Rethinking Overpronation and Running Shoe Advice

If you’ve ever been told to “correct” your stride with special shoes or inserts, you’re not alone—overpronation and running have become buzzwords in the footwear world. But what if everything you’ve heard about overpronation is missing the bigger picture? In this article, we’ll break down what true pronation actually looks like, why trying to stop it could be causing more harm than good, and how you can retrain your body to move the way it was designed to.

I shared this to my Instagram stories a few weeks ago with a boomerang of me pretending to rip my hair out, but now that I have the time to sit down and write, I want to turn it into an opportunity to educate you on:

• How your feet are meant to move in your running stride.
• Why the conventional shoe recommendations don’t always support this.
• What you can do instead (one simple drill to feel that movement).

You can find more on how to choose a running shoe here.

Why Was I Pulling My Hair Out?

It all comes back to overpronation and running shoe myths.

I was in one of our local running stores trying on ALL the carbon plated shoes they had. This could be a whole story in itself, but skipping to the end, I settled on the Nike VaporFly 3. They were the only ones that hugged my medial arch where I needed it (just in front of the heel, you’ll understand why by the end of this email) while still having a roomy(ish) toe box.

At the next bench over there was a man trying on shoes. He was trying on another model of Nike and, when he walked in them, he and the employee helping him noticed his “arch falling in”.

The employee said, “That’s just your foot pronating. We can find you a shoe that will STOP that.” Man, my eyes rolled hard!

Maybe I’m being picky about my definition of pronation, but what I know to be true is, we sure as heck don’t want to stop it from happening!

Here’s the thing, what we think of as "overpronation,” the arch “falling” in, isn't really pronation at all!

Whether you identify as an “over-pronator” or “over-supinator,” have high arches or flat feet, capturing true pronation can be the key to those stubborn foot symptoms (plantar fasciitis, numbness or burning, tight and achy calves and ankles, Achilles issues….).

Let’s dive in!

The Truth About Overpronation and Running

When I see this, I see a body that struggles with internal rotation, including true pronation!

Yes, pronation does involve the arch lowering but there is more going on than that. 

​​True pronation is the arch lowering and foot widening/lengthening while the knee travels forward over the toes and the tibia (main shin bone) internally rotates.  Notice the difference? 

True pronation happens as a full body event, in mid stance, where the center of mass is oriented over the stance leg.

• anterior (front) pelvic floor contraction WITH length in the posterior (back) pelvic floor
• internal rotation at the pelvis, length in the glutes
• center of mass is organized over the stance leg (internal obliques on that side working)
• max TRUE pronation

Running Shoe Myths

Let me explain to you why what the running store employee said made me cringe: focusing on overpronation and running shoes that “fix” it is not addressing the real issue. We WANT true pronation! We want the arch to lower and the foot to spread. Propping up an arch with a rigid arch support does not promote true pronation.

That being said, having some arch support in your shoe can be beneficial to pronation as a reference for your body (for the same reason we use the rolled-up sock in the drill below). Just make sure it’s not too aggressive and has some give so your foot can move. This arch reference can be helpful for those with higher arches and more rigid feet too!

Capturing TRUE Pronation

Instead of just propping up the arch, I’ve had a lot of success lately with my athletes experiencing foot symptoms by having them start out with the drill below to teach the foot to move through true pronation.

Before you try the drill below, however, check in with your feet.

1. Take a walk around the room. Notice how your feet feel on the ground.
2. Stand, feet hip-width apart and rotate your body side to side. Notice how the weight travels in your feet. When you rotate all the way to the right, do you still feel the ball of your foot under your right big toe on the ground? What about the other side?

Now, try this Step Up with Tibial Rotation

Keys to nailing this move:

• Make sure your knee stays forward over the 2nd toe. Rotate your tibia, not your whole body. Rotating your whole body would mean that the hip pops out and the knee falls in. We don't want this.
• As you move forward, sense your foot pressure following the path below. Starting at 1, then internally rotate to find 2, then keep going to 3. As you reverse out of it, start at 3, then 2, and rotate to find 1 again.
• The whole time make sure the full tripod (all 4 corners of the triangle below) is in contact with the step. Follow the cuing at the end if you notice yourself losing contact with one of the corners through the movement.

After 6-8 slow, intentional reps on each side, check in with your feet again in the same way as above. Likely you will feel more grounded overall and it will feel easier to keep your whole tripod foot connected as you rotate. You will actually be pronating and then re-supinating through rotation!

Is change really possible after just a few reps on each side? Well, yes and no.

The brain is a powerful thing, it can adapt quickly to a new stimulus like this exercise.

Unfortunately, it’s not likely to stick, at least right away. To make it stick we need two things:

• Reps: Repeated exposure to this new stimulus. This does not mean bang out 50 reps in a row. It means consistently and regularly repeating this 6-8 reps. It means making it part of your routine. I like to put this drill into my athlete’s warm up before strength and run sessions.
• Integration with the rest of the body: Remember, pronation is a full body event. We need to look at what's going on up the chain, especially at the hip.

That's why in my upcoming The Foot Fix we start here and then progress putting all the pieces together to make it stick! 

Next on Your Reading List

Toe Gripping While Running? 3 Easy Drills to Help Those Little Piggies Unwind!

How a Runner Can Really Understand Foot and Ankle Health

The Best Strength Training Tips for Hill Running: Conquer Uphills and Control Downhills with Ease