The 1 Thing You Need To Know If You Wear Shoes

All feet are not created equal, so we developed guidelines to help you determine which shoe is best for you and your goals.

Generally, there are two foot types, but you only need to know which foot you own to pick out the best shoes for you.

1. Underpronators (high arches) – stiff arches that do not drop much during movement (<5mm)

2. Overpronators (flat feet) – Flat foot, arches drop significantly during movement (>5mm)

Nerd Note: Pronation is the normal ability of the arch of your foot to lower as you step.

Ways to find out which foot type you are:

1. Get the bottom of your foot wet, then walk on some dry concrete. You’ll be able to see if your foot looks more like a “C” shape, or a flat shape (see figure)

2. To be exact, you can measure how far your arch drops by measuring how high your arch is in sitting, then how high the arch is after you stand. If you drop more than 5mm, you are considered to have “flat feet.” If you drop less than 5mm, you are considered to have “high arches

The most important long term thing you can do for your feet, whether you have high arches or flat feet, is working on strength and balance for your foot and ankle to prevent injuries. The next thing you can do for improved training and decreased risk, especially for short term success is shoe selection.

The following are guidelines on which shoe is best for you:

Shoe Attributes For YOUR foot:

High Arches	Flat Foot
Base of shoe will be a “C” shape/curve to follow natural shape of your foot (sprinters/forefoot runner)	Base of shoe will be more straight
Neutral heel cup	Motion control shoe
Moderate to soft cushion	Moderate to firm cushion
Able to bend shoe sideways slightly at midfoot	Stiff midfoot

We hope this helps! If you have any questions or if you would like to read about certain topics, feel free to send up an email at TeamSP@SportsPerformancePT.com.

-Dr. Luke