their most comfortable pair of shoes. It is not wise to buy new shoes for a trip. In fact, as my daughters advised, one should choose their footwear first, then work their wardrobe around that.
If you want to shop for comfortable shoes, then please consider the following: Trace your feet on a piece of paper each. That will be your fast guide on whether you would even want to fit the shoes. Always shop for shoes in the afternoon when your feet have expanded. Wear the socks you would normally wear with the shoes.
It is also always better to get shoes with half an inch allowance. The extra space will allow room for the toe to press forward. It is not true that you can “break in” new shoes and that it’ll be more comfortable with use. Make sure that the width of the shoe also provides enough space.
Our feet are not of the same size. Know which one is bigger and always try shoes on that foot first. But of course, you have to try both eventually to check on comfort by walking them around the store.
Dr. Paul Langer, author of the book Great Feet for Life said that “when walking, you need your shoes to handle that repetitive heel-to-toe rolling motion. After all, a 150-pound woman’s body encounters between 900,000 and 1,350,00 pounds of impact over a three-mile walk.”
When it comes to comfort and making your feet happy, one size doesn’t fit all. Dr. Langer says that every individual is unique in terms of what feels comfortable to him/her.
“Research on comfort seems to show that our footwear preferences are influenced by our movement patterns and sensitivity, among other things, which are highly unique, person to person. Our bodies are programmed to move in the manner that uses the least amount of energy and causes the least amount of discomfort or pain. No one moves in the exact same way. Our movement pattern is as unique as our signature,” Dr. Langer explains.
That explains why if you search for the most comfortable shoes, you hardly get the same answers.
“This is a huge topic. I’ll preface this by saying that I run in Vibram FiveFingers, New Balance Minimus, Merrel Trail Gloves, and other minimalist footwear, but I also wear conventional shoes and, occasionally, insoles and orthotics. I look at footwear as tools and I select the best tool for the given conditions of the trail and how my feet or legs feel. I run more than I hike and I’m lucky enough to live along the Mississippi River, so have miles of grass and parkland right outside my front door,” he adds.
“It doesn’t follow that shoes that promote themselves as being good for you will really end up so. I have treated many athletes who have hurt themselves trying barefoot or minimalist shoes. What I find, as far as mistakes made with minimalist shoes, is that people assume that the impact forces of running or hiking magically disappear. They do not — they are merely redistributed. So while knee and hip loading may be decreased, the loads on the calf muscles, Achilles tendons, and metatarsals (long skinny bones of the foot) are increased. This is a big change for most of us who have been using conventional shoes for all of our lives,” he concludes.
Explore more and complain less about painful feet by using the right walking shoes. Comfort before style, I always remind my daughter. But she often insists it won’t look good on Instagram. After one hour of walking in high heels, she begged us to buy the flats in cans being dispensed by machines. Painful feet must be a common complaint here because there is almost one dispensing machine per floor.
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Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com.
