Running Shoes

In the market for a new pair of running shoes? Here are some tips I just learned:

Your feet naturally roll when you run. This is called pronation. Depending on your arch, they roll inward (towards your other foot) - overpronation, or outward - underpronation. Or maybe your feet are great and they naturally roll the correct way (neither outward nor inward).

Your arch is what determines the roll/your gait. A person with a high arch (most rare) tends to underpronate, whereas a person with a flat foot tends to overpronate.

You should shoe-shop based on what kind of arch and gait you have. If you have a flat foot, look for a shoe with good arch support, also known as maximum support. If you have a high arch, look for a shoe with cushioning. If your foot is more normal, you will want structured cushioning to keep your foot moving the way it should.

The confusion is in what I just said - if you have a high arch, wouldn't you want good arch support? No - the reason being that a foot with a high arch naturally rolls outward. If you add extra padding under your already-high arch, your foot will lean even more towards the outside, causing you to underpronate and occasionally slip and stumble on the outside of your foot. In return, you will want arch support with a flat foot (even though you have no arch) so that your foot will not overpronate and tilt too much inward. Think about it this way - the arch directs where your foot will go. You want it to go straight/forward, so if you add support to a foot that is leaning inward (flat) you can correct that by pushing it outward. Does that make sense?

I am so glad I googled this because I always knew you had to choose running shoes wisely but I never knew what to make the decision based off. I have a high arch and when I stumble my foot always "falls" outward. I never knew why that was! I always looked for good arch support but it was really causing my foot to keep doing the bad thing it was already doing. Now I am so glad I know how to correct it!