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Sock Doc WorkshopsLearn what running pronation and overpronation mean and how it impacts how you move. Overpronation is a symptom of another problem and is often associated with various injuries. Shoes and orthotics will not truly correct your overpronation.
In this video, I explain how overpronation is a symptom indicating that the tibialis posterior muscle is functioning improperly. An improperly functioning tibialis posterior muscle can relate to many lower-leg issues such as shin splints, plantar fasciitis, Morton’s Neuroma, a flat foot or a high foot arch. To help the tibialis posterior muscle to function correctly, I suggest the use of minimalist shoes, barefoot running & walking, and other health changes. Watch this video to learn more about overpronation, tibialis posterior fatigue, and how to improve lower-leg stability and natural mobility.
If you want to move well you’ll want to pronate!
Video Transcript
Hey, it’s Dr. Gangemi and in this Sockdoc video I want to talk about pronation and actually overpronation. A lot of people think that these are the same thing. Perhaps you’ve been told that you overpronate when you go to the running store and you’ve been getting some shoes to stop that overpronation so you can run again. The thing with overpronation is you can’t actually correct this by giving somebody a shoe with a supportive device on the inside of your foot. This only further creates more of an issue. It creates more of an imbalance, more of instability of the lower leg, which we’ll talk about in a minute why that happens.
Think about it, pronation is the natural movement of your foot. It’s how you lightly touch your heel when you walk and roll in over your big toe. It’s a natural pronation. And then the opposite is supination, how you recover and your foot, in a way, kind of comes back in a more rigid stance as you go through your gait cycle. Its pronation-supination over and over again. And of course if you’re wearing shoes that aren’t too thick in the heel and they’re more minimalist or you’re running or walking barefoot, you might not even be on that heel at all. You’re probably striking a little bit more towards the midfoot or the forefoot. And then you’re just naturally rolling in over the big toe and pushing off in a normal nice pronation type motion.
And you’re absorbing a lot of shock, as you should. Your toes will splay naturally. Your Achilles tendon will naturally elongate and you’re absorbing shock and you’re spring yourself forward and you’re using a lot of this built up energy, stored energy, in your foot to make you a much efficient human being, whether you’re walking, running or however you’re moving, even jumping, of course. So, pronation is how we naturally move. Overpronation is when you roll in too much.
And overpronation, for the most part, comes from the muscle behind your Tibia, your Tibialis Posterior, that is no longer functioning properly. I’ve talked about this muscle several times because it has to do with shin splints. It has to do with Plantar Fascitis. It has to do even with Neuromas. When people get Martin’s Nueroma in their foot. The Tibialis Posterior originates behind your Tibia and your Fibula in your upper leg here, or I’ll say the upper part of your lower leg, wraps around the inside and attaches to all this interosious membrane, this thick weblike material that keeps your Tibia and your Fibula together, solid and strong, and then wraps down around behind your medial maliolis here, this bone sticking out, and helps support your medial arch. That’s the major arch of your foot. So when someone says they or they talk about their arch, whether being flatter or flat foot or a high arch, they talk about that arch there. That has a lot to do with the function of your Tibialis Posterior.
If your Tibialis Posterior is injured or obviously fatigued, then you’re going to overpronate. You’re going to start rolling in more than what you should. You’re not going to absorb shock properly. You’re going to lose that spring-like ability. You’re going to absorb shock in your knees and your hips and all the way up even up your entire spine to your neck. The way to correct that is through those trigger points. I talked about how to do that on the Sockdoc site, where to find them and how to do that. And also, to actually regain the health of your foot it’s to actually lose the shoes to some degree. Start working more towards more minimalist. Get out of the thick heeled shoes that are going to create instability and mobility problems in your lower leg.
The more your foot has contact with the ground, the stronger your foot will be, the stronger your body will be. You can start to develop these natural motions again. You can start to develop and regain the strength in your feet, in your toes, in your lower leg, in your entire body, really. Sometimes the Tibialis Posterior is fatigued for other reasons, has to do with certain stresses in your body. Again, more information on that on the Sockdoc site, but this video’s pretty much about why you want to reconsider overpronation or antipronation type shoes and where the pronation aspect of your body really comes from, where it’s developed, and how you end up with overpronation and why that’s a symptom not a cause of a problem.
Overpronation means that something else is off, that you need to correct it. You don’t want to just support that overpronation with anything, including an orthotic, of course. Many people know that I’m anti-orthotics for big reasons, as talked about on the Sockdoc site. Hey, speaking of, lots of new videos on the Sockdoc site. Brand new site’s up. More articles coming out. There’s lot of information there on health, fitness, training, injury prevention, all natural injury treatment and preventions, shoe reviews, other health topics like asthma and sleep issues. So check us out, come back often. Hope you enjoyed the video and see you next time. Thanks.
