happy arches!
several months ago i noticed the arches in my feet really hurting whenever we did jumping exercises at the gym. i was fine running on the treadmill, but it was the jumping jacks and jumping over the steps that had me wincing in pain. my current running shoes were at least two years old, so i figured it'd be a good start to look into new shoes.
there's a store nearby that specializes in fitting running shoes for folks. the salesperson had me walk barefoot while he checked out my gait, and concluded that i have overpronation, where a person's arch collapses upon weight bearing. basically, when i walk, my feet both lean inwards.
Wikipedia: Those who overpronate tend to push off almost completely from the big toe and second toe. As a result, the shock from the foot’s impact doesn’t spread evenly throughout the foot and the ankle has trouble stabilizing the rest of the body. Additionally, an unnatural angle forms between the foot and ankle and the foot splays out abnormally. It is common even for people who pronate normally to have some angle between the foot and the ankle, but not to the extent seen in those who overpronate. In normal pronation the weight distributes evenly throughout the foot.
after twisting my own poor running shoes around to demonstrate their non-support, the salesperson brought out shoes for me to try-on and even take for a spin around the block outside. i found a door step to practice jumping on and off of, which was really helpful. for overpronators, the answer is to get shoes with lots of support and stability. i picked out a pair of very stable shoes which i will now wear everywhere. i'm also supposed to stretch more, which should help.
in contrast, j is an underpronator, or supination (this is more rare). Wikipedia: Supination occurs when the foot impacts the ground and there is not enough of an “inward roll” in the foot’s motion. The weight of the body isn’t transferred at all to the big toe, forcing the outside of the foot and the smaller toes which can't handle the stress as well to take the majority of the weight instead. usually people with high arches have this problem, and their solution is to find shoes which have neutral support and stability. i.e., he can wear the cute running shoes:
from the internet: you can see if you have high arches by wetting the bottoms of your feet and stepping on a piece of paper. if you can't see the arch part of your feet, then you have high arches. we tried taking comparison photos to show to you, fair reader, but the comparison wasn't that dramatic or fun.
there's a store nearby that specializes in fitting running shoes for folks. the salesperson had me walk barefoot while he checked out my gait, and concluded that i have overpronation, where a person's arch collapses upon weight bearing. basically, when i walk, my feet both lean inwards.
Wikipedia: Those who overpronate tend to push off almost completely from the big toe and second toe. As a result, the shock from the foot’s impact doesn’t spread evenly throughout the foot and the ankle has trouble stabilizing the rest of the body. Additionally, an unnatural angle forms between the foot and ankle and the foot splays out abnormally. It is common even for people who pronate normally to have some angle between the foot and the ankle, but not to the extent seen in those who overpronate. In normal pronation the weight distributes evenly throughout the foot.
after twisting my own poor running shoes around to demonstrate their non-support, the salesperson brought out shoes for me to try-on and even take for a spin around the block outside. i found a door step to practice jumping on and off of, which was really helpful. for overpronators, the answer is to get shoes with lots of support and stability. i picked out a pair of very stable shoes which i will now wear everywhere. i'm also supposed to stretch more, which should help.
in contrast, j is an underpronator, or supination (this is more rare). Wikipedia: Supination occurs when the foot impacts the ground and there is not enough of an “inward roll” in the foot’s motion. The weight of the body isn’t transferred at all to the big toe, forcing the outside of the foot and the smaller toes which can't handle the stress as well to take the majority of the weight instead. usually people with high arches have this problem, and their solution is to find shoes which have neutral support and stability. i.e., he can wear the cute running shoes:
from the internet: you can see if you have high arches by wetting the bottoms of your feet and stepping on a piece of paper. if you can't see the arch part of your feet, then you have high arches. we tried taking comparison photos to show to you, fair reader, but the comparison wasn't that dramatic or fun.
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