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HIGH-TECH, LOW FUNCTIONI know an orthopedic surgeon who claims that a substantial percentage of his practice is made up of injuries that he feels are directly related to foot and/or ankle dysfunction. This makes sense based on a body of research that has been done over the last decade. This research has shown that if an ankle strain or sprain is not properly and sufficiently rehabilitated then a change in gait is likely to occur and compensation in the chain (kinetic) will likely follow. Where this will occur could be in a knee, hip, and some portion of the back, the shoulders or neck. It could occur in one of these sites or perhaps all but no one can predict for sure how it will affect the individual. Why does this happen? Firing patterns from the foot up are skewed (synergistic dominance) and inhibited (range deficits). For example, you could have back problems that might have been caused by a “rolled ankle” in your high school state championship basketball game. However, I am not writing this to propose any definitive cause and effect of what might ail you today, or perhaps, I am. A crucial component of my program design has always included initial balance, stabilization and movement exercises to uncover any deficits that may exist somewhere in a client’s mechanics. How often do we find deficits? We find them in every new client! It always occurs on one side and less often manifests itself on both. It can actually be predictable from initial consultation questionnaires which is a valuable tool for me as a client’s trainer. In my experience as a trainer, foot and ankle dysfunction is very common and not always from a previous foot or ankle injury. It seems as though the more sophisticated sneaker technology becomes, the more dysfunction tends to occur at the foot and ankle and up the chain. Case in point !Have you ever bought a new pair of kicks and can’t get to the gym fast enough to blow out what you hope will be an epic leg workout only to stop prematurely because of a tweaked knee that suddenly seems suspicious? As you sit scratching your head and soothing your knee, you cannot believe it could possibly be those new cross trainers that you just spent a hundred bloody bucks on. All the literature tells you that these (fill in your favorite brand here) have the greatest lateral and arch support available in a cross trainer. BINGO! All that support and now you get to shut down all of those 25 cool joints (and all the soft tissue and musculature that goes along with them). In addition, that raised heel portion of a sneaker puts a larger anterior translation moment at the tibio-femoral joint during ground force movements resulting in lousy mechanics for squats and deads. How about training with no support and let the foot readjust and function the way it is designed to function. There are 25 joints in there for a reason. Get a pair of some Terra Plana and vivo barefoot or rip the guts out of a pair of $20 Speedo water sneakers and “GO OFF” in your next training session. Train without support and live the rest of your day in your $100 a pair sneaks if you wish. Or, better yet just toss the high price cross trainers and help throw a wrench in the orthodics industry sales pitch hype. - MJ |
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