If you can understand this type of complex footwork gait then running foot strike is going to be child’s play. 

“It (music) allows you to think in a way that you used to not think, and it also trains a lot of other cognitive facilities that have nothing to do with music.”-Limb

Gait and Biomechanics and Love Potion #9 !

The topic today is the brain and human movement and music. We would like you to enjoy this video we chose today of Slavik and Anna a little differently that you would normally watch a video. We ask that you cover up the top half of the video with your hand or a thick piece of paper so that you can ONLY see their legs and feet. Trust us, the hands, arms and their youthful attractiveness will distract you from the amazing stuff going on down in the legs and feet. Go ahead now and watch the video and see the amazing skill and precision of complicated foot work. There will be times that the feet are a blur, you will think the video has been sped up. It has not. If you can understand this type of complex footwork gait then running foot strike is going to be child’s play. It is why we study this stuff, because everything after this is easy. These are two of the very best dancers of all time and they show it here. This video is a classic example of complex motor tasks combined to music. Music makes everything better. Weddings, parties, even elevators (usually) are better when there is music. Today we will discuss how the brain can use music to help us learn. If you know this next song, you may find yourself immediately humming it in your head …

A B C

Easy as 1 2 3

Or simple as Do Re Mi

ABC, 123, Do Re Mi, baby you and me

There you have it. The chorus to The Jackson 5’s song “ABC”.

Kids have always learned well and fast (such as the alphabet) when music is integrated into a concept. Music provides timing. Music taps into fundamental systems in our brains that are sensitive to melody and beat. And when you are learning a task, timing can access part of the brain to either make it easier, easier to remember, or engrain the learned behavior deeper. When you add music to anything you are exercising other parts of your brain with that task. It is nothing new in the world of music and brain research when it comes to proving that music expands areas of learning and development in the brain. As Dr. Charles Limb, associate professor of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery at Johns Hopkins University states “It (music) allows you to think in a way that you used to not think, and it also trains a lot of other cognitive facilities that have nothing to do with music.”

Several weeks ago we asked you as an athlete, and this pertains to runners and even those walking, to add music to your training. If you are walking, vary the songs in your ipod to express variations in tempo. Use those tempo changes to change your cadence. If you are a runner, once in awhile add ipod training to your workouts and do the same. Your next fartlek (a system of training for distance runners in which the terrain and pace are varied to enhance conditioning) might be a new experience. Perhaps an enjoyable one. Trust us, we have done it. Here at The Gait Guys, with our backgrounds in neurology and biomechanics amongst other things, we are always looking for new ways to learn and to incorporate other areas of brain challenge to our clients. To build a better athlete you have to use training ideas that are often outside the box.

Today’s video of Slavik and Anna is a classic example of complex motor tasks combined to music. It is much about timing. Dancers call it musicality. Asking anyone to learn these movements without music would not be impossible, it would take some time, but without a focus on perfect technique or music timing to the movements someone might be able to learn them crudely in a day or two. BUT, add the timing and musicality and accentuations to that music, such as Slavik and Anna show here, and this becomes a task of many many years study and practice. A task they make appear simple, elegant and fun to do or watch. Can you imagine the foot skill and core abilities of these two ? It is mind boggling the number of complex motor tasks that occur here every second.

So, go grab your iPod and go for a run or a walk. Mix up your songs. Hear the beat, feel the rhythm and change your next workout into “feeling” the change of the music’s embedded metronome. Use those advanced areas of your brain to integrate music and timing into your rehab, your run, your walk, your workout. Don’t just “listen” to the music. Rather, feel it, move your body to it, so your brain can integrate it and embed it and make your task more engrained. Remember what Dr. Charles Limb said,

“It (music) allows you to think in a way that you used to not think, and it also trains a lot of other cognitive facilities that have nothing to do with music.”

Shawn and Ivo……helping you push the edges of human performance, through science, music and medicine.

(And here is a thank you “shout out” to my dance instructors (Godiva, Brittni, Max, Jake, Vance, Ellie, Caleb and Michael) for helping me to understand, struggle, and learn about these complex foot, limb, core motions and how music changes the brain’s learning curve. It has taken my understanding of human movement, functional anatomy and biomechanics to a level that I never knew existed. Thank you !)

