Best of the Best

It wasn’t that long ago, that an active person’s day of hiking up the side of a mountain in the morning, playing a game of tennis at lunch, and maybe going for a jog after work, all were accomplished in the same low cut basketball shoe that Dr. J wore! Can you imagine? My ankles hurt, just thinking about it!

In more recent years, the big brand named shoe companies got smart and realized they could slap the face of an overpriced athlete on a box and move a million pair during the Christmas selling season! Never mind that the shoe inside the box was garbage! Well “good riddance” to that, too!

Thankfully, you, today’s consumer, has become the savvy one, and the companies that make those shoes have had to adapt, and adapt they have. The modern cross training shoe is a perfect example of that, with great ankle support, solid soles, waterproof material, and many more features, having become standard fare. The cross training shoe section of any sporting goods store today is a smorgasbord of general and specialty products built for any activity you can think of, and probably some you haven’t. The key is to just take the time to pick the right one.

A couple simple things to consider when buying a Cross Training Shoe are:

1. What do I need a shoe for? Is it multiple activities, or do I need something specific? If you’re training for a marathon, go get a high-end running shoe! Duh!

2. If I decide I do need a cross trainer, then what “dominant” activity will I be participating in? Obviously, if hiking through the woods is the chore, then an aerobic shoe might not be the right choice, as you’ll want to err toward more ankle support.

3. Finally, what other activities might I be doing? Sticking with the above example, you’re not going to want to go to your aerobics class in a hiking shoe that has creek sludge all over it from yesterday’s trek up the Matterhorn!