Women's, Influence Training Shoe

The Ryka Influence shoe fits like it was made for me personally! Amazing shoes! I have a medium width foot, wider at across at the little toe joint and narrow at heal. I also have high arch. I have these shoes in every color I can get my hands on in case Ryka phases out the style since the thick sole look is currently trending. The best thing about RYKA’s are in the details. The tell you the heal to toe rise. They have sole types based on your activity. They are made specifically for women. The Influence model has a low heel rise of 8 mm so my foot is not thrown forward. It has a circular area or pivot point on the sole under the big toe. Didn’t realize how useful that was until I had to do 3 months of PT. This model is marketing for use with activities like aerobics and Zumba but I wear my RYKA’s all the time. I first saw them when taking my husband for medical treatments at the hospital and a lot of nurses were wearing them several years ago. The first two pair I ordered, I ordered in my usual size 8. The fit was exactly spot on and allowed for thin footies or socks. I only wore them to the gym at that time. Three years later, I found I needed to go up to a thicker cushioned sock and the shoes felt a little tight at the toe so I purchased 8.5 size. Perfect!!! I now live in these shoes. I damaged both knees in a recent fall and these shoes help keep me aligned so I can wear them all day without pain or discomfort. I wear them to the gym and PT with no problem and they’ve held up very well. Admittedly, I don’t do hardcore activities in them but I am hard on shoes. I wish I’d had sense enough to wear them while I was still teaching! Ryka has a wide variety of styles, both lace up and slip on. I highly recommend the brand and so glad they have a store on Amazon now!!

I purchased these shoes after my Zumba instructor suggested I get shoes specifically for Zumba. Get the right shoe for the right activity, she said. I had told her how my knees had been hurting and that is why I didn't do some of the higher impact moves, and she said the right shoes should help. I was a bit skeptical, and almost didn't get these shoes especially because of the price point, but I am so glad I did. I wear 6 1/2 or 7, and have a fairly wide foot in the toe box area, but not so much in my heel, which ironically is how these shoes are designed, for a women's foot, Made "For Women, By Women", and the size 7 fit me perfectly. First thing I noticed is how lightweight, yet at the same time still very supportive, and surprisingly stable feeling they were. The real test was at my next Zumba class, and they passed with flying colors!!!! My skepticism quickly disappeared when I was doing the high impact moves that I wouldn't even attempt before because of knee pain. I did a whole one hour class with no knee pain at all and worked out much harder than ever before since I was pain free. The lightweightedness of the shoe helped make kicks, and jumps much easier. And the spin spot on the bottom of the shoe made turns much smoother as well. As a result I am getting a much more intense workout, and becoming better at: "Zumba-ing"! I would also like to mention Amazon delivered before the projected delivery date, which was an awesome surprise to receive them so quick. Kudos to Ryka for making such a great shoe! This was my first experience with Ryka shoes and I will try some of their other shoes as well in the future.

Very pretty shoe. It is also comfortable. I sized up half a size based on the recommendation and they fit. Warning, this shoe DOES NOT HAVE ARCH SUPPORT. It has a soft insert giving the illusion of arch support, that will eventually flatten with weight and wear. I can remove it and add orthotics but then that makes the shoe tight. So I added just a gel arch support and that works.

I bought this model of Ryka for my Zumba class almost two yrs ago and it has been a great shoe. I only wear to Zumba. I just bought another pair, exactly the same as I want to take the originals on a cruise and use as my "tennis" shoe when I need to wear that kind of shoe for the day. I will keep the new ones for Zumba class. I always wear a size 8 and these were perfect, but I still have the issue where the heel feels like I have to pound it into place, which I do every time I put them on for Zumba. With that, I feel the shoe is comfortable, the arch is very good, the design on the bottom of the shoe works extremely well for the moves required to dance Zumba and I don't seem to be bothered about the heel issue once I am off to class. I don't notice any slipping of the heel while dancing or even if I go to the store and shop after the class. So, I don't know why I feel the heel issue when I put the shoe on, but the pounding it onto the floor to make the heel go back into the "slot" where the heel is supposed to go, seems to work for me and then the shoe is wearable for hours of comfort. There is a wide toe area which is always what you need in an athletic shoe for any athletic activity you are engaging in. Great arch support which is also important when you are pounding away during your work out. The black and pink color combo of the shoe is very popular in my Zumba class....seems like there are many brands of athletic shoes that use this color combo! I would recommend this shoe, especially for Zumba.

I love the Ryka brand. Been wearing them for. 5 years now. But this shoe did not last. I bought it in October and today is December 1st and its coming apart all ready. It would make since if I was wearing them everyday day, but I have plantar fasciitis and don’t wear the same shoes everyday. I am so disappointed in these😭 They are comfortable and I love how they fit my wide feet. This style just didn’t hold up. I have purchased 3 other styles, one I bought in 2020 and just tossed out this year because they no longer had traction on the bottom. I wish these could be replaced.

Nice shoes, perfect for fitness classes on a wood studio floor. Very comfortable and nice looking. They did run small, though. I normally wear a 8 wide in New Balance. Ended up returning the first pair and getting the 8.5W instead, which fit me perfectly.

Most comfortable shoes ever!

I have ordered these shoes several times in different colors, because they are excellent for Zumba, Bollywood-dance, or other dance-style cardio classes. They have a pivot ring to support foot rotation, and give me excellent support. The reason I am taking a star off is because the soles become very slippery after about 1 or 2 year of use. I do not use them for anything else than my dance classes, once or twice a week. While the rest of the shoe is still in perfect order, the soles are becoming so slippery that any position with your legs wide apart becomes a slippy slide adventure. At my age, I am getting worried about breaking anything, so then I will just buy a new pair when they are on sale. But it feels like such a waste, if the rest of the shoe is still perfectly fine.