Four Safety Tips for Runners with Supination
Mr. Carl Mossain provides some tips for runners with supination.
While having high arches is mostly something we are born with, it doesn’t mean it is something that we cannot do anything about. If you have high arches, you know that sometimes running can be a bit of a challenge, since the shock distribution across your foot is uneven with every step. This ends up putting a lot of stress on our heel area and ball of the foot. More than this, some of the adverse effects of supination can include everything from poor posture to an unhealthy natural gait. If you are an athlete, it is vital to know what adverse effects exist, and more importantly, how to mitigate or counteract them so you can keep on going. Here we will give you four simple safety tips for running when dealing with supination (high arches).
Be Mindful of Technique and Posture
Firstly, it is highly essential to be mindful of how exactly you’re running. High arches have a significant impact on your gait, and therefore your ability to run smoothly. If you are running with a lousy posture, you will be susceptible to things like back, hip, and foot injuries. When you actively maintain a good, healthy posture, you will also be helping your feet deal with the distribution of force and ease the load during a running session.
In the end, this means less stress or pain on your feet, while also making sure injuries are less prone to happen. Some people have a lot of success with jogging barefoot, as it helps them improve their posture naturally. If that is not something that works for you, seek the help of an athletic, medical expert to help come up with posture realignments and better overall techniques that cater to your specific situation.
Keep Your Tracks in Mind
This might not seem as obvious, but the running tracks you find yourself running on are of profound significance when it comes to the overall health of your feet. If you have high arches, you may find that specific terrain is more challenging than others, especially terrain that is uneven or changing. Since the primary goal of improving your supination, and its effects, is to alleviate stress from your feet when running, you should aim for flat grounds that are easier on your feet and don’t give them such a hard time.
Avoid doing runs that have changing or multiple terrain types in a single run, but if you must do so, try not to overdo it, and listen to your feet when they start to act up. If a big part of your enjoyment from running comes from this precarious terrain though, the best piece of advice is to get a stellar pair of shoes, which is a point we’ll get to shortly, so not all hope is lost. Flat tracks are the most ideal since they give your feet the best and simplest surface to work with, letting you focus on your posture rather than foot pain, so we cannot recommend them enough.
Take Warm-Ups and Cool-Downs Seriously
As a runner, you know by now that warm-ups and cooldowns are essential to your routine. What might not be so apparent, though, is the fact that these steps work wonders for the prevention of injuries associated with high arches. Beyond preparing you for your run, or winding you down, these two steps help increase blood flow in the area, increasing your muscle's overall flexibility.
There is a lot less stress or chance of harming yourself because of your high arches. When it comes to the cooldown, this allows for your muscles to slowly ease back into normalcy, recovering from your just-finished running session. Both are crucial to overall foot health, and an essential part of any runner's routine, this fact is only exacerbated by your arch alignment.
Choose the Best Shoes for You
Finally, and most obviously, is the single best piece of advice we could give you to combat excessive supination or under-pronation: get the right pair of runners for your feet. Current generation runners have a whole lot of science and ergonomics that go into their design, with high-tech features and structural choices that help us out. One such feature is making us able to run in a more natural and comfortable position, just by realigning our feet with their design.
When you have high arches, it is especially important to pick a pair of shoes that can absorb the shock that would otherwise be distributed unevenly across your feet. Many current runners have a lot of heel support in the form of cushioning, which is not ideal for high arches. If you are choosing a new pair of runners, consider what kind of cushioning and support feels best, and often manufacturers will highlight specific models that help with foot issues, including high arches. Look for a shoe that is tried and true for other high arch athletes, or has been specifically designed to provide the arch support you need.
Conclusion
All in all, if you follow these tips, you should see a dramatic increase in comfort as well as stamina when running. High arches can be a pain, but that does not mean they have to be a pain. Properly dealing with them and adhering to a few ground rules to make sure your feet are comfortable and safe is paramount. If nothing else, investing in a good pair of runners to help with supination will work wonders just by itself.
Page Reference
If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:
- MOSSAIN, C. (2020) Four Safety Tips for Runners with Supination [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article605.htm [Accessed
About the Author
Carl Mossain is a Freelance Journalist.