How to lace your running shoes

Running is pretty simple. One foot in front of the other. But to prevent injury and increase comfort you not only need good running shoes, but you also need to know how to lace up your running shoes.

Injury risk is higher if you do not use the best way to lace up running shoes. To make sure that you feel comfortable your lacing method depends on.

• The shape of your foot (wide or narrow foot, wide or narrow forefoot, sleepy heel …)
• The lacing material
• The number of lace holes on your shoes
• The type of knot you use to secure the laces

Despite being a minor issue, getting the lacing perfectly will make a big difference in the overall comfort and support of your shoes.

You will find plenty of different ways to use classical laces depending on the specific shape of your foot (diagonal, crossed, horizontal, tight, loose …).

Bear in mind that you need more room when it comes to running. Having a compact shoe is a must; however, if you cannot flex normally or the shoe hinders you from proper toe splaying, this could affect your performance.

Make sure to ease the pressure of the lacing. Lacing that is too tight may seem to keep your feet from slipping; however, this could hinder the normal blood flow, leading to numbness and bruising in the end.

Try to flex your foot inside your shoe before hitting the course and see to it if you are comfortable enough with the interior. If not, it might be necessary to adjust the lacing system to fit your needs.

You might also prefer to use other lacing systems. On certain models, shoe manufacturers are proposing other systems than classical laces. You can also buy specific system such as Hickies, Unchain, Xpand, Snors … which add the benefit of adaptive fit and tension thanks to an elastic material.

The idea is that your lacing system adapts to the move of your foot and that you don’t need to fix the tension of your laces each time you take off or on your shoes.

By Philippe Deleplace – HorizonSports