Attached here is an article from CNN and Dr. Limb that inspired today’s blog post.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/26/health/mental-health/music-brain-science/index.html

There is more than one way around a long leg…..
or…There are many compensations for a short leg

The 1st in a series…

You have heard us speak on LLD’s (leg length deficiencies) in previous posts here, here and here; but how about the compensations? What will you see visually?

We count about six common adaptations:

•  pronation of longer side, supination of shorter side
•  lean of torso to the short leg side
• circumduction of the longer leg around the shorter
•  hip hike on long leg side (seen as contraction of hip abductors, obliques and quadratus  lumborum on short leg side)
• excessive ankle plantar flexion on short side
•  excessive knee bend on the long leg side

The thing to remember here is that what you are seeing is the compensation, not necessarily the problem. When one leg is shorter, something must be done to get the longer leg through swing phase.

Lets look at the pronation/ supination scenario:

We often (but not always) see increased pronation on the longer leg side, in the bodies attempt to shorten the extremity. This is often accompanied by posterior rotation of the ilia on that side, resulting in saggital plane imbalances. This, of course, puts the external and internal obliques, as well as quadratus lumborum on that side in a shortened position, decreasing their mechanical efficiency. This all contributes to a loss of hip extension and usually, a loss of ankle rocker.

How about transverse plane changes? The lower extremity spins internally which places the vastus lateralis in a position of mechanical advantage, and the gluteus maximus and middle and posterior fibers of the gluteus medius in lengthened position, decreasing their efficiency, while placing the anterior fibers of the medius and minimus in a position of increased mechanical advantage. These changes will often contribute to changes in the frontal plane, often causing a “shift” to one side during walking and running gait.

Frontal plane dysfunction will be determined by the degree of functional leg length discrepancy created, along with how the other compensations are playing out.

Wow! Really, six compensations for a short leg? There are many more, these are only the most common ones we see. You probably see others in your analysis we haven’t mentioned here.

Stay tuned for more on this subject in future posts!

We are THE Gait Guys. Not set on world domination, just foot and gait literacy…

Phidippides cardiomyopathy, a condition caused by chronic excessive endurance exercise.→

In 490 BC, Phidippides, a young Greek messenger, ran 26.2 miles from Marathon to Athens delivering the news of the Greek victory over the Persians, and then he collapsed and died. This is probably the first recorded incident of sudden death of an athlete.

ScienceDaily Article LINK (June 4, 2012) —

“ Micah True, legendary ultra-marathoner, died suddenly while on a routine 12-mile training run March 27, 2012. The mythic Caballo Blanco in the best-selling book, Born to Run, True would run as far as 100 miles in a day. On autopsy his heart was enlarged and scarred; he died of a lethal arrhythmia (irregularity of the heart rhythm). Although speculative, the pathologic changes in the heart of this 58 year-old veteran extreme endurance athlete may have been manifestations of "Phidippides cardiomyopathy,” a condition caused by chronic excessive endurance exercise.  “

See the rest of the article via the links provided.

More is not always better for some folks.

Get your heart checked yearly if you are an endurance athlete and watch for the signs you may have issues. Sadly the most consistent sign of Phidippides cardiomyopathy is sudden death.  So it is kinda hard to get ahead of the signs ! Be sure there is not a family history of Marfan’s type disorders that can affect the integrity of the artery walls amongst other things (clue: are you tall, skinny, long fingers and toes, abnormally formed sternum/protruding or sunken chest, loose jointed, loose skin, eye problems ?) If you have any of the following symptoms get checked out immediately:

• chest pain
• fainting
• dizziness
• chest palpitations
• fatigue
• shortness of breath (excessive or prolonged)

In closing we are going to paraphrase the Science Daily article one more time:

"Although it has been recognized that elite-level athletes commonly develop abnormal electrocardiograms and atrial and ventricular entropy, these adaptations traditionally have not been thought to predispose to serious arrhythmias or sudden cardiac death. However, it now appears that the cardiac remodeling induced by excessive exercise can lead to rhythm abnormalities. Endurance sports such as ultramarathon running or professional cycling have been associated with as much as a 5-fold increase in the prevalence of atrial fibrillation. Chronic excessive sustained exercise may also be associated with coronary artery calcification, diastolic dysfunction, and large-artery wall stiffening.”

