When you’re wearing running shoes, comfort is the top priority. To get the most out of your workout or whatever you’re doing, you need to feel like your shoes fit well and are giving you the support you need.

Even outside of running shoes specifically, any sneaker should feel great on your foot. For example, make sure you choose women’s supportive sneakers when you buy new shoes.

The following are some lacing tips for comfort, as well as some additional hacks to make your sneakers perfect for you.  

Diagonal Lacing for Big Toe Pain

If you’re prone to pain in your big toe, try lacing your sneakers diagonally.

You can keep the top lace horizontal and then go diagonal as you work your way down. You’re essentially crisscrossing your laces and then tying them as you normally would at the top.

Lacing If Your Feet Are Wide

Along with choosing a shoe that’s designed for a wide foot, you can alleviate the pain you might feel by lacing your shoes differently.

What you’re doing to lace your shoes for wide feet is creating horizontal laces all the way up your shoes, rather than crossing them over in an X-pattern.

Lacing Your Sneakers If You’re Prone to Heel Blisters

If your shoe tends to slip and you get blisters on your heel as a result, there’s a lacing technique called heel-lock.

You start out by making sure your shoes are laced in a traditional crisscross pattern. Then, you start on the outside of your shoe and take excess lace, threading it into the open hole at the top of your shoe.

Don’t bring it all the way through. Instead, make a loop and then repeat on the inside of your shoe. At this point, you should have two loops on each side.

Cross each of your laces over the tongue of your shoe, and then put the tip of your lace through the loop on the opposing side.

Other Tips to Make Your Sneakers More Comfortable

There are a lot of lacing patterns you can try, depending on your needs. Beyond paying attention to how you lace your sneakers, other ways to make them more comfortable include:

·   Always wear moisture-wicking socks. This is something you should do not just when you’re wearing sneakers but also hiking boots. If your feet sweat a lot, you might want to add some foot powder too. When your feet are wet, it’s uncomfortable and can lead to blisters as well as bacteria growth in your shoes.

·   Customise your shoes with gel pads. There are different types of pads designed for different foot shapes and needs.

·   If you have wide feet and your shoes feel tight, use shoe stretchers.

When you’re shopping for women’s or men’s comfortable sneakers, you want to start off with a high-quality well-made pair. You can’t overcome poorly made shoes with even the most clever of hacks. Once you have that, however, there are plenty of things you can do to ensure the shoes fit you in a way that feels like they were custom-made for your foot.