Stability and motion control shoes help with pronation.
Image Credit: aldomurillo/E+/GettyImages Modern running shoes are feats of design. As the single most important piece of equipment a runner needs, shoes have to provide support, flexibility, grip and stability.
Advertisement
For many people, the last feature is the most crucial: Pronation, or inward rolling when the foot hits the ground, can result in serious injury over time. Motion control shoes and stability shoes both address pronation, but at different degrees for different levels of need.
Video of the Day
Read more: How to Find the Best Running Shoes for You
Foot Shape and Shoe Types
To understand shoe types, you first need to know foot mechanics. Test your foot shape by wetting the bottom of your bare foot and standing on a surface that will leave an imprint recommends Mayo Clinic Health System. If your footprint is relatively uniform in width, you’re flat-footed and your feet and ankle may tend to roll inward, or pronate, when you run. If your footprint cuts in severely at the arch, you have a high arch and your foot may tend to roll outward. If it’s somewhere in between, you have a normal arch.
Advertisement
Stability shoes are recommended for people with a normal arch, to help decrease mild pronation. People with flat feet, or runners weighing over 180 pounds, have more pronation and may need a motion-control shoe to provide extra stability and reduce potential injury.
Design Features in Both
Motion-control shoes, or high-stability shoes, are designed to hold the foot firmly in place. They will generally have a stiff heel and a relatively straight shape.This can make the shoe heavier, but it provides added support under the arch. The midsole, or the area between the rubber bottom of the shoe and the flexible upper, is usually very firm.
Advertisement
Stability shoes offer some motion control but tend to have more support, flexibility and cushioning. They often include a firm area within the midsole to reinforce the arch, and may have a variety of added support features. The majority of running shoes and trail shoes are stability designs.
Read more: The Best Outdoor Running Shoes for Handling Whatever Mother Nature Throws at You
Advertisement
Controversy Over Effectiveness
While stability and motion-control shoes make logical sense, there has been some controversy over how effective they really are. A 2011 study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that assigning shoes by foot type had no real effect on the rate of injury. In fact they concluded that the current method of controlling pronation by assigning shoes based on foot type “overly simplistic and potentially injurious.” Conversely, there is some evidence that motion-control shoes can ease over-pronation and associated motion in the quadriceps.
Advertisement
Be Your Own Expert
Because scientific evidence is still inconclusive, you’ll have to be your own expert when choosing a shoe. Consider your foot shape, but also pay attention to the way your foot moves when choosing between a stability and motion-control shoe. Always buy your running shoes in person, so you can try them on and see how they feel. Try shoes on at the end of the day when your feet are slightly swollen; this can help you get a better fit recommends the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society. Wear the socks you’ll wear to run and test the shoes by running up and down the street outside the store. When you buy new shoes, test them on short runs before taking them on long distances. If they give you discomfort or pain, try switching to a different shoe type or consulting a podiatrist.
Advertisement
Advertisement
references
British Journal of Sports Medicine: "The Effect of Three Different Levels of Footwear Stability on Pain Outcomes in Women Runners"
American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society: "How to Select the Right Athletic Shoes"
Mayo Clinic Health System: "How to Determine Foot Arch Type"
references
British Journal of Sports Medicine: "The Effect of Three Different Levels of Footwear Stability on Pain Outcomes in Women Runners"
American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society: "How to Select the Right Athletic Shoes"
Mayo Clinic Health System: "How to Determine Foot Arch Type"
Stability and motion control shoes help with pronation.
Image Credit: aldomurillo/E+/GettyImages
Image Credit: aldomurillo/E+/GettyImages
British Journal of Sports Medicine: "The Effect of Three Different Levels of Footwear Stability on Pain Outcomes in Women Runners"
American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society: "How to Select the Right Athletic Shoes"
Mayo Clinic Health System: "How to Determine Foot Arch Type"
