What’s up Wellness Warriors? I am back to chat some more about sneakers and how to find the right pair. I have previously covered how to determine the right shoes for your feet/arches. Today, I want to tackle the another important question to answer when searching out the proper footwear: what sneakers do you need for your gait pattern?
Gait pattern is just a fancy biomechanical phrase that refers to how your foot strikes the ground and then pushes off again during normal walking. We each have our own unique gait patterns which are products of our anatomy (generally across our entire bodies and specifically as related to our arches) and the movement patterns we have learned over time.
I am by no means an expert on this and it can get real technical real quick. But the gist is that you can be an underpronator (also sometimes called a supinator), an overpronator, or you can have a neutral gait pattern.
Let’s start by discussing a neutral gait pattern. Someone with a neutral gait pattern will strike the ground during walking on the middle of the heel, the foot will roll very slightly in towards the arch as the body moves forward, and then toe off will occur at the second and third toes. This gait pattern uses the forward motion and the structure of the arch most advantageously.
An underpronator will strike the ground on the heel, but the foot will either not roll or roll towards the outside of the foot so that toe off occurs closer to the pinky toe. This motion is common with higher arches. The wisdom is to choose a sneaker with extra cushioning to help absorb the impact.
An overpronator will strike the ground on the heel, but the foot will roll excessively almost appearing to collapse inwards in extreme cases, with toe off occurring closer to the big toe. Overpronation is common with lower arches. And the wisdom is to choose a shoe with some motion control.
Thing is, while your gait is important, it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. You are moving because you are exercising. You need to keep in mind the motion of your knee and hip, too. If you don’t have movement pattern issues at those joints, then you should be okay regardless of your gait pattern. If you have issues (things like your knees collapsing inwards during a squat motion), you should not only be wearing the right shoes for your gait, but you should be working on correcting the problem in order to avoid injury.
The moral of this story is that it is important to know your gait pattern because it can alert you to potential injuries, but you don’t need to have an anaylsis done unless you are training (especially running) at high volumes or have a tendency toward injury. Find a store that will allow you to wear the shoe for a bit and return it if it doesn’t suit you. Wear the shoes during your workouts and if they feel good, you’ve found a winner.
