Buying the right pair of running shoes is crucial to running when trying to prevent injuries. The wrong pair of shoes will greatly increase your chance of injury keeping you off your feet. The three main things one need to get right when buying a shoe is size, cushioning and matching your running gait.
Not all shoes are created equally, because not all feet are created equally. Every person has a different type of running style which is called your running gait. To buy the best running shoes for yourself you need to know what kind of gait you run with. The three types of gaits are, neutral, over pronation and under pronation. They key is to figure out your gait then match it to a pair of shoes designed for your gait style.
Pronation of your gait is how much your foot rotates inward or outward as you step off your foot. If you have a neutral gait then you foot dose not rotate inward or outward and is therefore neutral. Depending on which kind of gait you have different shoes are designed to help make your gait more neutral as you run. When you have a neutral gait with the right shoes on you will minimize the chances of injury because you are limiting the excess movement of muscles in your lower legs and ankle regions.
The best way to determine your gait is to run on a treadmill and have a video camera pointed at your feet so you can record and analyze how your foot moves at it rolls off from heel to toe, and see which way it pronates, or if its neutral. If you cant set up a treadmill and camera then you can look at the wear patterns on the bottom of old running shoes. If you have more wear on the inside of the shoe then you, over pronate. If you have more wear on the outside of the base of the shoe then you under pronate.
Once you confirm your running gait you need to pick shoes which are designed for your type of running style. To do this you either need to go to a professional running shoe store who has knowledgeable salesmen who know the types of shoes or you can go to www.runningwarehouse.com. where shoe are organized into three categories based on ones gait. Another plus of running warehouse is they offer free two day shipping on any purchase.
If you just buy any shoe which is not specifically for your individual gait, you will injury your feet or legs over time as a result of a the torque of your rotating foot. For example even if you have a neutral gait, you need to buy neutral shoes. If you by a motion controlled shoe with a neutral gait it will by trying to correct for a pronation you don't have and will turn your neutral stride into pronation.
Understanding the mechanics of your running style is crucial to buying the right shoes so you can prevent injuries and keep running.