Dr. Stephen Gangemi "Sock Doc"
I'm a board-certified chiropractic physician and clinical nutritionist with a passion for true natural health care. I implement dietary & nutritional therapies, exercise & movement practices, and lifestyle changes along with manual therapy techniques to help the body heal and prevent illness and injuries.
Jade says
im 28 years old, i have had flat feet from i was really young, would have so much pain that my mum had to press and massage the such of my foot to get me to sleep many a night. as a teenager i remember even tying my school tie around my knees to ease the pain. i was very athletic and sporty all through school. My doctor never prescribed any orthodics until i was 19 years old, recently i went private and got custom made orthodics made from a mould of my feet.. As a hairdresser i stand most of the day, the pressure is unbearable without orhodics, & even at times with the original arch supports i felt like all the bones from my knees down were crushing by the end of the day. i just came across your website and I’m very interested in your view, i cannot imaging the pain i would have not wearing them along with a very supportive closed shoe. even barefoot for a few hours around the house leaves me in pain.
What would your alternative, would you advise me to ease of wearing them?
very interested in your view point and eagerly await your reply.
Many Thanks , Jade
Dr. Stephen Gangemi "Sock Doc" says
Check this out Jade: https://sock-doc.com/barefoot-minimalist-walking-shoes/
kathy says
My 11 year old seems to overpronate. If he has flip-flops on his heels move inward off the flip flop when he walks, otherwise I would have never noticed. I’m not sure what to do. The information is overwhelming. Thanks for your site!
Dr. Stephen Gangemi "Sock Doc" says
Check out the videos where I show various exercises to strengthen the feet & ankles.
Allie says
Thank you for your videos. I’m in my 20s and had a meniscectomy and ACL reconstruction surgery (soccer injury) and after having had heel lifts that I removed after a few months, now i have continual knee, neck, and hip pain. I originally only had knee pain but now it has expanded to other parts of my body after I removed the heel lifts. I was just recommended orthotics last week, and asked about 5 fingers, etc, but the chiro told me her patients end up having pain around 8 months in when they wear those. I don’t want to commit to custom orthotics if it will just increase my instability. I have been switching shoes all the time and need to find a pair i can consistently wear. Feeling lost and in pain. Thanks for your help.
Anne says
What about under pronation, aka supination? I have Morton’s foot and have a lifelong habit of walking and running on the outside of my feet because of the structure of metatarsals. At sixty, this is catching up with me and I am trying to correct my gait to save my knees. My IT band and achilles are very tight from this, my calf is overdeveloped, and my weight rolls through my knees diagonally. Moving to barefoot style shoes five years ago helped with knee pain but did not change the supination. I recently started using Prokinetics stick on pads under the ball of my foot and have been amazed at the almost autocorrection of my supination. I know you don’t believe in orthotics, but this has been amazing. Do you have a preferred natural way to cope with Morton’s foot?
Dr. Stephen Gangemi "Sock Doc" says
Check out the foot videos as I explain there how to assess the different muscles of the foot.
James Vernon says
What do you do if your arch and foot collapse inward too much causing Achilles tendonitis? I’ve worn altras and lems but my Achilles problems haven’t gone away. So do I continue to wear minimal shoes even though it seems to irritate it. Or do posterior tibialis exercise along with foot and leg strengthening. Or temporarily use a shoe or insole to control movement while strengthening then get rid of the insoles or higher heel shoe?
Dr. Stephen Gangemi "Sock Doc" says
Check out the foot strengthening articles/videos – Big stress (adrenal gland) connection with that type of problem you’re having.
Kerstin says
Hi Steve,
Thank You for all great infomation on Your site. I’m writing from Sweden as I am beginning to feal desperate about an injury I have.
I’ve been running barefoot (in fact in Vivo barefoot shoes) for the last 6 years and it’s been fantastic for my knees, running and overall health. I’m 53 years old, never been an athlete and took my running up to doing a half in 2 hours in september 2019. After that I started to feel pain under my inner ankle of the left foot, tryed to keep on running, diminishing distances for ex but it didn’t work. As it got worse I visited a fysiotherapist (known for treating barefoot runners) in December 2019 and he diagnosed tibialis posterior tendonosis. Told me not to run at all to let the tendon rest, also too use toe corrector to further improve separation of the toes and to massage the tendon. Nothing improved and finally he recommended cortison shots which I didn’t take.
After all this month I still hurt as soon as I try running, even if very slow and short distances. Standing and walking is and was never a problem but I long for running so very much 🙁
Do You have any recommendation? What can I do?
Kerstin
Dr. Stephen Gangemi "Sock Doc" says
Hi Kerstin from Sweden (maybe the place I need to move to!). It does sound like a tib posterior problem. Have you read the PF article and watched the video on this site? https://sock-doc.com/plantar-fasciitis-natural-treatments/
That would be the place to start as the video will show you how to look for tib posterior muscle issues which will cause the problem you’re having (as well as plantar fasciitis). Typically this is from some stress issue that it not allowing the muscle to function properly.
I hope it helps!