I slightly over-pronate with one foot and supinate with the other. What kind of shoes should I be wearing?

sounds like you would walk in circles

Both problems are slight, but I would really like to know what kind of shoes would be the best in preventing injuries.

cowboy boots. no question really.

You're screwed.

The only one that I can think of, but I haven't been in the shoe biz for a few years, is the DS trainer. NB has a stability racing flat that looks good but I haven't seen it in person so I really cant tell for sure. If its built well I would make a great trainer.

I do the same thing. Right foot pronates a lot and the left just stays on the outside. The shoes that work for me are the brooks Z1 track spike. I take a pair to the shoe repair shop and have them grind off the outsole and glue on a Vibrum outsole.

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/LaWoof/?action=view&current=Shoes004.jpg

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/LaWoof/?action=view&current=Brooks001.jpg

lets see if these links work...

You need a good cushion trainer with just a hint of stability. Like a Nike Span or a Saucony Guide. ds trainer would be a little light for a regular trainer

get orthotics and wear neutral shoes.

Stop runnin along the sidehills of yer West Virginny holler and yer woes will clear right up!

just get a moderately stable shoe like an Asics 2120 or Brooks Adrenaline. The underpronated foot just needs shock absorption and flexibility. The other foot a little structure. The structure in these shoes will have no ill effects on the underpronated foot. Trust me.

good luck

problem gait wrote:

I slightly over-pronate with one foot and supinate with the other. What kind of shoes should I be wearing?

Cut your legs off...go bionic.

if it would have no affect on the supinating foot why the hell would they even make support shoes!

I would not trust smart shoe guy.

Brooks Adrenaline would be a horrible choice unless you want to change shoes every 150 miles or so and never take a single step other than running in them.

IT band problems are just around the corner if you have "too much stability" in a shoe.

Your best bet is to go with a stability shoe WITHOUT any sort of medial posting. Something with a straight or semi-straight last and a relatively firm midsole material. Just as an example, something like an old Saucony Shadow 6000.

Otherwise, maybe a nice pair of LL Bean snowshoes would do the trick.

Regardless of shoe choice, I'd think you need to pay attention when you run on a crowned street or any kind of sloped surface, which will either emphasize or counteract both the pronation and supination depending on which foot is "uphill" from the other. This might be more important than how you're shod.

And I think you should be wearing the lightest, lowest, skimpiest shoes you can get away with, but then I think that's just common sense. But especially for someone with different mechanics on each side, how much "technology" do you really want coercing your feet to do one thing or another?

Why would too much stability cause IT band issues?

I don't know if people have a mechanical explanation for that, but there's some empirical evidence including my own couple bouts with ITBS, solved by ditching the "stability" shoes (and eventually what we call "trainers" altogether). Among other references I'm pretty sure Noakes mentions it in Lore of Running.

I'm personally a lot more swayed by empirical evidence anyway. Mechanical explanations are merely theory. Interesting to some, and maybe some predictive/prescriptive value if they're good enough; but ultimately no match for reality.

A stability shoe generally has a higher density EVA post on the insie of the heel and midfoot. On the outside you'll have a lower density EVA. Once that EVA starts to break down, that shoe will start to tilt to the outside. That outside bit will compress and the inside will stay firm.

Once this happens you're now running bow legged and putting undue prossure on the IT band.

One of the reasons ASICS is so good. They use no plastic posts and generally less of a post that is more midfoot centered. They dont break down as bad. Decoupling the heels also makes the shoe travel better than most.

Brooks still uses a plastic post and heavy duty EVA plug. Over time these can lead to problems. Saucony used to be the WORST but I was in a shop the other day and it looks like they're jumping on the ASICS bandwaggon.

I cant tell you how many people I have seen that had IT band issues that wore Brooks and Saucony's. It was a simple fix of switching out of the brand that healed up the injury.

Very general statements, so don't start in with the "well I had IT issues and I switched to Brooks and it went away". I'm speaking in generalities here. All people are different, but for the most part, patterns will emerge if you watch long enough.

I was just curious because I run in Kayanos and use my IT band as a 'canary' to know when to swap out the shoes - I will get a bit of discomfort, change shoes and the pain is gone. This is probably not the best method, but to date as long as I keep on top of it I have not had any major problems. It is good to know why this happens.

On a related topic (sort of), I tried out the Nike Cesium because I was having some achilles issues and found that they worked well for a while but eventually caused IT band issues. I suppose this is probably because they tilt your foot so far to the outside (they have a 'wedge' shaped orthodic) that they put a lot of stress on the IT band.

I am back to the Kayanos now.

Flats.

Bingo! you got it.

I'll bet if you switched to the 2120 or whatever # they have now, you'd have even less peoblems.

Keep in mind here that I haven't been in the shops for a couple years and things could have changed, but generally ASICS used the same heel and forefoot heights for each line. The Kayano and Nimbus were 2mm higher than the 21xx and the Cumulus/landreth. If you went to the lower shoe, I'd bet you get more miles before that IT issue starts up, if it starts up at all.

Switching could cause a different problem, but I'd bet paychecks that you'd be better off. Besides, each december, you have to switch anyway when the new model comes out and you run the risk of THAT shoe causing more problems.

Aren't running shoes fun? thats why I don't run in anything that any of the major shoe lines put on the shelf.