It is not too often I post links to other blogs, but Lou has a great one today about shoes (click HERE) and I could not have done a better job on the story myself (hehehehe---if you have read any of Lou's work you know I am totally kidding as he is a fantastic writer).
The only thing I would add is that if you do switch to a more minimal type shoe (Nike Frees, Vivos) you NEED to do mobility work on your feet/ankles since you are now really relying on them to move correctly. I do believe this is the best way to go for overall movement health.
It is amazing how many shoulder issues can be helped by mobility work (like Z Health) on the feet and ankles. Sounds crazy, but with each foot strike, that energy (force) has to go somewhere (remember Physics 101--energy is neither created nor destroyed) and it goes "up" your body and normally ends around your face and/or opposite hand/wrist crossing sides at your pelvis.
So if your feet/ankle are hosing this up (see--nice technically terms) with each foot strike, you are screwed (another technical term) for starters and many times all the crazy rehab stuff may only delay the issue. Sometimes the crazy rehab stuff will work, but on a first appointment it is a very rare person that I don't have them do some Z drill for their feet/ankles as part of their "Z Health Homework" I am still working on my feet/ankles now after doing Z for some time, but my feet are much much better now.
For shoes I really like the Nike frees and there are some other good ones out there too. Make sure the ball of the foot AND the HEAL are flexible. The Nike free was one of the only shoes designed by Nike to actually help performance, virtually all of the other ones are more based on marketing and style.
Any comments, let me know!
Mike N
