Supination and pronation are key concepts for athletes or anyone hoping to avoid elbow and wrist injuries, as these movements involve your arms and hands rotating so your palm faces up or down.
Rotationss are part of a natural walking or running gait; however, excessive overpronation or over-supination may alter your biomechanics and posture, increasing the likelihood of injury.
Supination
Supination occurs when your palm faces upward, in contrast to pronation which involves turning it downwards. Both movements are made possible thanks to the unique arrangement of muscles, bones and joints found within our forearms and hands which enable these movements. They play an essential part in movement and balance that enable us to carry out daily activities.
Your forearms consist of two long bones: the ulna on the outer (lateral) side of your arm, and radius on its medial (inner) side. As your arms rotate from pronation to supination, distal end of radius moves over ulna medially, crossing each other over each time they cross each other; also turning wrist, hand and finger positions when palms point toward center body while thumbs point downwards.
Your feet make a similar movement called pronation or supination when walking or running, helping distribute weight evenly across your entire foot when moving. However, occasionally things can alter this motion, leading you to overpronate or underpronate excessively which could eventually cause foot or ankle problems over time.
Underpronation occurs when your feet and ankles rotate too far inward with every step when walking or running, placing too much strain on your ankles, outer toes and big and small muscles in your feet. Over time this can lead to injuries in your ankles, knees and hips.
Though it can be challenging to change how your body is built, certain exercises may help prevent overpronation or underpronation and improve gait. Furthermore, it’s essential that you obtain appropriate footwear as well as have your feet evaluated by a physician who can perform an ankle analysis.
Overpronation or underpronation symptoms include pain or swelling in your ankles and feet, tightness or stiffness in muscles on the outside of your knee or outer thigh and even having “pigeon toes”, where one toe curls inward like duck feet.
Pronation
Pronation, a natural movement that occurs upon landing while walking or running, involves three cardinal plane components: subtalar eversion, ankle dorsiflexion and forefoot abduction. Pronation helps your feet absorb impact with each step and creates a smoother, more efficient stride; however, excessive pronation can be damaging; excessive overpronation could cause shin splints or plantar fasciitis symptoms while too little pronation could lead to unbalanced gaits which cause pain while walking or running.
Thumbs point away from your body when your hands are in supination and towards it when in pronation due to two muscles called pronator teres and pronator quadratus working together in pronation to rotate your forearm around another long bone of the forearm called an ulna.
Overpronation occurs when one pronates too much. It involves excessive rolling inward of your feet while walking or running, leading to uneven wear on shoes as well as ankle, knee, hip, and back pain. Overpronation is common among those with flat feet or those who have experienced past injuries; those prone to it usually need not worry as overpronation can be avoided with some adjustments to lifestyle habits or footwear.
Supination is the opposite of pronation; it refers to rotating and positioning your forearms so they face up (supination) or down (pronation). Your thumbs may use this position when turning doorknobs or flipping pancakes; pronation allows you to grip baseball bats or tennis rackets more securely. Notably, this movement also involves your forearm bones – specifically the ulna and radius. These long bones connect at wrist joints which enables rotation of your entire arm. If you have ever broken your forearm, you may notice that its movement is altered due to your forearm bones being forced out of their normal places due to injury and forced into new positions, making supinate and pronate harder than before. This makes your wrist movement unique as the forearm bones have been forced into different positions than usual which forces ulna and radius shorter making supinate and pronate more challenging than normal.
Thumbs-Out
Supinating your hand when your thumb points away from the body or toward your palm indicates supination. A thumbs-out gesture also implies higher status or superiority; usually used together with dismissive tone, chin up posture and chest out. Men who wish to show strength or dominance over others – particularly women or in high-status situations – often use this tactic.
As an expression of discontent or discomfort, the thumbs-down gesture is an easy and direct way to show disapproval or distress. It’s often used on social media sites, like Facebook or Twitter, where people rate customer service experiences; politicians such as George W. Bush and Angela Merkel frequently employ it too.
At pronation, your distal end of radius rotates over your ulna and crosses its two bones at the first carpometacarpal joint to form an arch between thumb and index finger called opposition. Primatologists and hand research pioneers John and Prudence Napier describe opposition as when one finger touches or diametrically opposes another finger such as pinkie finger, ring finger or middle finger, creating an arch-shaped “paddle.” Opposition is defined by movements where your thumb comes into contact or diametrically opposite to other fingers such as pinkie finger, ring finger and middle finger to form opposition; primatologists and hand research pioneers John and Prudence Napier defined it this way: when this movement occurs when thumb comes into contact or diametrically opposite to all three fingers which create an arch-shaped paddle between thumb and index finger which creates opposition; or when opposing. John Prudence Napier defined opposition as when thumb comes into contact or diametrically opposite other than any of your other fingers: pinkie, ring finger and middle finger to form opposition movement or diametrically opposite movement on that finger which would normally remain.
Pronation occurs naturally when picking up produce at the grocery store, holding a hammer or opening doors, as the forearm and palm are in their anatomical positions. You may also pronate when shaking someone’s hand or giving a thumbs-up gesture during presentations – provided your elbow flexes to around 90 degrees before pronation takes place.
A thumbs-up gesture is widely understood and accepted throughout Europe and North America as a signal of agreement or approval, yet its interpretation varies dramatically in other cultures. Australia views a thumbs down gesture as an insulting V sign – which you shouldn’t do when speaking professionally with colleagues from Australia; similarly you shouldn’t show this gesture before an audience in the UK or South Africa!
Thumbs-Up
“Thumbs-up” refers to a hand gesture consisting of a closed fist with one thumb extended upward, commonly associated with positivity, approval, satisfaction and solidarity. Conversely, thumbs-down can indicate disapproval, concern or lack of satisfaction – its origin can be found in gladiator contests in ancient Rome where spectators would signal whether or not they thought the loser should live or die using this signaling gesture with their thumbs.
Pronation and supination are movements, not postures. Thumbs should point away from the midline when supinating and toward it when pronating regardless of elbow flexing; arms also move differently between these two directions. Walking pronated will cause feet to roll inward whereas when supinating will cause them to roll outward (such as when walking with flattened foot arches).
Pronation and supination are both key parts of grasping objects, including food. Your fork or spoon grip may involve different degrees of pronation and supination as well as staggered grips with one hand in supination and the other pronation; there’s even something known as neutral grip, where thumbs rest midway between these positions.
Understanding the difference between pronation and supination is vitally important, as overusing either can result in injuries such as tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow. Knowing the proper hand movements can help minimize these risks by adapting your techniques or changing grips as needed – for instance if you are pitching softball it is important to supinate as you throw to generate more power while creating an even swing path; similarly supination helps create greater spin and further accuracy when throwing spiral passes.
