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How to Break in Nike Soccer Cleats

How to Break in Nike Soccer Cleats

Soccer, or internationally known as football, is perhaps the most popular sport in the world.  Worldwide, the sport attracts over 3.5 billion fans each year.  And many of these same fans who watch the games in soccer stadiums or on their televisions will also play the game in their free time.

And with a game of soccer needing little more than a soccer ball and a pair of soccer cleats, fans worldwide are able to enjoy the game at nearly any location.  And if you are looking to get into the sport, whether casually or as a professional player, then learning how to break in your soccer cleats will help you to get on the pitch faster and reduce the incidence of blistering on your feet.

Below, we are going to look into how to break in Nike soccer cleats easily and without risking the structure and integrity of the cleats.  If you’ve recently purchased a pair of Nike soccer cleats, then reading this article will help you to properly break in your new Nike soccer cleats.

Why Should You Break in Your Nike Soccer Cleats?

While many soccer players opt to not break in their cleats, not doing so can lead to injury and blisters on the feet.  This is because cleats are often designed to fit on a wide range of feet sizes and are typically not customized for a specific player.

However, due to this non-customized fitting, wearing soccer cleats, at least initially, can easily lead to injury and blistering.  This is due to the ill-fitted feeling you will find when you wear the cleats.  This ill-fitted feeling can lead to injury as you run on the pitch and as you struggle to walk with the cleats on.

Similarly, before your soccer cleats are broken in and molded to your specific foot size, they will need time to adjust and adapt to your feet.  If you simply throw on a new pair of soccer cleats and begin play, they will begin to mold to your feet as you play, leading to injury and severe blistering.

To avoid both injury and blistering, it is always recommended to break in your soccer cleats before beginning to wear them.  While definitely an annoying process, it is far better to break in your soccer cleats before a practice session or game and to risk avoiding serious injury.

How to Break in Nike Soccer Cleats

Start with the Correctly Sized Nike Cleats

Above all else, if you are looking to break in your Nike soccer cleats, then you will need to ensure that you purchase the right sized ones.  And while they will not be broken in after your initial purchase, they should fit your feet neatly and securely.

Nike cleats, however, often run small.  This means that if your feet are a size 10, then you may find better fitting with a size 11 for Nike cleats.  However, we recommend heading down to your local sporting goods store to try on a few pairs of Nike cleats before making your purchase.

Similarly, when trying on a pair of Nike cleats, be sure to wear a pair of soccer socks that you will wear in a game or at practice.  Soccer socks are typically thicker than other pairs of socks and can add an addition half-inch to your foot, meaning that you may need to go up a size to have the cleats fit properly.

Wear a Pair of Gripped Soccer Socks

Once you have purchased a pair of properly fitted Nike soccer cleats, you should also purchase a pair of gripped soccer socks.  Gripped soccer socks will help your feet to stick to the bottom of the cleats, reducing overall friction and movement and allowing for the cleats to properly mold to your feet.

In addition, wearing gripped soccer socks will help you to run and kick the ball without fear of your feet moving around within the cleats.  Essentially, gripped socks will allow your feet to remain secure and steady while you play the game and can be especially useful when worn after purchasing new cleats.

Personally, we’ve used Lux Sport’s Anti-Slip Soccer Socks and found them to provide superior grip to other grippe soccer socks.  What we really liked about Lux Sport’s Anti-Slip Soccer Socks was that they place grips on both the inner and outer portion of the socks, helping to ensure that you are able to maintain proper fitting and comfort in your cleats.

How to Break in Nike Soccer Cleats

Consider Purchasing Soccer Cleat Insoles

We’ve previously discussed the benefits of insoles for basketball shoes and the same is true for soccer.  Soccer, as. With basketball, is a fast-paced, high-energy sport which requires an athlete to be in near constant motion.  From running, to jumping, to diving, to squatting, a soccer players body and feet are in constant flux and motion.  All of this movement places strain and stress on your feet, particularly when you are wearing new cleats.

Insoles, however, are meant to ease that stress.

Not only can soccer shoe insoles provide a better fit, but they can also add an extra layer of warmth and comfort.  Designed to fit neatly into the shoe, soccer insoles are typically made of a gel, foam, aircushion, or a leather material making the fit incredibly comfortable.

In addition, one of the biggest benefits of using an insole, particularly for new Nike soccer cleats, is that they can help prevent blisters.  With all that running, jumping, and standing, soccer and blisters go hand-in-hand (or should we say, foot-in-foot).

However, by adding an insole to your Nike soccer cleats, you are able to provide added protection and comfort, which can help to mitigate the occurrence of blisters.  This is also done by creating a tighter, more snug fit between your foot and the shoe.  As blisters occur due to the rub between the foot and the shoe, having a tighter fit will naturally minimize the occurrence of blisters.

Personally, for soccer cleats, we’ve used Blusol’s Shoe Inserts to help provide relief from burning feet that is so often associated with playing soccer.  While we never used these insoles to provide better fit with our cleats, we can recommend them for added comfort when wearing cleats.

Consider Utilizing Petroleum Jelly or Vaseline

Wearing new Nike soccer cleats will allow the stiff, rigid shoe material to rub against your feet which can cause blisters.  To counteract this, consider placing a slippery barrier between your foot and the shoes.  Petroleum jelly, such as Vaseline, is a great choice and can be applied directly to your soccer socks, providing you with less friction between your foot and the shoe.

How to Break in Nike Soccer Cleats

Walk in Your Cleats for Multiple Days

If you purchased a new pair of Nike soccer cleats days before your next game or practice session, then we’d highly recommend walking in those cleats for multiple days in a row.  By walking in those cleats, you will naturally break them in without having to go to extreme lengths to do so.

We would recommend walking in your new Nike cleats for at least three-days.  While you may look a bit funny doing so,  by walking in your cleats, you will effectively break them in and have them be game-day ready.

The Hot Bucket Method

Lastly, if you are looking to break in your new Nike soccer cleats and want to do so as quickly as possible, then simply perform the hot bucket method.  The hot bucket method is an easy, simple, and nearly guaranteed way to break in new cleats.

  1. Take out a bucket that is large enough to fit both your feet with the cleats in
  2. Fill the bucket with hot water
  3. Place your socks and your Nike cleats on
  4. Lace up the cleats
  5. Place both feet, with your socks and cleats on, completely submerged into the hot water
  6. Leave both feet in the hot water for 20-minutes
  7. Remove your feet from the hot water and remove your cleats
  8. Apply petroleum jelly to the leather inside the cleats
  9. Place the cleats back on your feet
  10. Walk around with the cleats on for ten-minutes
  11. Remove your cleats and place crumbled newspapers inside of them
  12. Wait for the cleats to fully dry and remove the crumbled newspapers