Could you offer any advice as to correctional gym footwear for a niggling Achilles? A podiatrist has told me to get bespoke trainers. Can you point me in the right direction? Are there any exercises I can do to help it?

I am not aware of a company making bespoke trainers, but a good podiatrist should be able to provide orthotics for existing footwear. Run And Become (runandbecome.com) trainer shops in London, Cardiff and Edinburgh provide excellent advice sourcing the right shoe for you.

There are a number of exercises that address technique and foot positioning, and which will complement the trainer appropriate to you. For a less jarring walking stride, visualise your feet as rockers. Start each step on the heel and rock your foot forward until you roll on to your toes. Pick up speed so you are rolling the foot with each stride.

While your Achilles may appear to be the problem, it may be exacerbated by lack of control of the foot arch. If so, proper positioning of the foot and controlling the arch to ensure the foot is not rolling in or out is crucial. Your weight needs to fall directly over the ankle and awareness of this can be enhanced using a wobble board and rocker board (physiosupplies.com). Some of my clients have had good success using the angled rocker board as a footrest placed under their desk at work. Try also balancing on one leg with bare feet with closed eyes to enhance your functional performance. You might also consider MBT footwear, available for both running and walking (mbt-uk.com). These increase shock absorption for all joints and I live in mine.

· Joanna Hall is a fitness expert (joannahall.com). Send your exercise questions to Weekend, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER (weekend@theguardian.comk).