Influences of inversion/eversion of the foot upon impact loading during locomotion

Pronation of the foot is believed to be one of the mechanisms used during locomotion to attenuate the loading experienced by the body at ground contact. The purpose of this study was to quantify the changes in loading induced by modifications to the normal pronation of the foot during walking and running. Impact loading in 10 subjects was determined using ground reaction force and tibial acceleration. The results indicated that impact loading was increased when normal pronation was prevented during running. However, there was no reduction in impact loading when normal pronation was exaggerated.