Zero Drop Running Shoes

The zero drop shoes trend have been ongoing for a while. Before this trend, our shoes usually have high toe to heel drop which might not be the best posture to have when we walking or exerising. Fortunately, there are now many zero drop shoe models to choose from as most brands from Nike to Puma and New Balance are now manufacturing low heel drop shoes. Given this wide range, we have picked up a couple of men and women shoes that we feel are the best zero drop running shoes for 2016.

Advantages of zero drop shoes

Before showing you the models, you might want to understand a bit more about the benefits of zero drop shoes for running and why more and more people are switching over to such models:

• The benefits of using zero drop running shoes is that they place your heel and your forefoot in there most natural position, so your foot is completely in its natural position, and this then allows you to not only run better, but faster also.

• Another benefit with zero drop shoes is that they will help reduce injury such as foot pain, shin splints, lower back pains and hips pains.

• One of the major problems with runners running in traditional running shoes is that when their foot lands the heel is what usually makes impact on the ground first, because this is the way that most running shoes are setup, mainly due to the big giant cushion which is on the heel of most of them. In return this shock when striking the heel carries all the way up into your knee, and that is not how are bodies have evolved to run.This is why so many runners have knee problems, and the benefit of running with zero drop shoes is that strain will be taken away from the knee area.

Our bodies have evolved to run without shoes, and this is why when running with zero drop shoes instead of your heel striking the ground first, your forefoot will make the first impact, and then all the pressure is absorbed by the calf muscle which is the way it should be.

This is why you see barefoot runners with incredibly muscular calf muscles, because that is where the shock is coming for them, and not the knee.

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Best zero drop running shoes for women

Altra Women’s The Torin

Altra’s The Torin is one of the highest rated women zero drop running shoes on Amazon. The best thing about this shoe is that it provide even support. Its cushioning, for example is distributed equally from toe to heel so you don’t get a raised heel. What this does is to shift the impact of the run from just to the forefoot/middle of the foot to the entire feet.

If you have never try a zero shoe before, wearing this for the first time might feel strange and feel uncomfortable. It is strongly advised that you take it slow when you are new to such shoes. Try to run only a few kilometers in the beginning to let your let your body and feet to adjust. After a week or so, you will find that the way you run will change for the better. Specifically, the zero drop shoes will place less stress on your back and knees and allow you to improve your running.

One of the weakness of other zero drop running shoes is the lack of cushioning. This is not the case here. Altra has built just enough cushioning that your feet will not suffer from running on hard surfaces. Best of all, the cushioning is spread evenly across the whole shoe, rather than just concentrated on the heels. That prevents the shoe from achieving a zero drop while being comfortable.

Another plus point is the white toe box area. It is wide enough that your toes wouldn’t feel cramped if that has been the problem you are facing.

At the end of the day, if you have having knee problems with your current non zero drop running shoes, give this model a try. I am sure the results will surprise you.

New Balance WR00 review

New Balance WR00 Minimus running shoe has all the hallmarks of a great lady zero drop running sneaker. It is light on your feet and has great flexibility. The forefoot has lots of space so  it is great for wide feet runners.

The only thing to consider is the design. It is definitely a non conservative design so some might think they are louder. The colors, in real person, looks even brighter so take that into account when deciding on whether to buy this shoe.

Inov-8 Bare-XF 210 review

The Inov 8 XF 210 is also one of the top rated women running shoe. It is light, comfortable and very easy to break into. For running under 5km, these are suitable and shouldn’t be an issue. However, for long distances, there are probably better options out there.

Despite this, we are still recommending this shoe because it can double up as a cross training shoe (such as those HIIT shoes we recommended). It has great stability and is suitable for activities such as weight lifting, box jumps, rope climbing.

Width wise, they are slightly bigger than your regular running shoe so your toes have a bit of room to wriggle in. However, if your feet is really wide, then this might be big enough.

Overall, this is shoe that I recommend for folks who like to do light running and cross training. It is not a shoe I would recommend for long distance runners.