Athletic Shoe Insoles
You don't need to be a professional athlete to wear athletic shoes. In fact, they are some of the most popular styles used for daily wear. But you may be surprised to learn that even some of the most expensive, high end athletic shoes won't provide the support you need. Some of the shoes on the market today are made with thin, nearly useless insoles that do not provide alignment correction or help with pressure distribution.
Who needs athletic shoe insoles?
If you wear athletic shoes, whether or not you have a high level of activity, it is worth checking out your shoes to see if the insoles are thin, flat pieces of fabric. This is because any shoes you wear can affect your body's alignment. Imagine that you have a wedge doorstop under one foot, you can imagine how that would change the way you hold the rest of your body. This actually happens often, but not to such an extreme degree. Most of us don't have perfect alignment in our bodies but good insoles can gently correct the issue, potentially relieving discomfort you are feeling from your feet all the way up your spine through your neck.
Are insoles good for weightlifting?
When lifting weights, one of the most important things to pay attention to is your form. Most people who lift weights understand that if your form is off, you could get hurt because you are putting pressure on or stressing muscles that will not have the proper support to bear the weight. Alignment insoles for athletic shoes will not just correct your natural alignment issues, but will also help to distribute the pressure 1 of the weight on your feet.
For Athletic Shoes We Recommend:
The T-Series offers a moderate degree of arch support along with a slender, flexible design that fits well in a variety of shoes. The T-Series incorporates Protalus's patented alignment technology to provide the structure and comfort you need.
Designed for casual or slip-on shoes with a removable insole.
Designed for casual or slip-on shoes with a non-removable insole.
Can athletic inserts prevent injury?
As we mentioned above, corrective insoles can help with your form when you are stressing your body during a high level of activity. But not all insoles are corrective or help prevent injury. A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine 2 noted that insoles that only absorb shock do not seem to prevent injury, but insoles that have corrective technology are effective in preventing injuries overall and especially stress fractures.
Can athletic insoles help you perform better?
Athletic performance is the product of a number of factors but it is common knowledge that proper form is desirable when it comes to engaging in physical activity. With that being said, there have been studies that look at the influence of insoles on running performance. It has been shown that insoles that help distribute load to seem to have a positive effect on performance 3. But more importantly, insoles that correct alignment will provide the conditions for the athlete to perform to their greatest potential without the hindrance of misalignment issues.
1. Tsung, B., Zhang, M., Mak, A., & Wong, M. (n.d.). Effectiveness of insoles on plantar pressure redistribution. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from http://ira.lib.polyu.edu.hk/handle/10397/6814
2. Bonanno, D., Landorf, K., Munteanu, S., Murley, G., & Menz, H. (2017, January 01). Effectiveness of foot orthoses and shock-absorbing insoles for the prevention of injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/2/86.short
3. Use of pressure insoles to compare in-shoe loading for modern running shoes. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00140130802239562
Our Guarantee
We back our product with a 90-day money back guarantee, hassle-free shipping, and best-in-class customer service.
Alignment - Patented Heel Cup
Satisfaction guaranteed, or your money back!
We are so confident that you will love your insoles that we offer a full 90 day Love Them Or Your Money Back Guarantee. At any time during the first 90 days if you don’t love your new insoles, contact our Customer Service team for answers and solutions. If we cannot offer you a solution, we will accept the insoles back for a *full refund. Contact us directly for a prepaid return shipping label.
*While Return/Exchange shipping is always free any original shipping charges will not be refunded unless the return is a result of our error.
Try a pair Risk Free with our Money‑Back Guarantee
Free Exchanges
Does the size not fit you? No problem - we will happily exchange them. For up to 90 days after your initial purchase we exchange our product for a different size.
Free Returns
No matter how much you have used our insoles we will refund your full money at any time within 90 days from your purchase with no restocking fee.
90-day Money-Back Guarantee not applicable to Subscription orders.
Patented Technology Makes It Possible
The difference lies in our patented TRI-Planar technology. Other insole companies place a stump under the arch and call it support. Our insoles focus on the cause of the problem rather than the symptoms, designed to help your body maintain a neutral ankle joint position, while still allowing full ranges of healthy movement. Proper joint alignment improves movement efficiency, reduces fatigue, and prevents injury to help you do what you love.
Reduced Risk of Injury
The bones of the ankle and heel are most stable when they are positioned in alignment. If they shift away from a center alignment, they become less stable.
Imagine pressure being placed on those unstable structures over and over again while you walk, run, or work. That is where the injuries can take place.
Injuries can present as chronic pain in the foot, knees, hips, and back. They may also include acute injuries such as an ankle sprain.
Keeping your hindfoot in alignment allows not only your bones but also the surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments to properly handle the pressure placed on them from your feet through your back.
Better Balance
Your ankles and feet work together to manage how weight is distributed as you move
If your heels and ankles are not in their proper positions, they cannot properly distribute weight and this may lead to a less stable walking motion.
When your ankles and heels are out of alignment, your muscles, ligaments, and tendons often have to step in to ensure proper alignment and balance.
When these muscles become fatigued, they may not be able to handle the task properly and you become more likely to fall or become injured.
Increased Energy Efficiency
As you walk and move, your kinetic energy moves from your feet up through your body.
This energy can be seen when walking in sand. Sand kicks up behind you with each step. It is moved by the energy created when you move your foot.
Fatigued muscles don't pass as much of that energy onto the next structure. That is why walking in sand is tiring; energy is being lost and your muscles become fatigued.
An aligned kinetic chain allows the highest quantity of energy to be transferred up through your body, giving you more power and helping you feel less tired.
Better Pressure Distribution
The body is designed to distribute pressure so that your muscles can primarily be concerned with movement.
When the skeletal system becomes misaligned, especially at the joint between the heel and ankle, pressure is no longer distributed across the structures that are most able to deal with it.
Instead, other structures, such as the ligaments in the knees, hips, and ankles, must take on the job and that can lead them to become fatigued, sore, or injured.
Protalus insoles correct the misalignment so you can avoid fatique and injury.
Comfort - Premium Materials
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Support - Signature Protalus ® Footbed
1 Year Product Guarantee
Effective for purchases made after 7/1/2023: If your insoles fail due to imperfections in the materials that go into the insoles or failure of those materials to perform due to compression or lack of fidelity to the original shape prior to 1 year from your purchase date, Protalus will replace the insoles for free. In the event that your insoles are no longer available due to a discontinuance of that model, Protalus will replace the insoles with a similar pair of equal value. Please note that all claims require proof of purchase and the original insoles to be shipped back to Protalus in Tualatin, Oregon and all claims must be approved by the Protalus customer service team prior to honoring this guarantee. customerservice@protalus.com. Limit one replacement per original purchase.
“I love them. Before discovering these Protalus inserts I’d experience severe knee pain. With wearing Protalus inserts in every pair of shoes I own I no longer have any knee pain. I don’t wear shoes without them.” -Donald E.L.