First: Why do you need a pair of running shoes? What’s the purpose of running shoes?
I believe most people are like me—we’re not professionally trained athletes, and our physical fitness is quite average. We all run for the same reason: to stay fit. So why do people like us need running shoes? My own experience can explain it clearly.
When I first started running, I wore a pair of sports shoes from Deerway (which I later determined were jogging shoes). On the first day, I couldn’t even run a kilometer. Within half a month, my jogging distance increased rapidly, and by the second week, I was running about 3KM.
That’s when I started experiencing severe sports injuries. Around the 3KM mark, my knees began to hurt intensely. The outer side of my right knee hurt so badly with every step that I couldn’t run at all. Back then, I didn’t know anything, so the next day I tried to push through, but the pain was unbearable. Eventually, I had no choice but to go online to find out why.
What I found shocked me. Jogging, no matter how slow, puts intense impact on your knees. The impact force is about 3–5 times your body weight. When you run, your entire body leaves the ground, lands, and then takes off again instantly. Anyone who’s studied middle school physics knows how significant that impulse is—most of it is absorbed by the cartilage in your knees. With my weight being under 60KG, the impact on my knees was around 200KG. Many runners who don’t protect their knees well end up suffering from severe knee pain for the rest of their lives, sometimes even needing support just to walk. The guy who played Tang Sanzang in Journey to the West ruined his legs from running.
I’m running to get fit, not to destroy my body faster.
That’s exactly why people like me—who didn’t exercise much before, aren’t in great shape, haven’t had professional training, but now run a lot—need something to absorb the impact instead of our knees and protect our bones. Running shoes aren’t meant to make you run faster or break world records; they’re meant to prevent injuries while you run.
That’s the purpose of running shoes.
How do running shoes work?
The principle behind how running shoes work is actually simple. Since the biggest damage from running comes from the impact absorbed by the knees, we need something to take the place of the knee’s cartilage structure to absorb that shock. This is where the cushioning technology in running shoes comes in.
Adidas’ Air, ASICS’ Gel, New Balance’s Absorb—all of these are essentially the same thing: elastic materials that take on some of the deformation that the knee’s cartilage would normally handle, reducing the workload on your knees. You can think of running shoes as a kind of spring... ugh.
Second: What types of running shoes are there?
There are tons of sports brands out there—Chinese brands like Double Star, Duowei, Warrior, Deerway, Li-Ning, and global brands like Adidas, Nike, Puma. Then there are runner-favorite brands like ASICS, New Balance, Mizuno...
There are countless so-called “running shoes” from these brands. So which ones are good?
Let’s first explain the types of running shoes available on the market. Generally, you can find these categories:
　　1. Jogging Shoes: Designed for casual runners. They focus entirely on protection to avoid sports injuries. Their typical lifespan is around 1000KM. They tend to be heavier, offer comprehensive protection, and come in different series tailored to various body types and running surfaces.
　　2. Performance Training Shoes: Designed for professional or semi-professional long-distance runners, specifically for track training. These shoes balance protection and lightness—they aim to prevent injuries while also helping athletes perform.
3. Marathon Shoes: Shoes made exclusively for marathons. Absolutely not suitable for daily jogging. These are extreme, ultra-light shoes—so light they’re almost weightless—with very poor protection and an extremely short lifespan. These shoes exist solely for professional marathon runners aiming for the best race performance.
Clearly, for ordinary enthusiasts who haven’t had professional training and run for fitness rather than chasing top results, the best choice is jogging shoes, which are designed for protection. Why not go for performance training shoes? They’re lighter and still offer protection—just look at the ads for Li-Ning’s Super Light series. But the protection on these shoes is far inferior to jogging shoes. On one hand, professional athletes are in much better physical condition than us amateurs and have much better injury prevention techniques. On the other hand, to achieve lightness, manufacturers have to sacrifice a lot of protective features. Just look at the sole of the ASICS Kayano—the so-called king of running shoes. With all that gel stacked up, how can it be light? And if it’s light, does it still absorb shock?
Generally speaking, counters in domestic stores won’t clearly explain what type of running shoe is what, and salespeople often have no clue either. How to tell the difference is simple. Marathon shoes are extremely thin and lightweight, with very thin soles—you can spot them at a glance. Jogging shoes are usually heavier with much thicker soles. Performance training shoes fall in between—you can feel they’re lighter than regular sports shoes but much heavier than jogging shoes.
So you’ve figured out you should choose “jogging shoes,” not marathon shoes or performance training shoes. But is going to the mall enough? Not quite.
As mentioned earlier, jogging shoes are designed differently based on the user’s physical condition and the running surface. You also need to figure out which type of jogging shoe suits you—that is, where you stand in the so-called “running shoe matrix.”
The running shoe matrix has three dimensions: first, running posture; second, body weight; third, running surface.
Roads are divided into two types: trail running and road running. Trail running refers to non-man-made or less “ideal” paths—mountain trails, dirt roads, wooded areas. Road running includes tracks, streets, and other well-paved surfaces—rubber, concrete, asphalt—all count.