It is important to remember, just because you are not having any symptoms or signs does not mean you are free of risk either.  Train wise, rest and recover and remember “everything in moderation”. When you know you are at an imbalance in your training, your risks may increase. And remember, this disorder takes years to develop so a clean slate exam now doesnt mean you are risk free forever.

RIP Micah. 

Shawn and Ivo……. not trying to scare anyone…….but an informed athlete is a smart runner and alive.

Gait and Ovulation…A sexier saunter…

Welcome to Monday morning folks. Here’s something to get you going for the week. Nope, not a post about orangutans, but even BETTER!

Remember, you probably saw it here 1st. You always wondered (at least we did) why women walk differently around the time of ovulation (yes, they REALLY do) , and now here’s the proof. A recent article in Gait and Posture confirms that women walk slower and with what is judged to be a “sexier” gait around ovulation (Go Zsa Zsa Gabor!), which is believed to reinforce their attractiveness and make them more likely to be noticed and attract a partner.

We knew there was a reason we liked gait so much…..

Ivo and Shawn. Bald. Middle aged…Good looking…The Gait Guys

If you know, recognize that you know,
If you don’t know, then realize that you don’t know:
That is knowledge.

Confucius 

True knowledge is when one knows the limitations of one’s knowledge.

Neuromechanics on Saturday?

We have long been talking about the importance of the cerebellum in gait and motor activity (see here).

Here is a study (Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Shown to Impact Walking Patterns) that looks at a new technique for using electrical stimulation of the brain’s cerebellum (trans cranial direct current stimulation to be exact) to change gait on a split belt treadmill (a double treadmill where each leg moves a slightly different speed). The study found that during the electrical stimulation the anode (negative charge) seems to speed up the learning process (our theory: more electrons, possibly creating a temporary electrical gradient which depolarizes (excites) the cells to a greater degree). And the cathode seemed to slow things down (our theory, it hyperpolarizes the cell and makes it less excitable).

Take home message? There are new neurologic studies and experiments that may be proving helpful in retraining gait function.  Stimulating the brain’s cerebellum seems to speed up learning or slow it down, depending on your client’s needs. We are sure we will be seeing more of this kind of stuff at technology advances. 

Maybe Larry Niven wasn’t that far off. (We loved the story “The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton”).  This could be a great, non invasive tool for rehab (or maybe improving performance!)

The Gait Guys…taking you deeper down the rabbit hole…

A silent parody of something we see in our offices all the time….Cruel Shoes..

Have a great Friday!

Ivo and Shawn

Arm swing in gait and running. Why it is crucial, and why it must be symmetrical.

It becomes clear that once you get the amazing feats seen in this video out of your head, and begin to watch just the variable use of the arms that you will begin to appreciate the amazing need for arm swing and function in movement.

We have written many articles on arm swing and its vital importance in gait and running. Have you missed all these articles ?  If so, go to our blog main page, type in “arm swing” in the search box and you will have a solid morning of readings at your fingertips.  We are still not done writing about this most commonly forgotten and overlooked aspect of gait and running analysis, and we probably never will be done.  Why is no one else focusing on it ?  We think it is because they do not see or understand its critical importance.

Without the presence and use of the arms in motion things like acceleration, deceleration, directional change, balance and many other critical components of body motion are not possible.

What is perhaps equally important for you to realize, as put forth in:

Huang et al in the Eur Spine Journal, 2011 Mar 20(3) “Gait Adaptations in low back pain patients with lumbar disc herniation: trunk coordination and arm swing.”

is that as spine pain presents, the shoulder and pelvic girdle anti-phase begins to move into a more in-phase favor.  Meaning that the differential between the upper torso twist and pelvic twist is reduced. As spine pain presents, the free flowing pendulum motions of the upper and lower limbs becomes reduced to dampen the torsional “wringing” on the spine. When this anti-phase is reduced then arm swing should be reduced. The central neural processing mechanisms do this to reduce spinal twisting, because with reduced twist means reduced spinal motor unit compression and thus hopefully less pain. (Yes, for you uber biomechanics geeks out there, reduced spine compression means increased shear forces which are favorite topics of many of our prior University instructors, like Dr. Stuart McGill). The consequence to this reduced spinal rotation is reduced limb swing.  And according to

Collins et al Proc Biol Sci, 2009, Oct 22 “Dynamic arm swinging in human walking.”

