Athletic shoes are a kind of footwear that is designed to enhance athletic performance. They are sold for men, women, and children and can be purchased online, by a mail order catalog, or in a retail store. Athletic shoes have many benefits for people who walk or run regularly.http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00318 They provide support and stability during sports activities and specialized athletic shoes can even improve strength and balance.http://www.reebok.com/US/womens/easytone

There many popular athletic shoe brands, including Nike, Reebok, Asics, New Balance, Adidas and Puma.http://store.nike.com/index.jsp?country=US&lang_locale=en_US&sitesrc=uslp#l=shop,pwp,c-1+100701/f-12001/hf-10001+4294967132/t-Women%27s_Running/ipp-48/pn-1 These companies often provide several different types of athletic shoes for particular sports, such as: running, basketball, golf, cheerleading, hiking, football, soccer and aerobics. Shoes for each sport will have unique characteristics to help an athlete perform better. For example, a football shoe will have cleats on the bottom to help a player have steady footing on the football field.http://store.nike.com/index.jsp?country=US&lang_locale=en_US&cp=usns_CSE_081109_Froogle&l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-222345/pgid-330652&CAWELAID=377789542 A basketball shoe will usually provide extra cushioning around the ankles to avoid joint injury.http://www.eastbay.com/searchresults/keyword:mens+basketball+shoes/?cm=TnDdSHMensBasketball

Athletic shoes can be purchased in most shoe stores as well as some major clothing retailers. These include:

• Foot Lockerhttp://www.footlocker.com/
• Finish Linehttp://www.finishline.com/
• Foot Actionhttp://www.footaction.com/
• Lady Foot Lockerhttp://www.ladyfootlocker.com/
• Kids Foot Lockerhttp://www.kidsfootlocker.com/
  
  

If you are interested in saving money on shoes from these stores, you can sign up for a rewards card at all of these places. For example, a Foot Locker VIP Club card will allow you have to access to exclusive sale events in stores as well as online promotions. You will also be eligible to receive Foot Locker coupons in your email box or by mail.http://www.footlocker.com/promotion/promoId:5002563/footlocker-vip/

You can also purchase athletic shoes at sporting goods stores and websites, such as Dick's Sporting Goods or Eastbay.http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/home/index.jsp http://www.eastbay.com/ Once you enter one of these stores or websites, simply go to the section that deals with the sport you are interested in. The particular athletic shoes for that activity will be sold in the same section.