I LOVE My New Shoes for Zumba - My Shoe Buying Story

I have been wearing the Ryka Studio Flex for a year now, strictly for my zumba classes, and I was way overdue for a new pair of shoes.

I decided I wanted a shoe with more support because I teach zumba and my feet endure alot of impact and so I want to support them as much as I can.

I knew I wanted a cross-trainer because while running shoes feel great, they do not have the lateral support that I need.

So I compared two Nike trainers that had good reviews, The Nike Air Max Team ST (the black shoe) and the Nike Free XT Quick Fit (the purple one):

I found that the Nike Free XT had more support in the whole footbed while the Nike Air Max Team St did not have as much support under the ball of the foot. But the Nike Free XT were more narrow. The Nike Air Max Team ST had more room for the whole top of my foot. You can see in this picture that the Nike Air Free (the purple shoe) is more narrow in the toe box than the other one.

I also found that I needed to go a whole size up in these shoes. I normally wear a size 7 but the size 8 was better. So my next decision was to take out the insert that came with the shoe and add an athletic insert that would add much more cushioning.

I then tried on both shoes with and without the inserts. The inserts I use are Spenco Polysorb Cross Trainer Insert.

My final decision was to go with the Nike Air Max Team St. The bigger toebox made a big difference. And when I added the Spenco inserts it greatly improved the cushioning under the entire footbed. I also like that the Nike Air Max was slightly shorter in length than the Nike Free XT, which makes sense since the Nike Free's are more narrow.

Now I am very happy with my new shoes!

I am also VERY happy with Zappos and my experience of ordering shoes online. Why? Because I could never do all this trial and error while shopping for shoes in a regular shoe store. I would drive the salesperson crazy, to say the least!  When I try on shoes in my own home I can take my time and really compare and weigh out the pros and cons of each shoe.

I even ordered twice and returned twice and Zappos graciously accepted it all. I love to support businesses that provide outstanding customer service and I try to treat all my business transactions the same way. Zappos ROCKS!!

In conclusion, with these Nike shoes order a size up AND replace the insole with an athletic insert. If your feet are narrow I would go with the Nike Free XT:
Nike - Free XT Quick Fit+ (Red Plum/Voltage Cherry-White-Black) - Footwear (and they come in different colors too) because they DO have more cushioning in the front of the shoe, but if you need more room in the toebox then go with the Nike Air Max Team ST:
Nike - Air Max Team ST (Black/White-Hot Lime-Pink Flash-Hot Lime) - Footwear and these also come in other colors. I would still replace the insole with either shoe you buy.

I  have more recommended shoes on my site at http://dancenyoga.com/best_shoes_for_zumba.