What shoes are good to wear in the gym

There is no standard answer when it comes to choosing shoes for going to the gym. The key is to choose according to your training content that day. Veterans around me who have practiced for five or six years basically prepare two pairs to wear. Newbies should first avoid the minefields of thick-soled dad shoes, canvas shoes, and Crocs. Don’t wait until you are injured to react.

Last week, I saw a little girl wearing 5cm thick dad shoes to practice deadlifts. She couldn't stand still when she weighed 55kg. The soft and thick soles looked comfortable, but in fact they released the force like crazy when she exerted force. It felt like stepping on a sponge under her feet. If the center of gravity is slightly skewed, problems would easily occur. There was also an older brother who was wearing flip-flops while jumping on the box. His foot slipped and broke his knee. He had three stitches and couldn't come to the gym for more than half a month.

If you mainly practice heavy lifting that day, especially compound movements such as squats and deadlifts, choose strength training shoes with hard soles and good upper wrapping. The soles will hardly deform and feel like they are directly attached to the ground when you step on them. When exerting force, the force can be directly transmitted from the feet to the ground. I used to wear ordinary running shoes and always felt that my feet were soft when I lifted 100kg. After switching to hard-soled shoes, the same weight is not stable, and even the core is tighter than before.

Of course, if you don’t touch heavy weights that day, and instead do jogging, aerobics, or boxing classes that involve a lot of jumping, jogging shoes or comprehensive training shoes with some cushioning are more suitable. They can help take off part of the momentum when you land, and are friendly to your knees and ankles. Don’t listen to what the Internet says about doing barefoot exercises. Last time I took a group class, there was a guy doing burpees with bare feet. He stepped on an elastic band that someone else dropped and twisted his foot, making it swollen like a bun.

By the way, there is a lot of debate on the Internet right now about whether barefoot shoes can be worn. In fact, both sides are right. Most people who like to wear barefoot shoes do functional training or light strength training. Thin-soled shoes allow you to feel the force of the soles of your feet more clearly, and you can also practice sole strength. I also like to wear barefoot shoes when I practice kettlebells and Bulgarian split jumps. I can really feel that my center of gravity is more stable. But if you have just practiced for a short time, or you have flat feet and poor arch strength, or even have to lift heavy weights, don’t join in the fun. Without enough support, it is easy to sprain your feet. It is common for your arches to hurt so much that you can’t go downstairs after practicing.

You don’t have to spend huge sums of money to buy several pairs of professional shoes just after you get a fitness card. If you are a novice and don’t train frequently and the weight is not heavy at the beginning, you can just wear ordinary jogging shoes that don’t wear your feet when you usually run three or four kilometers. Once you figure out your training preferences, for example, you can spend most of the week It’s not too late to add a pair of professional strength shoes when I’m training. When I first started training, I wore a pair of cheap running shoes that cost more than 100 yuan. I changed to training shoes after practicing for more than half a year, and there was no problem. In the final analysis, the fit, heel, and adaptability to the training content of the day are better than any expensive shoes from big brands.