Staying motivated to exercise regularly is hard enough without dealing with pain in one or many of your lower body joints.
If you want to get in shape, stay in shape and maintain your progression, your feet and a strong footing is imperative.
Having knee, lower back, hip or ankle pain will halt your physical health, strength and fitness progression; many of these issues start with the feet.
I've seen it repeatedly when working with new people; footwear is one of the biggest influences on our physiology.
If not chosen wisely, your shoes will make your feet shoe-shaped rather than allowing your toes to spread out, creating a foot that is both more stable and functions as it is supposed to.
Not having healthy, strong feet and a solid, stable footing' potentially puts your body at risk of pain, injury and permanent damage.
Better Footwear is a major key that unlocks better ( optimal ) alignment and movement.
I advise that a personalised exercise program and education are imperative before moving to barefoot, wider, less restrictive shoes.
Please note I'm not giving advice here; I do not recommend changing your Footwear for those that I recommend below.
Most Footwear will already have started to change the structure of your feet; this can include a dependency on some level of arch support and the restrictive design of the shoe itself, thus making your feet weak.
I do not advise going straight to the Footwear recommended below; doing so can lead to injuries, worsening injuries and creating more pain.
I'm available for personalised programming to help you with these issues.
My Recommendations
Vibram Fivefingers shoes and Injinji socks
I personally don't recommend the Vibram socks because they don't last.
You get £10 off using my link. Visit Site
Vivobarefoot shoes
You get 20% off when you place your first online order using my link with Vivobarefoot.
Unfortunately this is not available in stores.
Visit Site - this link opens Vivo's site so you can get your code, or simply enter Nigel Gosling at checkout to get 20% off.
I had lots of pain when walking down the stairs and exercising. After having a few months of Personal Training sessions with Nigel’s; the knee pain completely went away.
I’m now back to enjoying exercise on my own and I can’t remember the last time my knees hurt when walking down the stairs. Nigel recommended Vivo for my gym sessions while we were training together, I loved them so much I’ve just bought a pair of hiking boots! Aisha