The Best Running Shoes for Overweight Women – Supportive, Lightweight, Flexible, and Deep!

Are you overweight or do you have a loved one that is? Are you having a hard time finding a pair of shoes that are supportive and that are wide enough to fit the shape of your feet? Running may be an activity that is quite easy for most people. However, for those who are overweight, it can put a great amount of stress on your body. So, I am sure you agree that finding the best running shoes for overweight women is extremely important.

If you have made the decision to start a healthier life, you need to pick the best running shoes that will give you a comfortable fit, great support, and keep your feet and legs healthy. Walking in your new running shoes and getting fitter and stronger every day is a great first step.

We need to find a pair of good supportive running shoes that will minimize the impact that your feet and legs take very time they come in contact with the ground.

My Role in Fitting Women’s Shoes – Over a Decade of Shoe Fitting Experience

Many women have contacted me concerned about how they can’t seem to find supportive running shoes that are wide enough for their feet. Believe me when I tell you that I understand your frustration of repeated attempts to find a pair of shoes that will fit your feet since there are only a few shoe styles out there that will fit women with extra wide feet and a high instep.

However, I will help you find these shoe styles and I know they will fit the shape of your extra wide feet because I have fitted them before.

Overweight women put a lot of pressure on their bodies when they walk or exercise, and this can lead to foot and leg pain. They also suffer from issues that include overpronation, plantar fasciitis, supination, bad knees and back pains. Wearing the wrong type of shoes or the incorrect shoe size will only lead to acceleration and aggravation of these issues.

I decided to create this article that focuses on the best running shoes for overweight women because I have been contacted by several women who can’t seem to find a pair that fits.

If you decide to start getting involved in physical activity, the last thing that you want is to be discouraged right away when you start an exercise program because you feel pain in the feet, knees, hips, and lower back.

As I mentioned, I have fitted several overweight women in the correct pair of shoes, and this means finding a shoe that comes in extra wide widths, comes with a substantial, supportive outsole, and is also extra deep.

Bear in mind that in certain cases a good supportive shoe might not be enough to reduce the impact on your feet and knees, and that’s when an orthotic comes into play. I will also describe in this article the best orthotics for overweight women.

Buying Running Shoes for Overweight Women – Main Things to Consider

When walking, a woman impacts the ground two times her body’s weight, but when you are running or exercising that impact increases to three times your body’s weight. Did you know that impact is the #1 cause of foot, leg and back pain? That is why shoes play such a crucial role in protecting and supporting your feet.

Do you feel like you have tried different shoe styles in wide and extra wide widths and still feel like you are stuffing and jamming them onto your foot?

Besides coming in the correct shoe width (extra wide = “XW”), shoes need to be deep. The deeper the shoes the better, since this means that no matter how wide or thick your feet are, they will fit deeply inside the shoes. This will make things easier for your especially every time that you have to put your shoes on since you won’t feel like you are jamming or stuffing the shoes onto your foot and you will prevent your feet from rubbing against the top of the shoes!

Another important thing to consider is that the shoes need come with a round toe-box, since this will prevent your toes from overlapping each other. In fact, the wider the toe-box, the better.

What Features Must the Shoes Provide for Overweight Women?

To fully support and fit the shape of your extra wide feet, the shoes must provide the following features:

1️⃣ Substantial Outsole: The shoes must provide a substantial sole with arch support to minimize the impact that your feet take when they come in contact with the ground, since you are placing a lot of extra pressure on your feet and the legs.

2️⃣ Rounder Toe-Boxes: The shoes must come with a wide toe-box to allow you to move freely your toes and prevent them from rubbing against each other or the side of the shoes, since that can lead to blisters, calluses, and corns.

3️⃣ Extra Wide Widths: The shoes must come in extra wide widths (“XW”, or “2EE”). Don’t settle for shoes that “fit wider” than others, and always make sure that the shoes are labeled as extra wide.

4️⃣ Firm Heel Counter: The heel counter is the back part of the shoes that provides ankle support. It’s important for the heel counter of the shoes to be firm in order to provide support to your heels and prevent ankle pain. If you don’t know what the heel counter of the shoes is, take a look at the picture below for clarification:

Before showing you the selection of the best running shoes, I would like to mention some of the key benefits you can get from exercising.

Benefits of Exercising Regularly

Running is a great and healthy activity, that can give you many health benefits that you may not even be aware of. Did you know that exercise releases endorphins? Including exercise in your everyday routine will definitely boost your overall mood.

You know that great feeling “I can do anything”? Yes, that’s the one. You can enjoy it every day, by simply starting the habit of walking daily, later you can start jogging and finally you end up having a running routine.

Briefly, these are some of the main benefits you can get out of exercising regularly:

• Reduce your risk of heart diseases

• Help you control your weight

• Helps your body manage blood sugar and insulin levels

• Improves your mental health and mood

As I discussed earlier, extra weight places additional stress on bones, tendons, and ligaments, so it’s important to find a pair of shoes that support your feet and that fit the shape of your feet as well! The list of shoes that I will describe below includes running shoes with maximum cushion but they are lightweight and flexible at the same time. These shoe styles will offer top support and will keep your joints feeling good.

Now that you know which are the features that shoes must have for your extra wide feet, let’s take a look at a selection of the best running shoes for overweight women. Disclosure: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases.

The Best Running Shoes for Overweight Women – Supportive, Lightweight, Flexible, and Deep!

What Shoe Size Should You Order?

Take a look at the description below each shoe to find out what shoe size you should order. Consider that in certain cases you might need to fit an orthotic inside your running shoes for extra support. An orthotic, basically is a shoe insert that is specifically designed to provide support, cushioning, stability, and relieve pressure in certain areas of the foot.

The right type of orthotic will help minimize the impact that your feet and legs take every time they come in contact with the ground and reduce or fully eliminate the pain you been experiencing.

While I can’t get into too much detail about the best orthotics for overweight women in this article, you should take a look at another article I wrote where I describe the best orthotics for women:

The Best Orthotics for Women – Stop your Foot and Leg Pain!

Finally, I want you to remember one thing: It doesn’t matter how many features a particular shoe style provides, if the shoes are not fitted properly, you won’t get any of the benefits that the shoes have to offer, and you will end up creating all sort of foot issues to your feet.

Thank you for reading! We hope you found helpful this post on the best running shoes for overweight women. Please feel free to share this post with your community on social media as well as your experiences in the comments section below. If you have any questions or need any further assistance, you can also contact us via e-mail and we will get back to you as soon as possible.