Which sports shoe has the absolutely best cushioned sole for someone with an injured back (minimum jarring)?

Question

A friend of mine has a damaged back. Every step he takes jars the spine badly, so that after 50 yards of walking along a concrete pavement, he is in severe pain. But he found that with walking on the beach, the soft sand cushions each step's impact, so he can go much further. I want to find a good sports shoe for him which can duplicate that superb cushioning effect. Can someone advise me on the best brand or model (there are so many out there, and they all claim to be the best at offering cushioned soles)? It can be any walking shoe, not necessarily a sports shoe. As long as it can do the best job of cushioning that jarring impact from heel to back. Thank you!

Answer 1

NIKE SHOX

Answer 2

The fundamental problem here is that your friend is heel striking. Our bodies are not designed to heel strike. If you run properly, your ankles and knees act as shock absorbers, rendering shoes nearly worthless. Here's how you do it:

Watch a child run, age 7 or younger. Kids run with perfect running form. They haven't been told any c**p from someone that doesn't know their butt from their forehead (i.e. pump your arms, stride out, etc.) and they live relatively stress-free lives. Old habits die hard and this takes focus.

Step 1: Plum Line

We learn to walk before we learn to run. And we learn to stand before we learn to walk. The same applies to chaning the way we run: we need to change the way we stand and the way we walk if we want to run with proper running form.

Find a full-length mirror. Stand with your side facing it and take note of your posture. "Connect the dots" between your ear, your shoulder, you hip, your knee, and your ankle. This line is probably not straight.

Straighten the line while looking into the mirror. You will do this by utilizing your stomach, not your butt. There should be a plum line through those 5 points, 90 degrees perpendicular to the ground. If you are find this difficult or even painful, you may want to consider seeing a chiropractor.

Practice standing and walking like this. Once you have it down, you're ready to start jogging with proper running form.

Step 2: Lean Forward

With your body aligned, simply lean forward. This will shift your center of gravity in front of your foot. Gravity will cause you to begin to fall forward.

Step 3: Pick up Your Feet

Don't let yourself fall! Pick up your feet. You are now using gravity to help propel you forward. You should be running pretty much on your toes or a worst mid-foot striking.

And if you think that I'm full of it, take off your shoes and go jog normally on the carpet in your home. You will not heel strike because IT WILL HURT if you do. Our bodies and minds know that we should be on our toes. Cushioned shoes have babied us into thinking its ok and normal to heel strike.

That's It!

That's really all there is to it. The biggest challenges are to discipline yourself to maintain proper mechanics and developing the core strength necessary to maintain your body's proper alignment.

Tip: A helpful way to remind yourself to check and maintain proper body alignment is to set your watch's countdown timer to go off every 5 minutes. This is a helpful reminder to take a second to do a self-check on your form. As running properly becomes habitual, you could increase the countdown intervals to 10, 15, 20 minutes, and so on.

If you can accomplish this, I would recommend trying Asics, Brooks, and Mizuno at your local running store. Those 3 brands have more models that lend themselves to runners that run efficiently (not heel striking). Not Nike Shox (they're not springs, they're normal cushioning, just less of it and shaped to cause supination). There is no person talented enough to tell you what exact shoe you need via the Internet. This can only be done in-person by a shoe-fitting specialist.

5 hours ago

Source(s):

http://www.markrunning.com/running/

http://www.markrunning.com/shoes/

"Small instances of personal experience will never compare to real knowledge"

Answer 3

ASICS

Answer 4

Asics Gel Kayano's are the best. You friend should also look into getting a pair of orthotics, they can cushion even more. I don't know where you live but I know of a really great doctor. He is considered by many doctors to be the #1 sports med/podiatrist in the USA. He is in Bridgeport Connecticut. I got inserts from him and I have never felt better, they are like a pillow for my feet.

Answer 5

don't go with nike shox . i tried them and they suck so bad!!! I love pumas there good for me!

Answer 6

Any sport shoe has something for back problems. What i suggest is to try acupuncture, its very effective.

Answer 7

don't go with nike shox.

go with ascis.  the more expensive the better (obviously) but it's worth it

Answer 8

I don't believe that you should go with Nike. They have been known to really s***w up your feet more. Especially the Nike shox. i wouldn't recommend those whatever you do.

Answer 9

The fundamental problem here is that your friend is heel striking.  Our bodies are not designed to heel strike.  If you run properly, your ankles and knees act as shock absorbers, rendering shoes nearly worthless.  Here's how you do it:

Watch a child run, age 7 or younger. Kids run with perfect running form. They haven't been told any c**p from someone that doesn't know their butt from their forehead (i.e. pump your arms, stride out, etc.) and they live relatively stress-free lives. Old habits die hard and this takes focus.

Step 1: Plum Line

We learn to walk before we learn to run. And we learn to stand before we learn to walk. The same applies to chaning the way we run: we need to change the way we stand and the way we walk if we want to run with proper running form.

Find a full-length mirror. Stand with your side facing it and take note of your posture. "Connect the dots" between your ear, your shoulder, you hip, your knee, and your ankle. This line is probably not straight.

Straighten the line while looking into the mirror. You will do this by utilizing your stomach, not your butt. There should be a plum line through those 5 points, 90 degrees perpendicular to the ground. If you are find this difficult or even painful, you may want to consider seeing a chiropractor.

Practice standing and walking like this. Once you have it down, you're ready to start jogging with proper running form.

Step 2: Lean Forward

With your body aligned, simply lean forward. This will shift your center of gravity in front of your foot. Gravity will cause you to begin to fall forward.

Step 3: Pick up Your Feet

Don't let yourself fall! Pick up your feet. You are now using gravity to help propel you forward. You should be running pretty much on your toes or a worst mid-foot striking.

And if you think that I'm full of it, take off your shoes and go jog normally on the carpet in your home. You will not heel strike because IT WILL HURT if you do. Our bodies and minds know that we should be on our toes. Cushioned shoes have babied us into thinking its ok and normal to heel strike.

That's It!

That's really all there is to it. The biggest challenges are to discipline yourself to maintain proper mechanics and developing the core strength necessary to maintain your body's proper alignment.

Tip: A helpful way to remind yourself to check and maintain proper body alignment is to set your watch's countdown timer to go off every 5 minutes. This is a helpful reminder to take a second to do a self-check on your form. As running properly becomes habitual, you could increase the countdown intervals to 10, 15, 20 minutes, and so on.

If you can accomplish this, I would recommend trying Asics, Brooks, and Mizuno at your local running store.  Those 3 brands have more models that lend themselves to runners that run efficiently (not heel striking).  Not Nike Shox (they're not springs, they're normal cushioning, just less of it and shaped to cause supination).  There is no person talented enough to tell you what exact shoe you need via the Internet.  This can only be done in-person by a shoe-fitting specialist.

Answer 10

I wear a high end ACICS Gel Kayano running shoe, about $110.  The bottom cushioning runs from heal to toe, giving great cushioning no matter how you land. Look for a shoe with both forefoot and heel cushioning.  He could also try the Nike Shoks that have springs in the heal area, but I have not worn those.

Something else he can try is a jogging trampoline, the little 3 foot round ones.

But I am also slim, and that helps too. Your friend needs to try to land with a little bit more knee bend so the muscles take more of the impact.

Answer 11

im not sure of any exact shoes, but i do know that there are inserts that you can get to put in ordinary athletic shoes that are really cushioned and are designed to help with back problems, only problem being they are a bit expensive when you find the right ones, but they are from what ive heard worth it and do the trick.