Workout safety: Choose the right gear for the right exercise

According to podiatric physician and fitness enthusiast Selin Sakarcan, the importance of what a person wears when they work out is often overlooked. Not only will wearing the right gear for the proper exercise keeps a person comfortable, but it will also minimize their chances of injuring themselves.

As a podiatric physician and foot and ankle surgeon, Selin Sakarcan has seen her share of injuries because people chose the wrong footwear for a sport or exercise. Take, for example, running shoes. Running shoes, while ideal for distance running, sprints, and walking, are an incredibly bad fit for anything else. From basketball to soccer to high-intensity interval training (HIIT), running shoes should be avoided as they can lead to people rolling their ankles and injuring them. For basketball, basketball shoes are best; for HIIT, cross-trainers.

For the torso and legs, Selin Sakarcan mentions that some state-of-the-art gear such as DRI-fit shirts and leggings have already been developed to give gym-goers maximum comfort and ventilation. Compression sleeves for vulnerable joints such as the knees, elbows, and ankles should be worn by people who have problems in these joints as they help hold the joint in place.

And finally, for people who often experience blisters when lifting heavy weights, Selin Sakarcan recommends using weightlifters gloves.

Selin Sakarcan is a podiatric physician, medical resident, and foot and ankle surgeon. For her undergraduate studies, she double majored in French and neuroscience with distinction on cellular and molecular neuroscience. For similar articles, click here.