by Molly Rausch L1 Personal Trainer and Certified Athletic Trainer
Hello everyone! This week’s “Fitness Tip of the Week” is about proper foot posture and strike. Now that the weather is nice, people are strapping on those running shoes and hitting the pavement. The average person takes about 2,000 steps while walking a mile. That can put a lot of stress throughout your whole body if your first contact point with the ground is not a proper one.
Your foot and how it strikes the ground determines how the rest of your body moves. Where your foot goes, the knee follows. This, in turn, changes the position of your hips and back. Stress has to go somewhere in your body. If repetitive, incorrect foot strike doesn’t give you foot or ankle pain, it could transfer up and cause issues with your knees, hips, or back. Luckily, there are lots of ways to help improve foot posture ranging from exercises to footwear!
Foot Posture:
There are three basic foot postures: pronation, neutral, and supination. Neutral is considered the proper position for your foot to be in when you hit the ground. Knee, ankle, and foot should all be stacked on top of each other when in a neutral foot posture.
Supination is when you are strike on the outside of your foot. The biggest reason this is not an ideal foot posture is because of the amount of stress it puts on the bone on the outside of your foot. There isn’t as much padding on the outside of your foot compared to the heel or ball of your foot. Less padding and increased stress can lead to stress fractures in the foot.
Pronation is when your arch caves in and causing your foot to collapse inward. This is a very common foot posture, because the arch of your foot is supported by muscle and fascia. Foot strengthening exercises like curling a towel with your toes or picking up marbles all help improve support within your foot. Supportive shoes or arch supports are another method to help improve this posture.
Tips on Running Foot Strike:
Standing to determine foot posture is step one, seeing how your foot position changes with movement is the next step. Here are some tips to think about when running and how your foot should hit the ground:
- Your first contact point should be between the heel of your foot and midfoot.
- You should roll through your foot from the heel to your midfoot and then toe off
- Landing flat footed doesn’t absorb impact as efficiently
- Striking on your toes puts a lot of stress on the ligaments in your foot, which can lead to ligament injuries.
If you are unsure what your foot posture is or how your foot strikes the ground during movement, there are a lot of resources to help you (ahem, like me!). Never be afraid to ask a professional to analyze your gait or assess your foot posture to help ensure you have proper footwear, etc!
If you have any questions on this topic, please feel free to contact me at mrausch@healthworksfitness.com or comment below!
Molly’s Fitness Tip of the Week 