The Most Critical Point of Exercise is Almost Always Overlooked

I recently had a friend who bought a Boston Marathon treadmill and absolutely loved the machine. He got a couple of workouts in and then he started having incredible pain in his foot so he went to the doctor and found out he has Plantar Fasciitis. Similarly, I recently started having pain from an old football injury in my foot so I asked a personal trainer friend if there was something he would recommend.

He told me that he tried a new pair of shoes recently and recommended that I buy a pair of Hoka One One shoes. I was skeptical but figured it was worth a try. More on the Hoka shoes a bit later.

The two major issues we commonly see with an exercise routine is:

1) getting started and

2) keeping it going

Getting started may be a New Year’s Resolution for you. We can cover point #1 at another time but I have found that if you get the ball rolling, #2 can be the bigger challenge.

There are a number of reasons why you might stop a workout routine but what I have found is that it is usually an issue of an injury or the equipment interrupting the workout. That’s why cushioning is so important in a treadmill. You might ask, “if cushioning is so important, why do you steer people away from an orthopedic belt?” The answer is always that a good pair of running shoes does much more for you than a softer belt.

That’s where I get back to the Hoka One One shoes. My skepticism disappeared after the first day. I wore them to work because my foot was hurting so bad it was keeping me awake at night. After the first day of use, my foot pain almost went away. I started using my treadmill again the second day and wore the shoes around the clock.

By the third day, I ordered my second pair of Hoka One One shoes. My wife saw the improvement and asked me if I would get her a pair. She has an issue of tiredness more than pain but in a single day or wearing her shoes last week, the tiredness was gone.

Not sure if these are going to solve my friend’s Plantar Fasciitis but I just texted him my experience and I hope it will help. The point is that you need to do everything possible to keep your routine going because if you get injured, you are going to have a hard time keeping a good thing going.

Now, I need to find the contact info for Hoka One One and let them know I am being an unpaid spokesman for them. Since we aren’t in the shoe business I don’t have a dog in that fight. All I can tell you is this is the best pair of running shoes I have ever owned and I increased my treadmill use yesterday to 50% more than my workout level in the prior-to-my-injury period.

I hope the shoes last and don’t wear out quickly because I will keep using them no matter what as long as the good times with my feet keep going.