One of the terms you will hear about when starting your running program is "what type of gait do you have". What the heck is this?

Basically this is how your foot strikes the pavement or running surface when you run also known as your stride. Remember when you run you place three times of your body weight on your feet. This can lead to problems normally with your joints. Some have bad knees, others will have hip problems while others may experience some lower back pain.

The key is to find out what type of gait you have. The three terms used when getting a running shoe is underpronation, normal, and overpronation.

Underpronation

When you underpronate you initially strike the heel of your foot on the ground with the outside of the foot the major portion of the foot that has weight put on it as your foot follows through till the foot is back in the air. This is probably the least common foot stride people have.

Normal

This is when you initially strike the heel of your foot on the ground and through the whole stride your weight is evenly balanced on your foot till your foot is back in the air. This is what people want to have when you run. This places less stress on your leg muscles which in turn will place less stress on your joints.

Overpronation

This is when you initially strike the heel of your foot on the ground and your foot rolls to the inside of your foot with the weight placed on the inside of your foot. This also causes a lot of problems with joints. It is said that it is high as 70% of runners run this way.

A way you can find out what type of gait you have is to do a wet foot tests. Now this isn't foolproof but it will give a pretty good idea where you're probably at.

First you'll want to place some brown paper on the floor. Next get the bottom of your feet wet (not too wet just enough to get a good imprint on the paper). Stand up on the paper and then get off.

If you have very high arches without much of an imprint in the middle your may be an underpronator. If you have normal arches you are most likely a normal. If you are flat foot you are most likely an overpronator.

Knowing what type of runner you are and what type of gait you have will help you get the proper shoes you need for running so you can help avoid getting some of the more common injuries runners get.