Dr. David Koivuranta, a chiropractor and 25-year runner, explains why shoe choice matters. Running creates forces 2 to 3 times your body weight, while walking creates 1.2 to 1.3 times. The right shoes need cushioning matched to your foot mechanics, and custom inserts may help.
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Hey everyone, it's Dr. Dave. Hopefully you're all out enjoying yourselves and creating those good experiences I keep talking about. I've been fortunate to be a chiropractor for 18 years, but I've also been a runner for 25 years and used to race somewhat competitively, but never gave it up, always enjoyed the running, and I love to mix the two. I'm so excited when I get to see runners in the clinic and work with them on their injuries, but especially just to keep them healthy, prevent those injuries, help improve their performance. One of the big things we talk about with the runners is shoes. You know, whether you're a competitive runner, a recreational runner, someone who just enjoys getting out for a walk, you really want to make sure that your footwear is helping you do that really well. When you're walking, it's about 1.2 to 1.3 times your body weight on impact, but when you're running, it can be as high as 2 or 3. So you want to make sure that your shoes are designed for you, Make sure they work with the way your body moves. You want to make sure you don't let them get too old so that the cushioning is good. And you want to make sure that the support is designed for you depending on how your foot works. So it's not as easy as just going out and picking them on color. Even if it's just a walking shoe, you want to make sure that that walking shoe is supporting you well. And even if it's your casual shoe and you're on your feet a lot during the day, you want to make sure that it's designed to do what it needs to do. Not just with good cushioning, but also with some good support, and sometimes that means a customized support. Not always, but it just depends again on what's going on with your feet and your body. So a lot of people have questions about those things, and what we do with our full assessment is we make sure that everything is sitting and moving well first, and then we can support them with some good shoes and maybe some inserts to make sure that everything you're doing on your feet every day is not detracting from those experiences you want to create. So whether you're a runner and a competitive one or a recreational one, any kind of athlete, or you enjoy getting out for a walk, or you're on your feet a lot during the day, come see us. Let us make sure that those tootsies of yours don't get too tender, alright? So go on out there, create some great experiences, and keep moving.
