Footwear

Footwear for exercise and shoes

Fitness and exercise shoes are the backbone of your workout, and definitely the most important piece of gear in your sports training. If you spend the necessary time to research and buy the right model, your entire workout experience changes for the better.

This is as true for running shoes, as it is for weight lifting shoes, fitness shoes, or tennis and basketball shoes.

The brand is not that much important unless you find a specific feature that you appreciate, so you can definitely choose between Nike, Sketchers, ASICS, New Balance, Adidas or Puma and Reebok.

What type of footwear to choose?

Many people go for running shoes regardless of the activity they are getting themselves into. Have in mind that running shoes are not designed to withstand the intensity of most bodyweight aerobic workouts, as well as cross fit, since you’ll be moving in many directions instead of going forward.

Tennis shoes are perhaps ideal for fitness pursuits that engage your entire body, and where there is jumping, or jerky movements involved.

Weight lifting shoes, on the other hand, are specifically designed to provide stability and balance while you struggle with the barbell, either on your squat or deadlift.

What makes up quality fitness footwear?

Many variables depend, but you’ll mostly want to pay attention to the sole. It has to be either flexible enough, or sturdy enough to meet your workout demands.

Furthermore, you’ll want a shoe that is made of quality materials suitable for the task at hand, and definitely one that breathes. The stitching is important too, but some popular models nowadays hide the stitching so it is very hard to gauge the structural strength of the pair.

I won’t encourage you to buy the latest and greatest models as they are being advertised, since prices usually tend to drop after the first year a model has been released.

Look for comfort, a sufficiently dense sole depending on the surface you’ll want to exercise on, and don’t shy away from models that are one, two or three years old. If they are still up, selling one pair after another – well, that’s as much guarantee of quality and user satisfaction as one might hope for.

We have reviewed some of the most popular fitness and exercise footwear on the market, so make sure to use the filters, navigate your way around the selection, and read some of our reviews for comparison.