The treadmill provides a softer surface than pavement, making it a lower-impact option that's easier on your joints. It also uses less energy because the track helps pull your feet back underneath your body. You save even more energy because you avoid wind and other elements like cold air and dirt or sand. However, while a treadmill is a lower-impact option than running outside, it does not change the need for proper running shoes. The stability level that you need in your shoe depends on how your feet and legs move through the running gait cycle, or your running biomechanics.
Motion Control
If you overpronate, your feet roll in too far after you strike the ground or treadmill track. If you don't control this motion with the right shoes, you raise your risk for injury, according to "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Running," by Bill Rodgers and Scott Douglas. You need motion control shoes to compensate for your overpronation. These sometimes are referred to as "maximum stability" shoes, though some manufacturers create their own category names like "structured cushioning." If you severely overpronate or you weigh more than 180 lbs. and only moderately overpronate, seek this type of shoe. Look for shoes that provide good heel and forefront cushioning technology, a thick midsole, and a medial post that extends to the arch of the shoe and has a straight shape.
Stability
When you supinate, your feet roll to the outside during your foot strike on the treadmill track or ground. If you supinate, you are among the fewer than 10 percent of runners who do so. You need a flexibility shoe, which -- despite its name -- actually maximizes cushioning. These also are referred to as "stability" shoes. This shoe should have no medial post, good forefoot cushioning technology, a thin midsole and a curved shape.
Neutral
If you don't supinate or overpronate, you have the ideal running biomechanics in which your foot lands on the outside of the heel and rolls in until your lower leg and heel are aligned. Your foot then becomes rigid and propels you forward. About 50 percent of runners are lucky enough to have such running biomechanics. If you are among this group, you need a neutral shoe. Neutral shoes have little to no stabilizing structural elements. Look for shoes with a small medial post, a midsole that is medium thick and good heel cushioning technology and a semi-straight shape.
Minimalist
If you are a barefoot runner, but your gym requires you to wear shoes on the treadmill, you want minimalist shoes. These shoes have a lightweight sole and little cushioning. An increasing number of experts, from doctors to ultra marathoners to biomechanics experts say barefoot or minimalist is the best way to run, according to Tyghe Trimble's article, "The Running Shoe Debate," in the Dec. 18, 2009 issue of "Popular Mechanics." Shoe advocates say running without shoes leads to stress-impact injuries because shoes diminish impact force. The minimalist running shoe is still in its infancy, so defining what makes the best shoe comes down largely to personal preference as to how "minimal" you want to go, and what feels comfortable and fits your foot well. These range from shoes that encase your feet like a second skin and have individual toe compartments to thin-soled shoes that are best for indoor use to shoes with shoes with a flexible forefoot and reduced amounts of cushioning, according to Roy M. Wallack's article, "Running Shoes with that Barefoot Feel," which appeared in the Oct. 5, 2009 edition of the "Los Angeles Times."
Barefoot advocates say going minimalist or barefoot is best because you lose musculature in your feet when you use shoes, which reduces the natural cushion in your stride and that padding in shoes can exaggerate your foot's rotation, notes Tyghe. Also, impact force injury is more of a concern on hard ground like concrete than a softer surface like a treadmill. However, the answer as to whether regular or minimalist shoes are better still comes down to an unanswered chicken-and-egg question, says Tyghe: Do running shoes support the way you run or do you run as you do because of your running shoes?
References
- Health Services at Columbia University: Track Versus Treadmill
- "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Running"; Bill Rodgers and Scott Douglas;2010
- American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine: Footwear --- Running Shoes
- "The Minimalist Runner"; Nicholas Pang; 2010
- "Popular Mechanics": The Running Shoe Debate; Tyghe Trimble; Dec. 18, 2009
- "Los Angeles Times"; Running Shoes with that Barefoot Feel"; Roy M. Wallack; Oct. 5, 2009
Member Comments