Foot Pronation and Performance
In this week’s newsletter, we will be discussing pronation in the foot. We will start with the importance of foot pronation for force production, rehab, and performance and ways to progress and integrate pronation back into your motor patterns!
What is foot pronation? Check out this video of testing foot pronation and supination.
Pronation is trying to scoop the bottom of the foot away from you and up, while supination is trying to scoop the bottom of the foot towards the midline and up. It is important to be able to drop through the arch and expand the foot toe to heel while pronating and the exact opposite while supinating to take full advantage of the bony and muscular architecture of the foot. As you could’ve guessed, missing this range of motion has a great deal of significance for performance and injury.
So, we need to train the brain (motor control) to perform this motion again. Think of it like trying to raise only your pinky toe off the ground while the other toes stay flat. It’s certainly possible to do, but we just don’t have the coordination. Also, we need to train the mobility of this area to be able to achieve these positions in the first place. Last, we want to integrate our brain connection to this motion to be able to actually use pronation while lifting heavy weights or cutting on the soccer field.
Check out the videos below to see progressions from working on the foot to integrating the foot with the rest of the leg and hip so we can use this pattern in sport and exercise!
Video 2: Pronation split squat on wedge
Video 3: Slouching split squat
After training these progressions for a few weeks, try a normal split squat and focus on feeling the new connection you have with the ground!
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