How are well fitting shoes supposed to feel?
Is the toe box supposed to be loose? Snug? Is the arch support meant to be flush against the sole of your foot? Or is it supposed to feel like its digging up into your foot? Or is your foot supposed to feel like you're barefoot/the arches are suspended over the air?
I get bad foot pain after very little walking despite being relatively active and in shape - I think it's a shoe fit problem? I get around it somewhat by stacking insoles, but I was told that was only a bandaid solution for shitty ass shoes.
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Follow up question: if my concern is comfort and support for asphalt/concrete walking, are boots remotely viable? I get the impression that trekkers have their soles eaten up by smooth pavement since theyre more designed for grip. But sneakers spark absolutely no joy in me :nooooo:
you should probably talk to a foot professional for optimal results
I have some custom insoles that really noticeably solve foot pain for me
But I imagine needs differ from person to person
There are certainly boot soles designed for pavement so don’t worry about that
Ive been kicking that can down the road for a long time but i fear you may be right
But id like to get a sense of how shoes should feel in the meantime
Unfortunately I think you’ll find it’s personal preference
in all of my well fitting leather shoes, my toes barely touch the sides when standing and I have enough room to fully splay them
unless it specifically calls out high arch support, my arch just sits in air
custom insoles help a lot
walking never feels great for me but the custom orthotics have made it a lot lot better
there are dress orthotics as well
if you're at the end of the toe box, they are definitely too small, ideally you want about a finger to a thumb's width between your big toe and the end of the shoe, and they should be wide enough so your toes aren't overly restricted at the sides
there's a lot of debate over arch support and orthotics, but I have always seen them as a crutch unless you have major issues, I run in barefoot shoes and experience less discomfort than before
strengthening your feet is going to help more than anything, walking barefoot on uneven surfaces or running in zero drop shoes with significant groundfeel will make all shoes less uncomfortable even if you don't wear barefoot shoes all the time (I tried that for a while, but most of them are hideous)
As a rule of thumb the widest part of the shoe should line up with the widest part of your foot. That's the natural flex point of the shoes.
People tend to wear sneakers in smaller sizes, for example -0.5, as the material is more flexible. "Traditional" larger footwear is less flexible. Often this means people who are used to sneakers may be wearing leather shoes too tight or small.
Though as mentioned above, going into a shoe shop with a brannock (foot measuring device) can help.
Thanks for the help, gang