Peter: Hey, I'm Peter from Shoetopia
Laura: I'm Laura from Align Pedorthics.
Peter: It's another version of Feel Good Feet, so welcome.
Today, we're going to cover something that was asked by one of our viewers. If there's something you want us to cover, make sure you let us know. The information is just down below.
But it's Priscilla, and Priscilla asked us, could you kind of cover zero-drop shoes and barefoot shoes today? We are going to do that, but we're going to take it one step further and just talk about the differences, and what those differences are.
Essentially, what she was asking for, sort of the zero-drop idea, is the idea that you're on the same plane as the ground. A lot of footwear is not at 0, some of it's a little higher heel, so that might be a 4 mm drop, an 8 mm drop, a 12 mm drop. The idea there is that it's a drop between your heel placement within the shoe, down to your toe placement. So it's within the shoe, not necessarily ... You could have different cushions and stuff underneath it that raise you up and stuff, but it would still be a zero-drop within the shoe even if you had cushion underneath it. That's kind of the idea of the differences of the types of drops within a shoe.
Laura: If you are thinking about a 0 mm drop, something that you want to think about is that all of the weight is going to be in your heels. That's beneficial for people who are weightlifting, into CrossFit, where you want to have your body weight in the back of your heels where you're sitting back, for proper technique.
You also, if you have fairly flexible calves and you want to keep that range of motion, then a zero-drop might be fairly comfortable for you as well.
Peter: Yeah. We see a lot of people coming in looking for that sort of thing. One of the nice things about a lot of the zero-drop shoes anyway, is they have a little more roomy toe box, typically. The idea behind that, is you spread your toes. With that, like all those guys doing those CrossFit things, and the back and forth, the lateral motion type thing, they want that stability within their feet muscles so that they've got it underneath them. As we all know, it's our foundation. That's the kind of stuff they're looking for.
As far as things that we've seen in the store with that, some of the people that have moved to a zero-drop shoe in the past, that are used to something a little more traditional, have become injured if they are running wrong.
The difference between running in a traditional shoe and a zero-drop shoe would be, basically people that run in a traditional shoe typically ... If you run and you stretch out and you heel strike, then you really want to be in more of a traditional shoe. Because every time you heel strike, you're pounding with your heel first. That kind of thing, that sort of motion, the shoe will absorb some of that shock.
If you're running in a barefoot shoe or a zero-drop shoe, typically you're going to run a little more upright. Your hands are going to be in a little closer, and you're going to be doing this sort of motion. With that, the idea is that your hips, your knees, your lower back are going to absorb some of that pressure, and you're not going to have that striking motion, so you won't get hurt that way.
Laura: A couple of reasons why you wouldn't want to be in a zero-drop shoe, more your classic running shoe with a higher heel to ball, would be if you've got some Achilles tendon issues, if you have some really tight calves that you've been working on for a while but you just aren't getting that range of motion, if there's any sort of Plantar Fascia, if you're a heel striker, all of those sort of things, you're probably a little bit better in a classic running shoe.
Peter: Yeah.
Well, hopefully this kind of explains a little bit about zero-drop stuff and classic running shoes and the in between. Hopefully this will actually help you understand whether you might want to try something different and reassure you whether you're in the actual shoe that you should be.
Hopefully this has kind of outlined it all for you, and we will see you on another version of Feel Good Feet soon. I'm Peter from Shoetopia. You can find us at Shoetopia.ca, on Facebook or on Instagram.
Laura: And I'm Laura from Align Pedorthics, and you can find me at Alignpedorthics.com.
Peter: Have a great day, bye for now.
Laura: Bye.