THE MYTH OF OVERPRONATION

For decades, it was assumed that overpronation was the cause of running injuries. The logic behind this was that when the foot rolls inward, the risk of injury increases – and stability shoes with pronation support were supposed to prevent exactly that.

Today, it is clear: there is no solid scientific evidence to support this. The injury rate in running has remained virtually unchanged for decades. Studies also show that pronation is not one of the relevant risk factors for running injuries (see British Journal of Sports Medicine: Foot pronation is not associated with increased injury risk in novice runners wearing a neutral shoe).

Pronation is a completely natural movement of the ankle joint and serves important functions. It cushions the impact when the foot strikes the ground while also helping to store energy and release it again when pushing off the ground.

Biomechanically speaking, there is no clear definition of “too much” pronation. Pronation – just like our running style – varies from person to person.

Stability shoes with rigid pronation supports are designed to “control” the foot and prevent it from tilting inward. This may sound reasonable at first – but it interferes with the natural movement pattern.

The problem is that stability shoes shift the point at which force acts on the joints. This creates harmful “torsional forces,” affecting our knees, among other areas. These forces increase pressure on the knee and heighten tension on the IT band. Possible consequences include conditions like runner’s knee (ITBS) or – in the long term – signs of joint wear in the knee. We feel a pulling and stabbing pain in the knee and, in the worst case, have to stop our training.