Have always used over pronation shoes for 8 years or so - shop puts me on treadmill, does video analysis and then finds me a shoe - its always over pronation shoe prescibed. Ovre the years I have been getting a build up of hard skin on inside of right foot, which without too much information, I have to get a grater on! Ive been thinking - wondered if I should try running with a neutral shoe on and off and see if it relieves my discomfort or will it open up a can of other worms!!
Basically my question is - has anyone moved away from over pronation shoes, what was their experience?
Local running company did a gait analysis, said I needed a stability shoe. Ran in those for 3 years with various problems then decided to go with a lower heel-toe drop Saucony Kinvara. Switching to a neutral shoe has made running a lot more enjoyable since. Wishing I’d switched sooner! That’s just my opinion anyway…
I switch from a stability shoe to Hokas 2 years ago after 15 years. My feet are flat and after a 2 month period to get used to them I am running more miles per week than ever pain free. I wish I would of switched sooner.
Have always used over pronation shoes for 8 years or so - shop puts me on treadmill, does video analysis and then finds me a shoe - its always over pronation shoe prescibed. Ovre the years I have been getting a build up of hard skin on inside of right foot, which without too much information, I have to get a grater on! Ive been thinking - wondered if I should try running with a neutral shoe on and off and see if it relieves my discomfort or will it open up a can of other worms!!
Basically my question is - has anyone moved away from over pronation shoes, what was their experience?
One question. Was the video taken from the knees down? Is that the only view they used to determine that you were an over pronator?
Guess I’ll be the voice of dissent… I started with neutral shoes, moved to neutral with even less support (Nike Flyknit One… super comfy, but super light upper), ended up with ankle pain after several months of increasing mileage. Got a pair of Saucony Guides, which allowed me to race more comfortably for the rest of the season. At least till I realized I had bruised the bones in my left foot. In the winter, I’ve swapped between Brooks Ghost (my outdoor winter shoe, neutral) and Hoka Bondi for the treadmill (which frankly, I don’t love). To try to stave off a repeat on the bone bruising without resorting to the Hokas I don’t like, I just picked up a pair of Saucony Hurricane ISOs for the cushioning with some stability. Honestly, they don’t feel crazy-restrictive or anything… kind of surprised me. They’ve been really comfy so far, but I’m still swapping out with my Ghosts until this @#$% snow stops falling. We’ll see if it works to help me stay injury free. Picked up another pair of Guides to race in (wish they made those in super-cushy ISO).
All that to say a) moving to a guidance shoe seemed to help me last year, and b) I don’t know that there’s really any weaning to do, maybe just put some neutral shoes into the rotation for a bit . I’ve heard that running in a variety of shoes helps adaptation. Mine range from neutral to stability, and from 4mm to 11mm of drop. Last year I’d only use one make/model of shoe over a given time period… not so anymore. We’ll see if that works out, or if it lands me in the doctor’s office. 
Medial dual density foam, to slow the rate of pronation, is not comparable to a crutch. These shoes are more like eye glasses. Can people stop using glasses by changing the shape of their eyeball?
Running stores, I work at one, try to fit you in a pair of shoes that stabilize your foot so that you do not have foot, ankle, knee, hip, or back problems. We always give advice on how you look while running in the shoe, but the customer must decide how the shoe feels. There many shoes that will help pronation. I know many runners that can run in neutral shoes, but use shoes with a little support.
Bottom line, try on some neutral, try different guidance shoes. You must decide what works for you.
If the store is good, they can recommend some shoes that help, let them know about your calauses. YOU make the decision. So many good and bad choices. We all go through this.
Good luck!
To Mike’s earlier post as well- run analysis has progressed significantly in the past years, yet run stores are still using outdated technology to find a run shoe. What the majority of run store videos do is one small step better than a wet foot arch test. Video analysis that does not include whole-body movement patterns, or use something other than a frame advance/pause button is a 1990 tech long past it’s usefulness.
If the most you have to deal with is some callous build up, I wouldn’t go and start aggressively switching shoes. They probably got lucky recommending a shoe that has a high amount of control.
I have put runners temporarily in a shoe with significantly more control (@ 2-4wks) to throw a different movement pattern in and decrease stress at specific injuries, but this was only done to keep the runner training while the real cause was addressed.
So while some may move away from a shoe with more control successfully, they probably shouldn’t have been in it in the first place.
Bottom line- get someone to actually do a run eval correctly b/f you start changing things.
I switch from a stability shoe to **Hokas **2 years ago after 15 years. My feet are flat and after a 2 month period to get used to them I am running more miles per week than ever pain free. I wish I would of switched sooner.
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I have had great success by alternating several different “Types” of shoes for each run. The variation in shoe type from day to day(mile to mile) seems to really help with overuse injuries(which are the most common types of injuries for runners). I have racers, zero drop, low-drop, really cushioned, lightly structured, narrow toe box, wide toe box and I just make sure that I do not run in any particular type of shoe 2 days in a row.
I hit up a big shoe sale a few years ago and bought 4 pairs of different kinds of shoes…it was worth the investment…I still have a few of those shoes left that are hangin tough. Pressure and rub points in my feet are different from day to day and my shoes last forever. Ease into it though…dont hit up a big run on a radically different type of shoe than youve been running on for years.