Is your daily run around the block crippling you?

If your trainers do not match the shape of your foot, you could hurt yourself while trying to get fit says Wayne Edwards.

Running shoe technology has come on leaps and bounds since the days when they were only designed for competitive athletes- with this has come a bewildering choice of shoes aimed at specific types of feet or running style.

Running Forces
Feet are complicated structures with 26 bones working together to absorb your body weight and transfer it efficiently forward in walking and running gait.

The foot has to function as a shock absorber and then become a lever for effective propulsion and this needs to happen with precision timing. Running can be considered as a dosage of force we apply to our bodies, and as such the need for effective shock absorption is paramount.

A good shoe needs to combine efficient force absorption, as the foot strikes the ground, with a stable platform over which to allow the body to pass in forward movement.

Test for injuries
People have individual characteristics in their foot type that shoe manufacturers have discovered, and reputable running shoes can identify these using basic video analysis techniques.

A pronated foot type tends to be one which has a flattened arch appearance and can give rise to rotations in the leg that can make the runner unstable when one leg- which is most of the time when running.

Try standing in front of the mirror and standing on one leg- look at what happens to the foot. Try bending your knee into a one-leg-squat position, and see if you can keep your kneecap over your foot as you bend- often with a pronating foot type you will become unstable.

This exercise is one of the tests that physiotherapists and podiatrists use to check if you are predisposed to running injuries. If this happens with you, you will require a more supportive shoe and it would be beneficial to have a video gait analysis of your running style, including a foot examination.

Highly arched feet tend to be more stable – but can be associated with type injuries. It is then advisable to look at a cushioning shoe.

Stability Shoe
As a running injury specialist the shoe we most often recommend is what is termed as a stability type shoe. Brooks Adrenaline GTS and New Balance Stability 745 are favoured for their durability and for the results seen as part of a programme of injury treatment carried out at our clinics. The range of shoes for cushioning includes Asics Gel and Brooks and for the very pronated foot we recommend the Brooks Beast shoe. Recommendations and further advice is available on the website www.hfs-clinics.co.uk.

Postural Control
It is very important to remember that the foot is an integral part of a system in the lower limb that has to work effectively for runners to avoid common injuries and to achieve their goals. It is essential to consider the effect of your postural control system. A good pair of running shoes is very important, but they cannot alone solve injuries issues.

I strongly recommend video analysis of running with your whole body analysed, rather than just from the knee down, to get the most from your choices in injury prevention and performance.