“normal arm swinging requires minimal shoulder torque, while volitionally holding the arms still requires 12 % more metabolic energy.  Among measures of gait mechanics, vertical ground reactive moments are most affected by arm swinging and increased by 63% without arm swing.”

So, it is all about efficiency and protection. Efficiency comes with fluid unrestricted movements and energy conservation but protection has the cost of wasting energy and reduced mobility through a limb(s) and spine.

In past articles we have carried these thoughts into historical functional needs of man such as carrying spears and of modern day man in carrying briefcases.   Today we show a great high functioning video of another parkour practitioner.  Parkour is a physical discipline and non-competitive sport which focuses on efficient movement around obstacles.  Watch closely the use of the arms. The need for arm use in jumping, in balance, in acceleration etc. It becomes clear that once you get the amazing feats seen in this video out of your head, and begin to watch just the use of the arms that you will begin to appreciate the amazing need for arm swing and function in movement.

There is a reason that in our practices we treat contralateral upper and lower limbs so much.  Because if you are paying attention, these in combination with the unilateral loss of spinal rotation are the things that need attention. 

Yup, we are The Gait Guys….. we have been paying attention to this stuff long before the functional movement assessment programs became popular.  If you just know gait, one of the single most primitive patterns other than crawling and breathing and the like, you will understand why you see altered squats, hip hinges, shoulder ROM screens etc.  You have to have a deep rooted fundamental knowledge of the gait central processing and gait parameters. If you do not, every other screen that you put your athlete or patient through might have limited or false leading meaning. 

Shawn and Ivo …  combining 40 years of orthopedics, neurology, biomechanics and gait studies to get to the bottom of things.

External Tibial Torsion as expressed during gait.

So, last week we watched this young lad doing some static ankle and knee bends, essentially some mini squats.  Here was what we found (LINK). It is IMPERATIVE that you watch this LINK first before watching today’s video above.

Now that you have watched that link here is what you should be seeing today.

You should see that the left foot is extremely turned out. We talked about why in the linked post from last week. It is because of the degree of external tibial torsion.  When it is present the knee rides inside the foot progression line (the knee bends into the forward / sagittal plane when the ankle bends into its more lateral /coronal / frontal plane (they all mean the same thing) ie. when the foot points outwards.

Remember, the knee has only one choice of motion, to hinge forward and backward. When the knee is asked to hinge in any other direction once the foot is locked to the ground there is torque placed upon the knee joint and thus shear forces.  Menisci do not like shear forces, nor does articular joint cartilage.

So, once again we see the rule of “you cannot beat the brain” playing out. The brain took the joint with the least amount of tolerance, the knee, and gave it the easy job.  The foot was asked to entertain another plane of motion as evidenced here in this video with significant increased foot progression angle. 

When the foot progression angle is increased but the knee still must follow the forward body progression (instead of following the foot direction) the motion through the foot will be directly through the medial longitudinal foot arch.  And as seen here, over time this arch will fail and collapse. 

Essentially this lad is hinging the ankle sagittally / forward through the subtalar and midtarsal joints, instead of through the ankle mortise joint where ankle hinging normally should occur.

This is a recipe for disaster. As you can see here.  You MUST also know and see here that there is an obvious limp down onto that left limb. It appears the left limb is shorter. And with this degree of external tibial torsion and the excessive degree of foot pronation, the limb will be shorter. You need to know that internal limb spin and pronation both functionally shorten the limb length.  This fella amongst other functional things is going to need a full length sole lift. We will start with 3mm rubber infused cork to do so. And let him accomodate to that to start.

We will attempt to correct as much foot tripod (anti-pronation) control as possible to help reduce leg shortness as well as to help reduce long term damage to the foot from this excessive pronation. We will also strengthen the left gluteus medius (it was very weak) to help him engage the frontal/lateral/coronal plane better. This may bring that foot in a little. But remember, the foot cannot come in so far that it drives the knee medially. Remember who is ruling the roost here !…… the knee.  It only has one free range, the hip and foot have 3 ! 

