<span style="font-weight: 400;">Having spent many years ‘collecting’ shoes, boots, sandals, high heels and some really truly </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">beautiful </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">footwear, since learning about intrinsic biomechanics I have come to realise how detrimental most footwear can be for us. In particular if we have particular foot types.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Cute looking or leg flattering fashion isn't designed for optimising our biomechanics, quite the opposite in fact. While it's a choice what we put on our feet...</span>
<ul>
 	<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">...how are we supposed to know what's going to happen if we wear certain footwear for long periods? </span></li>
 	<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">...how do we advise our clients when they ask us our opinion on footwear? </span></li>
 	<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">...what contributes to 'sensible' footwear choices? </span></li>
 	<li>...which shoe companies can we trust?</li>
 	<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">...should we ignore fashion and simply wear the most 'functional' shoes? </span></li>
 	<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">....which are the most functional shoes and....</span></li>
 	<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">.....how do we know?</span></li>
</ul>
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This blog wont necessarily be able answer all of these questions but they are the ones I have considered for some time now.

<span style="font-weight: 400;">If you have feet like mine, with a ‘loose’ Midtarsal Joint (MTJ), loose Subtalar Joint (STJ), low arch height and limited capacity for supination, you may have been described by a foot practitioner as an ‘over pronator’. </span>

To better understand 'over pronation' read my previous <a href="https://www.biomechanicseducation.com/foot-biomechanics-made-simple-part-1-the-over-pronation-fallacy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Juicemail Foot Biomechanics Made Simple</a>
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<h2>So what?</h2>
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Well this could have been impacted by our footwear choices.

Imagine for a moment an over pronator (technically this is late supination) - what might their feet look like?

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<img class="size-medium wp-image-36119 aligncenter" src="https://biomechanicseducation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IMG_4960-1-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" />

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Maybe something like this image above?

Well as you can see this result of over pronating (or late supinating) has resulted in the body starting to adapt and develop the onset of a bunion to allow for the force being put through the inside of that big toe (Halux) since the ankle joints are loose, the active myofascial tissue at the pelvis hasn't been strong enough to counter react to the ground reaction force resulting in a bony lump forming.

This means it is not simply going to go away.

Imagine growing an extra bit of bone on your foot...!

&nbsp;
<ul>
 	<li>...how do you think this will this affect the way you move?</li>
 	<li>...how might it alter the force going through the body?</li>
 	<li>...where will the ground reaction forces now travel?</li>
 	<li>...how do we decide on what to wear on our feet?</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-weight: 400;">If you are like me in the image above, and you wish to reduce the onset of any further degradation to your foot function you may also seek out better footwear to allow the toes to splay out more but </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">you may well experience from the struggle to find comfortable &amp; appropriate shoes that even look nice. this is of course mostly down to personal taste and fashion sense. So how important is the style of the shoe versus that fit and freedom of the foot?</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Well I had no problem ditching my high heels since they were always extremely uncomfortable anyway &amp; so have spent many years using mainly trainers as my regular footwear.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">BUT</span>

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<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Have you been trainer shopping recently?</span></h2>
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<span style="font-weight: 400;">There is almost nothing for my foot type, that looks ok but is comfortable, doesnt keep the heel higher than the toes thus shortening the calf and also spreads my toes out (I use spacers when barefoot since they don't fit in any shoes I own). When you consider the volume of trainers there are to choose from, it can be really frustrating. </span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Knowing a little bit about foot biomechanics I realise the challenge for client's who are 'sold' to by marketing adverts suggesting their shoes "...<em>are comfy, like pillows.." </em>or they are designed with huge heels that shorten the calf muscles, thick soles that limit movement in the arch, narrow toe boxes that squish our toes together but all of these reduce our foot biomechanics function over time. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">How many shoe sales people understand foot biomechanics and their ascending influence? let alone about the biomechanics of the rest of the body and the descending influence? </span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">If you are thinking what has the rest of the body got to do with shoe choice, well consider this…</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Did you know that one of the most common biomechanical presentations we have today is abnormal pelvic biomechanics. This area then influences the knee, often inwards when walking/running. This in turn rotates the ankle and therefore the foot into ‘over pronation’ - which is actually ‘late supination’ .....these individuals are 'propelling' their body while still in pronation when they should be in supination. Pronation = loose, wide, long, mobile foot for shock dissipation. Supination = stiff, rigid, narrow, shorter foot for stability in propulsion phase.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Did you know even your shoulder biomechanics can impact upon your feet via the integrated system - shoulder to spine to pelvis to knee to foot? Come and meet me in the classroom one day and I will show you very easily how they are linked!</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">So if this is the case should shoes be designed, or at least fitted, by people who understand all of this? or at least for our children?</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Martin Haines, founder of the Intrinsic Biomechanics method, has been a lead consultant for Start-rite children’s shoes for some time now and is also an advisor to Scholl.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">He committed over 20 years of his life to collecting data and, along with his team, developed exceptional education programmes with simple methods to understand foot function along with capacity in other areas of the body. These education programmes give us assessment skills to help us, as trainers understand the integrated system, how it works and how each area of the body impacts upon the other. Maybe also an understanding of how to advise our clients on footwear or at least when they might need to see a podiatrist.</span>

<a href="https://www.startriteshoes.com/"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-5281" src="https://www.biomechanicseducation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Start-Rite-Shoes-1024x649.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="649" /></a>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">In his work with Start-rite he discussed with them how children walk, what should happen during their gait cycle and at what stages in their development and why. How they should develop naturally and how this impacts upon their movement as they grow from pre 18 months up to 6yrs of age and with the emphasis on how shoes need to reflect this natural development of human intrinsic biomechanics.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Design considerations they discussed took into account things like the influence of a heel raise, joint flexibility, shock absorption, what wearing a boot might do to the child’s ankle and how all of the changes that occur during childhood occur for a reason and can be impacted upon should inappropriate footwear be worn.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">So Start-rite really are the UK leaders setting standards in shoe design for children with this modern approach.  They recognise the need for a screening system to fit our children into the most appropriate shoes for, not only their foot type but also their functional capacity at that point in time.</span>

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<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Would you like to learn more about foot function?</span></h2>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Would you like to understand how to change foot function by improving shoulder muscle function?</span></h2>
<h2>Are ready to take your skills to the next level?</h2>
<h2>.... then<a href="https://www.biomechanicseducation.com/biomechanics-coach-diploma-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> jump on one of our upcoming courses, just click here to find out more.</a></h2>
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