So; Is Pronation Bad For Us? The Dangerous Teeter-Totter that is; “Common Running Form”
Pronation happens immediately after allowing our heel to contact the ground. And It is a good thing that our body can pronate, because it does help with reducing the forces that our body experiences, while acting as a spring. But it is primarily helpful for walking and other daily movements, any time we need to put our heel down. Not for the millions of strides we take as runners. For Running We Can Use a Better Body Mechanics that’s Perfect for Running. Forefoot Running allows us to use the strong back of our leg as our suspension and spring, instead of the weak inside of our leg. Forefoot Running Allows Us to Use Our Best Built in Suspension System that is in Line With Our Direction of Movement instead of Perpendicular to it.
While pronation isn't necessarily immediately bad for us, Running with a form that causes pronation, Can result in a Sudden Injury, as well as Long Term Damage.
Pronation is when the Ankle Tips Inwards. But there is also Supination; When the Ankle Tips Outwards. Pronation is Most common under ‘Normal Running Conditions,’ While Supination is Uncommon.
And, Under “Normal Running Conditions,” This Might Be Safe Enough. But…
The Ground isn’t always “Normal Conditions.” The Ground Can: Be tilted, suddenly tilt, be rough, suddenly crumble, have a sharp object on it, be slippery, and can be in a slightly different place than we think it is (for example; when we step in a hole that we didn’t see, even a professional track has an edge we can step on or past).
And the Way we step onto the ground isn’t always normal. Our Body Can: Slip on the unpredictable ground, get bumped or have our foot stepped on by another runner, get bumped or have our foot stepped on by our dog, get moved by a gust of wind, or any unpredictable thing that can cause us to need to stop or change direction suddenly (like a car going past).
While dealing with the Inevitable Unexpected Conditions of Reality; The foot can Tip Inwards or Outwards, Regardless of What’s Common. The Foot Will Unexpectedly Tip To One Side or to the Other Side, Depending on the Unexpected Conditions. The foot can even be tipped back and forth multiple times within one step with shifting conditions.
The Foot Acts as a Teeter Toter, Aligned Perpendicular to the Direction of Motion
An Extremely Short Teeter Toter.
The Math is: A Short Teeter Totter has an extremely Short Range of motion. The Range of Motion is So Small, that Any change of position is Extremely Likely to Suddenly Switch the Direction The Teeter Totter is Falling.
This Sudden Left or Right Movement is what makes Falling Down such a common part of ‘Common Running Form.”
Also, Even if Pronation never causes a runner a serious falling down injury, there are long term factors to consider. This Sudden Teeter Totter puts a lot of Torque on the Joints. This can cause wear and tear on our joints and meniscus that can build up over time.
I think it’s important to remember that; Just because elite athletes commonly pronate, it doesn’t mean that it’s good for them. Some of them end up sustaining injuries for the reasons described here, perhaps not understanding what caused their fall, and then we don’t really hear about them any more. Some of them have long term damage from it, summing it up as “I guess running was bad for me,” and then; we don’t really hear about them any more. What we see on the TV, is the younger runners, and those who haven’t done too much damage while falling, who haven’t been harmed too seriously yet. If they’ve even considered it’s safety at all, their Common Mentality is that either it’s Safe, or Shoe Technology can “Fix It”
In Reality; Shoe Technology Designed To Keep the Ankle from Tipping Over, Doesn’t Eliminate the chance of the Entire Shoe Tipping Over. It eliminates much of the helpful suspension that would have been provided by the motion. And because it can never Fully Eliminate the movement, it only Furthers the Math of a Shorter Range of Motion, Resulting in an even higher chance of Switching back and forth between which direction the foot is tipping. Only increasing the unpredictability of what the Foot will Do in Response to the Ground.
It is important that we choose wisely when it comes to how we interact with the Earth. It can be tough on us, if we use the wrong body mechanics. The body mechanics of “common running form” allows the ground to yank us around too much. The body needs to interact with the Earth in a way that puts the forces into the right places, to propel us forwards, Not to Torque us to the Side.
