Pronation, Supination – Konfusion

For 30 years, treadmill analyses have been a standard feature in well-equipped running stores. This conveys professionalism and also gives the feeling of having the right shoe on your foot at the end of the subsequent sales talk. But appearances are deceptive ...

There is no doubt that you can learn a few facts from a correctly performed treadmill analysis. The runner learns something about his running style, the all-important impact, rolling and pushing off. But then the question is what is done with it! Example: The salesperson identifies pronation, where the foot lands on the outer edge and then turns inwards too much. Many runners run like this, the industry knows this and builds pronation supports into the midsole. These wedges are reinforced inserts in the foam that counteract the foot's unwanted internal rotation and stabilize the foot. Sounds great, problem solved. Or has it?

Läufer mit dem Joe Nimble Addict Pro-R in Farbe Rust auf dem Laufband

Why findings from treadmill analyses
rarely lead to the right shoe!

Has the problem really been solved? Unfortunately, the answer has to be no, because the problem remains, but the effects have been mitigated. A flat tire can often be “patched” with puncture foam and the journey can continue. But does this solve the problem permanently? Would you go on a long vacation trip with this tire? Hardly.

A running shoe wants to be sold quickly and a salesperson is not an orthopaedist. So the shoe that best fits the “damage pattern” is sold. In this example, a running shoe with pronation support. The shoe industry naturally advertises the advantages of its shoes on a massive scale and leaves no doubt as to which technology is used to combat which problem. Unfortunately, they forget to point out that they have caused this problem for many runners in the first place! And they also forget that there is a solution because they don't offer shoes for it.

Use it or lose it!

During evolution, our body has matured into an incredibly sophisticated movement concept. Running is part of the human body and this concept also includes highly efficient biomechanics, an effective damping system and a robust drive unit consisting of many components. If you intervene in this complex system with shoes that change parts of the movement dynamics, the body adapts to the new conditions. Sounds great, but is rarely to the runner's advantage.

Monstrous cushioning foams and high drops also give us runners the feeling of running on an airbag. This component also does not contribute to muscle maintenance and, in the worst case, can have serious effects on ankle stability or the knee.

If we take the strain off parts of a movement pattern, such as the foot muscles, an adjustment follows that we initially even find very pleasant. However, the rule “Use it or lose it!” also applies. Muscles that you don't use, you lose. Incidentally, this loss applies not only to the muscles directly, but also to the resulting pretension in the arch of the foot, which is an enormously important part of natural cushioning. This also applies to tendons and ligaments, which lose their flexibility and shorten ...

These are all gradual processes, but they have a huge impact on your biomechanics. And they form a chain reaction, because almost the entire body is involved in the complex process of “running”, not just the lower extremities.

Example pronation: Perfectly natural, but susceptible

Pronation, i.e. placing the foot with the (heel) outer edge and subsequent internal rotation, is natural. It is part of the body's natural cushioning concept. We exclude congenital misalignments from this, but most misalignments are home-made problems. Excessive inward rotation (overpronation) of the joint is problematic. This is often caused by weak foot muscles, a lack of pretension in the arch of the foot and wearing shoes that exacerbate the problem.

So what happens when the foot is given the opportunity to regain the foot muscles, build up pretension and use the entire forefoot with all its toes for a stable and powerful push-off? The answer is simple: here, too, adaptation sets in. Muscles actually rebuild relatively quickly and tendons and ligaments can also regenerate over weeks or months.

So how do I solve my problem?

You can guess that this won't happen in a shoe that doesn't provide the right conditions. Above all, toefreedom is a very important prerequisite for natural movement patterns, because without the toes and the big toe with its extension in the metatarsophalangeal joint as the largest muscle in the foot, it cannot function. This powerful player, the metatarsophalangeal joint, is also completely neglected and atrophied by most running shoes. Strength and tension are lost, as the foot and shoe form a system unit in classic running shoe construction. This also sounds futuristic and somehow plausible, but it is not - in fact, it is a declaration of bankruptcy for the natural kinematics of the runner.

The shoes from Joe Nimble take a different approach. First and foremost the Pro-R series for road and trail. In addition to the wide toe box for a spread of the toes in the footprint and thus very good stability and power transmission, our Pro-R running shoes are equipped with the ToePilot splint, which takes specific pressure off the metatarsophalangeal joint and integrates the effective use of this important muscle and the big toe into the running movement, as nature intended.

While the toe box is wide, the rest of the shoe is normal over the midfoot and heel. The drop of our shoes is a maximum of 4mm and a minimum of 0mm. These components all contribute to the same goal and utilize your abilities without affecting the running dynamics.

What exactly does this mean for me?

By regaining muscle tone and pretension, reactivating the body's own cushioning and ideally also involving the big toe more in the running movement, you can actively work on improving your running style. Pronation supports or similar insoles are not (or no longer) necessary for many of our runners, hallux malpositions can also be corrected within certain limits and efficiency increased. This is possible with training tools from our accessories program.

Conclusion

A treadmill analysis can provide you with information about how you run and whether there are any areas that can be worked on to improve your running experience and prevent injuries. Whether you will end up with the best individual shoe as a result is rather questionable.