Quite a question isn’t it? If you want the short answer: YES. Read on find out why normal people need special running shoes.
First we have to define what a normal person is when it comes to running. Specifically we are dealing with foot types. A normal person will have normally shaped feet. Feet commonly fall into three accepted types: the Flat footed; the Highly Arched feet; and the medium Arched or Normal Arched Feet.
The distinction between these types of feet is very important because it has a very big role on how a runner runs. When people run their feet rolls inwards after impacting the ground. This means that the foot usually does a sideward roll from the outer ankle towards the centerline in between the legs.
This is called pronation and is biomechanical adaptation of the human body to disperse the shock of each foot fall when running. Without this motion our feet and legs would absorb too much impact when running and endure a lot of injuries.
Because of a host of reasons more people pronate outside the acceptable standard for normal pronation. Those who roll their feet inwards too excessively are called overpronators. You can identify and overpronator because of their duck like walk. Their feet almost look as if it is kicking sideways.
An underpronator on the other hand often runs on rails. On severe cases only the outer most portion of their feet touch the ground. People, with feet that are classified as normal, fall in between overpronators and underpronators.
About 50% of all the population can be classified as having normal arches. A staggering forty-five of people posses low to flat arch feet. Only about 5% of population have highly arched feet. These numbers are commonly accepted to be true in the running community. However with the obesity epidemic more and more people are beginning to have collapsed arches.
So the scenario is moving towards flat feet becoming the new normal feet. The displaced group of normal footed runners will become the 2nd most abundant. This in itself will aggravate an ongoing problem with running shoes.
Normal arch runners often believe they overpronate too much or underpronate slightly. Because the overpronation motion is often exaggerated by people when they have their gaits analyzed. This is because people often want to find something wrong with their bodies.
This spells disaster when normal people think they need shoes for flat feet. This will cause them to develop foot problems thinking that it was caused by the shoes lacking in support. They tend to try more and more supportive shoes to combat overpronation and ultimately develop leg problems.
That leaves us with a group of runners who are often faced with the hardest choice in selecting the right pair of shoes for running. In light of all these we can conclude that people with normal feet require special running shoes.
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
