fitness

Wearing your everyday sneakers to the gym can be incredibly dangerous for your feet.

Every now and then a fun fact comes along that takes you by surprise.

Perhaps you realised that Fes from That 70s Show stood for Foreign Exchange Student and it was never actually his name, or that the first episode of a series is called a pilot because it’s the first time on the air.

For us, we were today years old when we learnt that we are meant to change out of our athleisure shoes when we get to the gym.

Wait. What?

Before we get into the facts, let us differentiate between “athleisure joggers” and “real joggers”.

Athleisure joggers are pretty much the light-weight style of jogger that you might wear to brunch, they provide minimal support and focus on a certain aesthetic. These sort of joggers can be worn with jeans without looking daggy. Gigi Hadid wears them with crop tops.

gigi hadid athleisure
Do not wear shoes like this to the gym, please. Image: Getty.
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A "real" jogger is one that you might buy at a sports shop rather than The Iconic, and will probably be more expensive, less pretty, and provide your feet with the support needed during a workout.

These sort of joggers can by no means be worn with jeans without looking daggy.

According to Julie Wandzilak in an interview with Well Good, athleisure shoes aren't actually very good when it comes to intense exercise.

“‘Street’ sneakers normally are structured for low impact, casual, light activity,” Wandzilak told Well Good.

“It depends on the brand and the structure of the shoe, but usually it’s not recommended to wear them in a gym setting or for higher intensity activity," she added.

While you might be thinking that it's harmless, Wandzilak says it's actually incredibly dangerous for your feet.

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Luckily, there are some great, trainer approved, exercises you can do at home, without going to the gym in athlesiure shoes.

“[High knees] are literally running on the spot but lifting your knees up high, with your arms outstretched in front of you, try and tap the palm of your hands with the top of your knees,” Former professional athlete and personal trainer Matt Fox told Mamamia.

“This is a great exercise that works every muscle in your lower body along with your abdominal muscles, but also is an awesome cardio workout. This one is good because it’s done on the spot and requires no more room than where you are standing. It can replace your run or bike ride if you can’t get outdoors," he added.

When it comes to dos and don'ts of leading a healthy lifestyle we can't keep up, but we guess we'll be buying one pair of joggers for brunch and another pair for actual exercise from now on.

Or we might just exercise at home. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