Choosing the Correct Footwear to Suit your Lifestyle
Our goal every time a customer comes in-store inquiring about footwear is to simply break down the process for them and find the right footwear to suit their lifestyle.
The Irish Rugby management & back room staff and the Irish Rugby men’s & women’s 7’s teams recently came to our Galway Retail Park and Blanchardstown to get fitted for the right footwear as they each prepared for their respective tournaments.
We followed the same footwear service promise with them as we do with every customer that requires it. This can be broken down into three steps.
Step 1: Getting to know your lifestyle
First it’s important to know what your activity level is and what you’ll need your footwear for. This is an important process for walkers, runners and people who are quite often on their feet or training.
We’ll find this out by asking you questions like;
- What distance are you walking/running?
- What is your goal? (E.g. 10km, marathon, get stronger, run faster, etc.)
- Do you suffer from any chronic injuries?
- What surface are you walking/running/training on?
- What type of shoe do you currently wear, what have they worn in the past?
Step 2: Assess your foot type
With your permission we may recommend you to get your foot examined to assess your foot type using the Footbalance podoscope.
Footbalance: Essentially, is a 100% customised insole that we specially mould to your feet; it’s 100% unique to you. It actually adjusts your alignment from your feet up through your entire body improving full-body movement whether you are walking to work, in the gym or doing a long run.
Step 3: Recommend the best pair for you
Based on your results from the Gait analysis or Footbalance our team will determine what kind of pronation you are and what shoe you should get. Whether it is a neutral pronation, supination/(under pronation or over pronation will determine the shoe type. Generally you’ll either require a neutral or stability running shoe.
So what do terms like pronation mean and what do they say about your feet?
Pronation
When your foot strikes the ground, it rolls inwards to absorb the shock. People who roll inward too much or not enough can experience running injuries due to less effective shock absorption.
Overpronation: Generally present with low or flat arches involves excessive inward rolling of the foot & ankle after landing.
Over Pronation requires extra stability = Stability running shoe e.g. Asics GT1000 or Brooks Adrenaline GTS.
Neutral Pronation: Normal arches, neutral alignment. The foot experiences a normal amount of pronation on impact. The foot lands on the outside of the heel and then rolls inwards (pronates) to absorb shock and support body weight.
Neutral pronation can wear a wide variety of shoes) = Neutral running shoes e.g. Asics Cumulus or Brooks Revel, Nike React, adidas Ultraboost.
Supination/Underpronation: occurs due to the bones in the medial arch of the foot being too high. This means they become packed together and rigid, so they are not able to allow normal pronation to happen.
Supination/Under Pronation requires Extra cushioning = Neutral running shoe or a motion control shoe e.g. Brooks Glycerin or Asics Nimbus
There are a number of different options of Neutral and Stability footwear at every price point each with varying levels of cushioning and stability. Brands terminologies differ but your needs come first. Recommendations will be made based on profiling, analysis results and customer preference. We will provide you with enough options to allow you to have a choice depending on your needs and price range.
Call into your local Intersport Elverys store to discuss your foot type in more detail. This is our process we use when determining the right footwear for our customers and we can’t recommend it enough. Watch Eoin from our running team simplify all this information below.
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