High Impact & Shock-Absorbing Insoles

What is impact shock?

Impact shock is simply a term used to describe the force that your feet sustain when you move, walk, run, or otherwise contact a surface. You can think of it like this: If you were to stomp on a hard surface, the "shock" you feel in your feet is impact shock. The same happens if you run, jump, or even walk, with the amount of impact shock your feet sustain depending on both the activity and surface material. The more strenuous the activity and the harder the surface, the more impact shock you feel. For example: Walking on the beach would result in relatively low impact shock, while running on concrete would result in relatively high impact shock.

What do shock-absorbing insoles do?

Shock-absorbing insoles help mitigate the effects of impact shock on the feet, and they do this by absorbing impact shock before that shock reaches your foot. While it won't necessarily completely eliminate the effects of impact shock, it will help lessen it. You can think of high-impact or shock-absorbing insoles as a shield between your feet and impact shock; whenever your feet strike a surface, the insoles will take a portion of the blow, lessening the amount of shock that your foot ultimately feels.

What defines a high impact insole?

High impact insoles are designed to help mitigate the effects of impact shock on the foot that result from high-impact activities such as running, basketball, tennis, and other similar pursuits.

High-impact insoles offer dedicated strike padding under the heel and the ball-of-foot, the two areas where your foot strike the ground the hardest during landing and push-off when running or jumping. These pads typically also help preserve energy for better energy return, allowing you to save some effort with each step you take or jump you make since you'll be utilizing some of the "rebound" energy from your last step taken.

Do high impact insoles need a lot of cushioning?

Not necessarily. The most important features of high impact insoles are their ball-of-foot strike pad and their heel strike pad. Typically made from dense foam, gel, or a gel hybrid material, these pads will offer better shock absorption and energy return compared to materials commonly used in insole top and body cushioning.

Given that high impact pursuits tend to place a lot of strain on the ball-of-foot and the heel, our first priority is always the strike padding. An insole with strike padding and no cushioning will ultimately perform better in high-impact activities compared to an insole with good cushioning but no strike padding.

However, where your footwear allows, we do recommend having good cushioning, too. In roomier shoes where there's space for a bulkier insole, choosing a high-impact insole with some extra cushioning will provide you with all of the benefits of the strike padding plus some extra pressure relief and shock absorption. In tighter-fitting, minimalist shoes, we recommend prioritizing the strike padding and fit over additional cushioning.

Is gel the best material for high-impact insoles?

Yes and no. Gel offers the best shock absorption and energy return, making it an ideal material for high-impact activities. However, it's also a very heavy material, sometimes twice as heavy as the standard EVA foam used in most insoles. A full gel insole offers excellent shock absorption, but its heavy weight adds unnecessary foot strain.

The best combination is an insole that uses EVA foam throughout the body of the insole for cushioning, but which uses gel or a gel hybrid material for the strike padding. This way, you have all the benefits of gel where it matters most (the heel and ball-of-foot), but you save on weight for the remainder of the insole where the EVA foam will work perfectly well.

Won't an arch support hurt when performing high-impact activities?

The misconception here is how the arch support works. When you land, the arch support is not driven into the arch of your foot, which would just unnecessary pain; rather, when you land, the arch of the insole is already braced against the arch of your foot, and any shock or pressure is spread across the support so that it dissipates faster and without impacting one sole part of the foot.

In fact, an arch support adds many benefits to high-impact sports and activities.

• The arch support will help distribute load more evenly across the entire foot, preventing soreness and foot fatigue.
• The arch support will help dissipate energy faster by spreading it out more, preventing accumulated strain on the foot.
• The arch support will help to prevent overuse injuries common with high-impact activites, such as plantar fasciitis and heel spurs.
• The arch support will help ensure proper foot motion, reducing foot strain and improving balance.

Given that we want an arch support that will allow flex while still providing all of the benefits above, we typically recommend semi-rigid arch supports for high-impact activities. But the type of support you select is ultimately up to personal preference and need.