Pronate??

I just bought a new pair of shoes! Asics Gel Cumulus VII I think. For only $30! Super cheap! Quite happy with it. In my last article, I covered some tips on how to select shoes. Today, I will be looking at the arch of the foot and pronating.

Arch
There are three times of foot arches:

• Low Arch
  
• High Arch
• Normal Arch
  

How do you know what kind of arch do you have? It's a pretty simple test. You simply wet your feet and you stamp it onto a cement floor. There you will see the shape of your foot! Your arch would be the between the ball of your foot (which is the big round piece of meet just after your toes) and the heel (the other big ball at the end of your foot). Also, the arch is on the inside of your foot.

So if you have a big empty space, you have a high arch. If you don't see much emptiness, it means you have low arch. Simple!

Low Arch
This is also often referred as flat-footed. Basically, you do not have an arch, or you have minimal arch on your feet.

High Arch
People with high arch will realise their footprint test will show only a narrow area of their outside foot with contact with the ground.

Normal Arch
I guess most people have normal arches. If not, it would not be called normal arch in the first place! Well, it just falls in between a flat-foot and a high arch.

So is it a big deal in knowing all these? Not really except it helps you in deciding which shoes would be better for yourself. Some shoes are meant for flat feet while others cater to those with high arch. I've a normal arch. But I do not think it makes a big difference at all. But that's just me.

Pronation
This refers more to the manner in which you run. In particular, pronation relates more to how your feet contacts with the ground with every footstep.

Again, there are three types:

• Overpronate
• Underpronate
• Neutral pronate

How do you know which of the three you are? The test is to take your nicely, worn-out pair of running shoes and look at the sole. Different parts of the sole will wear out faster than the other.

Overpronate
People who overpronate will realise their shoes wear out faster on the insides of the shoes. For example, the left side of your right shoe will wear out faster than the right side of the sole. This means that as you run, you tend to land on the inside of your foot first then the rest of your foot.

Underpronate
Underpronators are the opposite. The outside of their shoes wears out faster than the inside of their shoes. So taking the right shoe again, the right side of the shoe will wear out faster than the left side of the shoe. This implies that you run more with the outside of your foot.

Neutral pronate
Neutral pronators run very nicely with even footsteps. They do not lean too much on the inside of their shoes nor do they lean too much outside of the shoes.

So what's the big deal if you are a overpronator or underpronator? I'm not sure of the significance. But hey, modern running shoes cater to different runners. Knowing how you pronate will assist you in buying a pair of shoes that better fits you.

Hope all these help in your next shoe-buying experience.

Cheers!