Once you’ve determined the surface, you then figure out your running posture.
2. Running Posture
This is the most important factor and also the easiest one to get wrong. If you get it wrong, you might end up spending hundreds or even thousands on what you think is an awesome pair of running shoes, only to find yourself in misery after wearing them for a day. On this point, let’s hear from Su Wuwang himself.
Generally, there are three types of running postures: overpronation, supination, and severe overpronation. These three are part of a continuous spectrum.
Generally speaking, these three have the following corresponding relationships:
Overpronation — high arch — no duck foot or pigeon toe — recommended running shoe type: cushioning
Underpronation (insufficient overpronation) — no duck foot or duck foot — medium to low arch — recommended running shoe type: stability
Severe underpronation — typical flat feet — severe duck foot — recommended running shoe type: motion control
The vast majority of people are either overpronators or underpronators. Very few people who run with severe underpronation exist. If you are a severe underpronator... I’m sorry to tell you, shoes for severe underpronation are hard to find... and the really good ones are even rarer...
Foot type is easy to determine — just take off your socks and you’ll know. But based on foot type, you can roughly judge your gait, but remember: this judgment is not accurate. People with high arches may also overpronate, and those with low arches may also underpronate. Whether you have duck feet can be judged a little more accurately, but running posture is slightly different from walking posture, so it’s still not 100% accurate.
There are several ways to get a 100% accurate judgment. One is using professional machines that measure running posture, or having an experienced person observe your running gait. In places like Europe, America, Japan, etc., where running shoes are sold, this is basic equipment and basic knowledge for the staff. In China, unfortunately, you basically can’t find it.
Another 100% accurate method is to use a pair of running shoes without motion control features — including cushioning shoes, racing flats, etc. — run in them until they’re heavily worn, then judge based on the wear pattern. This method is very accurate, but I don’t recommend it. Because most people can’t tell whether their shoes have motion control or not. If the shoes themselves have motion correction features, the judgment will be skewed. Clearly non-motion-control shoes include shoes like Dowa’s marathon shoes, or ordinary casual shoes like Double Star. If you’ve run in shoes like these, you can check the forefoot. If the forefront wears more on the outside (the little toe side), then you are an overpronator. If it’s on the inside (the big toe side), you are an underpronator. If both sides wear about the same, as if the middle is worn the most, then you can try both cushioning and stability running shoes.
Since most people don’t have the means to do any of these 100% accurate judgments, how do you decide what kind of shoes you should use? The method I recommend is as follows:
Determine your foot type — high arch or low arch. Then, if you have a high arch, mainly consider cushioning types at the store, and also try out stability types. If you have a low arch, mainly try stability types, and also give cushioning types a shot. See which one feels the most comfortable, and choose that model. Remember, it’s not about walking in them for a couple of steps, but running in them for a couple of laps. The difference is huge.
Let me further explain what the differences are between the various types of shoes.
Actually, all running shoes provide some degree of cushioning. So-called “cushioning” running shoes aren’t necessarily more cushioned than others — rather, besides cushioning, they don’t offer much else. Stability and motion control types, in addition to cushioning, also aim to correct poor running posture into better posture, making your run more comfortable. So if you buy the wrong type, you might end up with your running posture being incorrectly altered, leading to even more discomfort. Think of it this way: the ideal running posture is 0, while most people’s postures range from -2 to 2. Running shoes provide an adjustment — plus or minus — to bring your value as close to 0 as possible. If your posture is at 2, you should get shoes at -2. If you get a +2 pair instead, your posture becomes an even more painful 4.
Once you’ve determined whether you need stability, cushioning, or motion control, you move on to the final step in the running shoe matrix.
3. Gear level.
Gear level combines two concepts: your body weight and your exercise intensity.
The heavier you are and the more intense your workouts, the greater the impact on your joints when running. Body weight represents the force of each impact, while workout intensity reflects how long and how often that impact occurs. Running is essentially like your knees getting hit — how hard each hit is and how long it goes on...
Generally speaking, good running shoes are designed to handle impacts from runs of at least 3KM per session, at least 3 times a week. So your body weight is the most important factor. Lower-tier running shoes might not be able to handle that, for example, Decathlon’s own brand Kalenji — their low-end models explicitly state that they are only suitable for running once a week to once a month, for no more than 20 minutes each time...
Running shoes can generally be divided into two gear levels: light-duty and heavy-duty.
Take ASICS as an example:
For stability types: the heavy-duty option is the famous king of running shoes, the KAYANO, while the light-duty option is the best-selling GT 2130.
For cushioning types: the heavy-duty option is the NIMBUS, and the light-duty option is the CULMBUS.
Here’s a very important misconception: heavy-duty shoes cost a lot more, light-duty shoes cost a lot less, so does that mean heavy-duty shoes are higher-end? Should everyone with money just buy the top-tier heavy-duty models?
Not true.
