Pronation Exercises

Pronation refers to the movement of the foot inwards, as if your arch is collapsing. When a person's feet fall inwards while standing or walking, he suffers from overpronation. This often will lead to the feet turning out and the knees collapsing inward. Pronation exercises are stretching and strengthening exercises that can correct the imbalance in the muscles of the ankle that have occurred due to overpronation.

Strengthening Exercises

• Doing exercises to strengthen the muscles and tendons of the calves and feet while maintaining a neutral or supinated (opposite of pronated) position of the feet will reverse overpronation. The tibialus posterior, a muscle in the calf, will have become weak over time because it was not being used as the feet were allowed to collapse inwards.

  To strengthen the tibialus posterior, stand with your feet hip-width apart and facing straight forward. Check that your knees are above your ankles, not inwards or outwards. You may wish to stand in front of a mirror to see your feet. Have a chair or wall nearby for balance if necessary. Lift through your arches so your weight is slightly on the outside of your feet near your little toe. Raise onto the balls of your feet with still more weight on the outside of your feet. Keep your knees in straight alignment. Start with 10 to 20 calf raises daily, and work up to 50. The number you do is not as important as maintaining the proper position of your feet and knees.

Stretching Exercises

• Yoga can help stretch the overused muscles and tendons that are tight due to overpronation. By keeping your feet and knees in a neutral position while holding poses such as Mountain and Downward Facing Dog, you will stretch the tight muscles.

  Downward Facing Dog is an easy pose you can do at home. Put your hands on the floor, shoulder-width apart, and walk your feet back. Keep your feet the same distance apart as your hands. Lift your hips into the air and relax your head down. Walk as far back as you can while being able to push your heels to the floor. Look and make sure your feet are pointing straight forward and your knees are right above them. Straighten your legs and arms. Try to push your pelvis backward and your heels further into the floor. Lift through the arches of your feet until you can feel the "four corners of your feet," an expression in yoga to describe your big toe, your little toe, the outside of your heel and the inside edge of your heel. By feeling your weight equally on all four corners, you are forcing your muscles and tendons to assume a balanced position, which will stretch the muscles to correct pronation.

  Be careful to avoid poses like Warrior I, which calls for your foot to be turned outwards, as you may find it more difficult to avoid pronating your foot.

Walking

• Walking on a challenging surface such as sand at the beach will strengthen the tendons and muscles in your feet. Even a couple of days a week will make a difference as long as you are maintaining good foot and knee alignment. Be sure to take off your shoes in the sand.