Sneakers are an essential piece of equipment for jogging or other sports. Lovers of sportswear prefer to wear them as shoes for every day.
Buying fashionable, beautiful sneakers and going for a run is not enough. You also need to know how to properly lace them up for convenience during exercise or rest, so as not to injure your legs and achieve your goal. Such knowledge is needed not only for adult athletes, but for ordinary people and children.
Types of laces
Shoelaces are rope sections of a characteristic length designed to fix the foot in the shoe. They are threaded through the holes in the product so that it does not slip off the leg. The ends are eglets, along the edges of the laces, they serve for their convenient penetration into the hole on the shoe, and prevent the rope from unraveling.
Types of laces:
- Natural. Made with natural fibers: leather or linen.
A plus: tie well, hold lacing for a long time. They wash well.
Minus: short service life, they quickly lose their appearance due to rapid abrasion. Get dirty quickly.
- Synthetic. Made with durable synthetic fibers: polyurethane, polyester.
A plus: beautiful appearance and long service life. Do not get wet, resistant to dirt.
Minus: weakly hold the lacing through slipperiness, which can lead to a fall.
To eliminate the disadvantages of both types, several types of home tricks have been invented:
- To eliminate the slipperiness of textile ropes, rub them with a thin layer of rubber glue.
- To prevent natural products from getting wet, they can be rubbed with a little paraffin oil.
Also, there are laces with flat and round sections. A flat lace is recognized as more convenient for tying. The lace should not damage shoes or chafe the body. It is worth taking off sneakers with untied laces.
Why is it important to lace up your sneakers correctly?
The reasons why it is important to lace up your shoes correctly are simple and logical:
- Ensure safety when running or walking by securing your foot in the shoe with lacing. The limb should not dangle, but the feeling of constriction is not acceptable.
It is important to teach a child from childhood to properly tie shoelaces, as this will save him from unnecessary injuries and raise self-esteem among peers.
- Avoid falls and injuries during active movement by properly lacing your shoes. It is possible that the laces may come loose and bring negative consequences. To do this, it is worth studying the intricacies of reliable techniques: use additional holes (if any) for secure fixation or use a special double sliding knot.
The double slip knot is used to tie synthetic laces due to their slipperiness. Prevents loosening during movement, easily untangled.
Before going for a run, it is worth checking the comfort and reliability of the lacing, bending your toes, leaning on your heels and lifting onto your toes.
Features of lacing for different types of feet
There are over 50,000 ways to tie your shoelaces. Basically, they were invented for various exhibitions of lovers of extraordinary lacing. Some tips have come in handy for people involved in sports with different foot structures.
Correctly laced foot-style sneakers will not only fix the foot in a comfortable position, but also prevent future deformation of the toes and the appearance of growths on the bones.
Narrow foot
The problem with such a foot is that, having bought any sports shoes, there is a feeling of excessive freedom. Consequently, the leg dangles, you can get sprains or dislocations. Lace up the laces as tightly as possible, fixing the foot along the entire length with zigzags in an overlap.
With such a physiology of the foot, lacing does not always save. Way out: wear socks tighter. The leg will sweat but not hurt.
Wide foot
For those with such a physiological feature, it is difficult during training. By the end of the run, the leg begins to hurt a lot due to increased swelling of the limbs after exertion. It is worth using the correct lacing method to prevent discomfort during or at the end of the movement.
- Cross-to-cross lacing. Closer to the toe, tighten the cords more loosely than to the top. In the middle of the workout, let the laces slip a little, as the leg is tired and a little swollen.
- Pull the cord into the first two or three holes along the same side, without overlapping them with each other, and then go to zigzag intersections. Thus, the foot will not be squeezed, and the shoes will not get off the foot.
Very high rise
The high instep helps cushion the foot from impacts during landing. In improperly laced shoes, after half an hour of intensive exercise, the foot will become numb and begin to hurt.
You can avoid this if:
- Apply a straight lacing type. Connect pairs of holes horizontally with stitches, moving from bottom to top. The stitches are long and the pressure on the foot is minimal. The leg will be well fixed.
With the straight type, you can cut the laces very quickly and conveniently in case of a leg injury.
- Reception of cross lacing, with parallel skip in the instep area. A reliable way for long-term activities not only for jogging, but also in the gym.
Wide toe - narrow heel
While running, the heel begins to slip in the shoe, there is a feeling of instability and pain from rubbing.
With this type of foot, the laces cannot be simply tightened, the foot begins to grow numb and hurt.
- Lacing should be started from the middle of the shoe with two laces at the same time in cross movements: one cord moves up, the other down. There will be bows on both sides. The lower lacing will be weaker and the upper lacing tighter.
For this method, you can use two types of cords: synthetic on the bottom, it tightens more loosely; and natural for the upper section.
- Normal overlap. At the beginning of the path, tighten loosely and you can change the zigzags by parallel threading between the holes on a wide part of the foot, and tighten closer to the top.
Getting pleasure from playing sports depends not only on desire and mood, but also on equipment. Practically, correct and comfortable shoes with their accessories - laces play a 100% role in a comfortable run.
Analysis of the personal physiological characteristics of the body and knowledge about the correct selection of shoes, laces, as well as their use, will not only add effectiveness, but also turn sports activities into relaxation and enjoyable hobby.
Without knowing your feet, you can in practice check the actions of one or another method of lacing, and choose the most comfortable method for exercise without fear of the consequences. You should always listen to your body, it will tell you about comfort or discomfort in any situation.
