Ordinary running shoes do not risk foot pronation for novice runners

Inexperienced runners can use ordinary running shoes without special support without any additional risk of overpronation or underpronation, according to a study by researchers from Denmark and The Netherlands.

“This is a controversial finding as it has been assumed for many years that it is injurious to run in shoes without the necessary support if you over/underpronate,” Rasmus Ø. Nielsen, PT, MHSc, from Aarhus University in Aarhus, Denmark stated in a press release. “We have now compared runners with neutral foot pronation with the runners who pronate to varying degrees, and our findings suggest that overpronating runners do not have a higher risk of injury than anyone else.”

Nielsen and colleagues measured the foot posture of 927 runners and categorized them into pronated, highly pronated, neutral, supinated and highly supinated groups. In all groups, 252 runners were injured during the 12-month study period.

After 250 km of running, there were no significant different risks for injury seen in these groups after adjusting for body mass index, according to the abstract. Additionally, pronated runners had a significantly lower rate of injuries per 1,000 km compared to other groups.

In response to this study, Nielsen and colleagues recommended runners consider risk factors like previous injuries, being overweight and training volume rather than pronated running.

“However, we still need to research the extent to which feet with extreme pronation are subject to a greater risk of running injury than feet with normal pronation,” Nielsen said.

Reference:

Nielsen RO. Br J Sports Med. 2013;doi:10.1136/bjsports-2013-092202.

Disclosure: Aarhus University, the Orthopaedic Research Unit at Aalborg University Hospital and the Danish Rheumatism Association provided funds for this study.