Girls Running Shoes Guide

Compared to other activities that you might choose to do for keeping fit, losing weight and generally staying healthy, running is perhaps one of the cheapest. Some gym memberships can cost you an arm and a leg, and tie you in for months at a time, or make it very difficult to get out of the membership if you decide to move home or get injured and need to take a break for a while. Most other types of fitness programs, like yoga or pilates, normally require you to get some kit, but you need to pay for the lessons every time you go – or you pay up front for a course, so if you miss a class, you lose the money for that session. Even if it’s cycling that you are into, you will need to get a ladies bike, a pair of women’s cycling shoes and a crash helmet. How easy it is just to walk out of your front door and start jogging! The most expensive thing you will need is your running shoes, and since you will save so much money (which could so easily have been squandered elsewhere), you are well advised to pay a little more for the perfect pair of girls running shoes. Cheap and nasty doesn’t cut it when you are pounding the streets or trails, where injuries will undoubtedly be the only result.

Apart from the obvious size differences between men’s and women’s running shoes, is there any reason to opt for girls running shoes specifically? Or is it simply a case of different size scale, and pretty feminine colors? Well actually, there are significant differences in the ones made for women and girls. Of course there are some great looking shoes in terms of style and color, but running shoes for girls have features that make for a safer, more comfortable run.

The female anatomy is not like that of a man, and running shoes need to reflect this in order to protect women against possible injury. Because women tend to be lighter than men of the same foot size, the midsole foam padding can be reduced. A man would need more padding to protect the joints from jarring at each footfall. For girls, cutting down on this unnecessary cushioning means lighter weight running shoes, and therefore less fatigue.

The girls running shoe upper is also modified, as men’s feet tend to be longer and wider than those of a comparably sized woman, and there are also some slight anatomical differences between males and females in the ball of the foot and the big toe areas. It therefore makes sense for manufacturers to design and build ladies running shoes from scratch, in order to achieve a better and more comfortable fit; rather than taking a man’s running shoe design and trying to modify that.

Perhaps the most obvious distinction between men and women is that the woman’s hips are wider. You might wonder why this is important, but it has a huge impact on the female runner’s biomechanics. Wider hips mean that the angle from the hip to the knee is larger for a woman than for a man. This can cause the muscles of the leg – quadriceps, hamstrings and iliotibial band – to tighten up; but more importantly, it causes women to be more liable to overpronation (where your feet collapse inwards), and causes greater stress on the knee joints. Proper warming up and stretching can go a long way to preventing injuries due to tight muscles; whereas getting your feet fitted for their ideal running sneakers will begin to address the biomechanical differences which can make girls more at risk from running injuries than boys.

So girls running shoes are an absolute necessity for the female runner. They are far more than just pretty pink versions of the men’s jogging sneakers. They are lighter, have uppers designed specially for the female foot shape (so they are not too wide, which can cause rubbing and result in blisters), and they offer support for the arch to help minimise overpronation. Orthotics running shoes are also available, which have inserts to further support the feet and correct potential problems associated with the woman’s higher Q-angle (hip-to-knee angle).

The best advice is always to buy girls athletic shoes from a proper running supplies store where the staff can answer your questions and help you find the right ones for you.