You don’t need fancy equipment to start walking — just a good pair of shoes and clothes that keep you comfortable. However, as your walks become longer and more frequent (or you consider running), some gear choices do matter.

In this episode, we break down the essentials, nice-to-haves, and total wastes of money when it comes to walking and running gear. From finding the right shoes (hello, gait analysis!) to avoiding blisters, bad socks, and tight toe boxes, we break down what you actually need and how to choose gear that works for you, not just what influencers promote.

What you’ll learn:

• How to pick the right shoes (and why pronation matters)
• Why your socks might be your worst enemy
• Must-have accessories for comfort and safety
• Do you really need a sports watch? The truth about tracking

We also dig into how sports watches are changing the way we exercise, and why measurable activities like walking and running are on the rise — data lovers, this one’s for you.

Additional resources are available in the links below.

• ScienceDirect: Pronation
• The 12 Best Running Shoes of 2025
• The 4 Best Running Socks of 2025 | Tested & Rated
• Hydration Basics - Hydration plays an important role in your comfort and performance while hiking, biking, skiing, running and climbing. In this series, we cover everything from how much to drink to how to treat water in the backcountry.
• Effects of Output Quality and Result Demonstrability on the Perceived Usefulness of GPS Sports Watches from the Perspective of Industry 4.0 - The perceived usefulness of sports watches increases with better data quality and ease of interpreting results, which in turn positively affects users' intention to use them regularly.
• Living by the numbers: understanding the “quantification effect”
• Who uses running apps and sports watches? Determinants and consumer profiles of event runners’ usage of running-related smartphone applications and sports watches - Sports watches are more commonly used by experienced and highly involved runners, whereas beginners tend to use mobile apps. This suggests that sport selection may align with the user’s comfort and familiarity with device functionalities
• Discrete Chaotic Fuzzy Neural Network (DC-FNN) Based Smart Watch Embedded Devices for Sports and Health Monitoring - Smartwatches with advanced physiological monitoring (e.g., heart rate, step count) help athletes track performance and detect potential health risks, promoting more effective training and injury prevention.
• Reliability and validity of ten consumer activity trackers - PMC
• Validity of sports watches when estimating energy expenditure during running