Blog post produced and written by Clinic Manager and Sports Injury Specialist Jason Dodd.
With Christmas around the corner, many of us will now be thinking of some New Year resolutions and have almost certainly submitted our Christmas wish list to Santa for the coming weeks. High up on some of these lists may be a new pair of running trainers in preparation for the brand new fitness regime as part of the New Year resolution. But what should we be looking for in these running shoes?
Well, interestingly, it’s not quite as complex as we may think. Many of us have heard of the term ‘pronation’ as some of us may describe ourselves as ‘over pronators’. But what does this actually mean and is it even true?
First, to define ‘over pronation’ is almost impossible. We have no data to suggest what is ‘normal’ so it therefore becomes impossible to say at what degree does ‘pronation’ become ‘over pronation’. If we cannot define a set number then we cannot possibly make this kind of statement.
Second, various marketing strategies will convince you that a certain shoe is particularly good for ‘avoiding pronation’. Let’s be clear here, we all need an element of pronation and supination in order to be able to walk/run in an efficient way. If you remove either of these movements then your risk of injury is heightened as you will essentially be fixated in one position all the time. And then there is the research that has shown that people who wore ‘anti-pronation’ (for want of a better term) devices in their running shoes, in some cases, actually pronated EVEN MORE than their base level without the device.
We just do not have the evidence, nor the data, yet to conclusively say that pronation is something that should be avoided and if you do not will result in heightened injury risk.
Our key message here is this. Running shoe choice, and how you run, should not be barriers to taking part in exercise. Although there may be some substance for using orthotics and devices to help with support, believe it or not they do not do the things that they propose. For example, foot orthotics have been proven to not actually change the position of the foot (how can they!? They are soft and designed to be comfortable so must have some flexibility in them). Instead, they work in a way that feeds a proprioceptive message back to the brain which ultimately causes the body to change its own biomechanics which ultimately means that you as the individual control the outcome and not the shoe/device itself.
Our advice on running shoes therefore is to find a pair that is comfortable and enjoyable to wear. Do not be drawn in by the hype that surrounds certain types of shoes that claim to do many ‘supportive’ things for the ankle because it simply just is not true.