Heavy-duty shoes are “designed for” people with higher body weight. That means if your weight isn’t enough, the impact force of your running might not be high enough, and the elastic materials in these “top-tier” shoes, which are designed to absorb high impact, may end up feeling too stiff. It’s like a spring — if it’s designed to withstand 1 ton of pressure, but you only put 100KG on it, the spring won’t compress. For runners, the obvious feeling is: the sole is way too hard. In such cases, the shoes don’t absorb enough energy, and your knees have to absorb more. The most obvious example is Mizuno — their flagship models are really uncomfortable for people who don’t have a high body weight.
So try to choose the gear level according to your own weight, and don’t just focus on the top-tier models. The dividing line between heavy-duty and light-duty gear levels is generally around 75KG. If your weight is close to that line, and your running distance is either very long or very short, then it’s best to choose flexibly based on your situation. A 70KG person running 15KM daily? Go for the KAYANO. If you’re 80KG and only running 3KM a day, the GT 2130 is also great. But if you’re 45KG, why get the KAYANO?
By now, you should be able to determine:
What kind of running conditions you have, what type of running shoes you need, and what gear level you require.
Then you’ve already figured out which running shoes to buy.
Third: Which specific model should you buy?
Once you’ve found your place in the running shoe matrix, and within a few more professional sports brands, the available models based on the official running shoe matrix have already been determined.
Which brands should I buy? Any specific models you’d recommend?
For casual enthusiasts, I don’t recommend budget “domestic professional sports brands” like Double Star, Warrior, or Dewo.
Why? It’s simple — Dewo, Double Star, and Warrior do have some standing in professional marathons and long-distance training. But we’re not professional athletes — you don’t have that kind of physical condition or technique. If you did, why would you be reading my post? Pointing angrily at you right now!!
The cushioning and protection technology of these brands is very basic, and their ergonomics are even worse.
For more experienced runners who’ve logged a lot of miles, I don’t recommend big-name brands like Li-Ning, Adidas, or Nike...
Don’t Adidas and Nike make good running shoes? They do — but can you actually buy them in China? ...Pretty much impossible. They can make great shoes, but what you find in stores here are all fashion sneakers. Skip them if you’re really a runner...
What about Li-Ning?
Can I hate this brand any more?
Does Li-Ning have any good jogging shoes? No. Before mastering decent slow-run tech, they started hyping up the “ultra-light” concept. As mentioned earlier, ultra-light and protection are hard to reconcile. Recommending “ultra-light” shoes for daily long-distance runs is just harming people!! Die die die die die die die die die!!
Good running shoes available in China are generally from ASICS, New Balance, and Mizuno. Also, Brooks and Saucony are no longer sold here.
I’m not familiar with trail-running types, but here are a few road-running models with solid reputations:
ASICS: Stability for heavier runners: KAYANO; Lighter gear: GT 21X0
Cushioning for heavier runners: Nimbus; Lighter gear: Cumulus
ASICS might be the most technically advanced running shoe brand. The difference between their heavy and light gear isn’t huge. Even lighter runners using heavy gear won’t feel uncomfortable. The latest series is Kinsei — don’t buy this one… ugh, it’s expensive and uncomfortable, don’t know why…
Mizuno: Stability for lighter runners: Inspire; Heavier: Nirvana
Cushioning for lighter runners: Rider; Heavier: Creation
Mizuno’s WAVE tech has been racking up awards the past couple years, and their prices are more reasonable than ASICS. Their stores are also widespread and easy to find. But clearly, Mizuno’s heavier gear is very “stiff” — definitely don’t get it if you’re light-weight.
New Balance: Stability: 1224; Cushioning: 1063
No weight-tier recommendations... Why? Because New Balance’s mid-range, lighter gear doesn’t perform well... So only top-tier models are recommended. Fortunately, the top models support lighter runners fairly well, generally suitable for anyone over 50kg.
Also, an important tip: although running shoes are categorized as cushioning or stability, the variation is actually linear, not absolute. As said earlier, if your running form is between -2 and 2, shoe correction also falls between -2 and +2. Even within the same type, the correction varies, and arch support differs. For example, the ASICS GT 2130 offers significantly better arch support than Mizuno’s Inspire, which in turn beats NB 1224 in the same stability category. NB’s cushioning model 1063 has much lower arch support than ASICS’ Nimbus, closer to the GT 2130 level. Many who fit well in the famed stable GT 2130 may not suit NB’s top stability model 1224, but might actually be better off with NB’s cushioning 1063. So shoe types are just general guides — the best fit depends on your feet, so try them in person.
    The issue of confusing terminology around running shoes is unavoidable; inconsistent terms are just part of business — everyone wants users to follow their own definitions, just like how doctors write prescriptions no one can read.
The biggest terminology clash is between sports medicine and running shoe marketing.

If you visit a sports medicine specialist, the terms they use for overpronation and supination are the opposite of what running shoe brands say.

Another issue is the varying terminology across major running shoe brands:

Neutral (Mizuno China) = Cushioning (New Balance China) = Buffering (ASICS China)
That’s what my running buddies and I usually call “cushioning.”

Support (Mizuno China) = Supportive Cushioning (New Balance China) = Cushioning (ASICS China)
That’s what we call “stability.”

In English, it’s much less headache-inducing.
Neutral (Mizuno) = Cushioning (New Balance) = Cushioning (ASICS)
It’s about shock absorption.
support (Mizuno) = stability (New Balance) = structured cushioning (ASICS)
It’s about stability.