This subject may go into different directions, some would say it is needed, others would say it's harmful to the body. In today's world headlines and a 1 minute video are where many people get their information from and many times it's misleading. First, let's understand what is pronation. Pronation is natural feet movement when the feet lands on the ground. When you are running or walking the feet naturally leans inward. The feet can also lean outward which is considered a supinating movement.
When we are living our day to day lives the feet pronation movement can worsen due to the footwear, going for a run, or doing strength training without the implementation of improving pronation within a strength training program. The good news is that there is a training program to improve feet pronation movement. Why would you need to improve pronation- which is a natural feet movement? This natural movement is a board line between a severe injury or an optimal movement which can enhance performance. Next, we have to understand when the feet pronates. Which is when the feet is being taken out of the kinetic chain body alignment. Anytime an exercise or any type of movement is encouraging the body to be misaligned you are opening a window for a severe injury to occur.
I've mentioned before the pronation feet movement is a natural movement, but there are different reasons of why and how we develop feet pronation. The first reason is that it's heredity, during childhood stage pronation starts to develop at age 6. Second reason is how flat the feet is during childhood stage all the way up until adulthood. Third reason, throughout the years the arch of the feet wears out. Lastly, the footwear that's being worn daily can develop and worsen the pronation of the feet. The pronation feet movement is a natural movement, but is not something you should just neglect.
Many people believe that pronation is a movement that can't be taken care of or don't feel like it's necessary to have a training program for it. Rightfully so, the belief comes from watching athletes like Letesenbet Gidey, Eliud Kipchoge, Faith Kipyegon and Kenenisa Bekele. These athletes are on top of their game competing at the highest level. I will not discredit their work- that is not what I am here to do, but because they are at the top the work needs to be done with no shortcuts.
These athletes (if you watch them run please check it out) you can tell how they repeatedly misaligned their kinetic chain. They have displayed feet pronation movement.
What I do want to point out is that Eliud Kipchoge had a disclosed leg injury that caused him to finish sixth in a race where he was favored to be first in (The Boston Marathon.) In 2015, Faith Kipyegon had a foot injury, on 2019 a hamstring injury and in 2024 she suffered another hamstring injury. Then there is Kenenisa Bekele, which I also wanted to point out had suffered an achilles heel injury in 2002. Ouch. I don't want to say it's a coincidence due to the pronation movement, but I truly believe with an effective training program- most of these injuries could've been prevented.
"A lot of talking was going on in my mind," "I said, 'Hey I can't quit.' - Eliud Kipchoge (mentally pushing through.) As for Faith Kipyegon after giving birth in 2018, she won gold in the Tokyo Olympics three year later in 2021. Our mental state when it comes to physical activities plays an incredible part when it comes to performance. The body can give you warning signs to stop moving, but if you're mentally engaged there is no stopping. Long distance runners requires a tremendous amount of mental toughness. They are literally the definition mind over matter.
In conclusion, I will summarize what we have touched on. Pronation is a natural feet movement that has been displayed more on long distance runners. Since it's a natural movement, stability training is essential to do daily especially for long distance runners. Engaging in stability training can improve pronation will help the body align better through the kinetic chain and of course most importantly PREVENT INJURIES. There is more than just watching a one minute video and reading just the headlines, experience it so you can see the shift in making your running (whether it's short or long distance) more optimal in the body movement and favorable and less uncomfortable, if you feel discomfort.
References:
NASM. Essentials of sports performance training. Second edition. Managing editors: Erin A. Mcgill, Ian Montel. Chapter 13 Injury prevention for the athlete.
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