Shawn and Ivo

Foot Landing Mechanics: Part 2 of 2 (Gait and Running)

Foot orthoses and landing mechanics

_________________

In Part 1 of this two part series (Part 1, link here) we wrote about the need to not omit observations of gluteal function when it came to the utilization of foot orthotics to control the knee. We felt that a tunnel vision perspective on just the foot was only telling half the story. Admittedly, we made the comment that research articles can look at isolated issues if it pleases them, but that it was our mission not to let tunnel visioned biases enter into things. Tunnel vision leads to assumptions that some problems have simple solutions. Our clients get evaluated through the entire kinetic chain when looking at foot and knee issues. Heck, even arm swing and opposite leg swing impact the function of the stance phase knee.

Here is again is the original article by Katie Bell over at LER (Lower Extremity Review) that brought up the initial PART 1 dialogue back in January and that is spurring Part 2 here today. It was good information but left some gaps in theory and application in our opinion.

The gap in our opinion is in failing to mention that perhaps this landing mechanics problem is present because of intrinsic foot weakness and kinetic chain cooperation of the entire limb and pelvis-core.  One must remember that if the foot can be corrected or merely strengthened in a more functionally neutral manner that it should be a first line intervention.  Merely inserting an orthotic, custom or off the shelf pre-fab does nothing to correct intrinsic and extrinsic weaknesses. They are an external device to correct alignment issues.  Just because you put an orthotic in a shoe does not mean that the foot must function properly afterwards.  A flat weak foot might just sit flat and weak upon the orthotic and nothing more.  Sure it will be on a new platform and with different alignment, but there are no guarantees it will function better.  The foot might just figure out a new way to compensate in another manner.  Even worse, the foot and lower limb might be completely foreign in strategy, skill, endurance and strength in this new position and thus at even greater increased risk for injury than the one you tried to correct with the device in the first place. Just because you toss an intervention at something that should make a difference or create a result, does not mean it will occur.  Just because you put a beer in someone’s mug does not guarantee they will drink it.  That is the intention, but the outcome is not guaranteed, they might drink it but they also might not. Heck, they could even spill it (ie. compensation …  undesirable outcome !).  Just because the platform is different, new and possibly more optimal does not guarantee they will have the Skill, Endurance or Strength (S.E.S. - the mantra of The Gait Guys) to function any differently than before.  This is why, when we choose to reach for an orthotic, that we educate the client on what it is doing, and how to treat it like any other piece of therapy.  Meaning that it is to help reach an end goal, and when possible it is weaned away or minimalized to the new levels of S.E.S.

Now, back to the topic at hand.

This article talks about the hip adduction in females and mentions that it is not present in males but fails to even talk about possible reasoning behind this gender specific finding. Why wasn’t changed Q-angle in females talked about here ? Perhaps that was a discussion in the studies and merely not mentioned here.

The article also fails to talk about failed landing mechanics at forefoot load. When we load returning to the ground from a jump, we first load the forefoot. If the peronei and lateral calf are not strong enough to hold the rearfoot and forefoot in eversion at landing, making sure that the forefoot bipod is squared up at initial contact, the foot will be at a huge risk of inverting and spraining ligamentous tissues (esp. lateral restraints) as the load transitions from forefoot to rearfoot upon landing.

Think about all of this the next time your foot is in the air and quickly approaching the ground. If you are into a forefoot landing technique in your running, how is your forefoot landing platform ? is it flat ? Are you hitting laterally and risking injury or faulty mechanics ? Is your foot landing too medially and challenging the foot tripod prematurely ?  Are you falling into the orthotic  if you are using one ? Or are you merely using it as a crutch to improve your landing mechanics ?  And……. do you even truly need an orthotic at all ? Or did your $ 500+ merely make for a nice mortgage payment on someone’s new boat ? 

Orthotics …. they have value at times. Do you know when and how to implement them and when to hold off ?  It is a tough game, you have to know the rules. 

Shawn and Ivo

What’s your foot type: Part 5

And finally, the last foot type. Normal.

The normal foot is quite quiescent.  It rarely complains unless you abuse it.  Run too many miles with too few rest days, or put a shoe on it that is inappropriate such as a stability or motion control shoe and this foot will have something to say to you.  But for the most part, this foot being neutral, it has appropriate shock absorption through normal pronation and it has nice rigidity at toe off from normal supination.  This foot enjoys all of the perks of full joint motion ranges and nice skill, endurance and strength.  It adequately controls the normal amounts of internal and external limb spin, and affords the ability to stabilize the pelvis in a strong neutral position all the while plowing through dozens of miles a week with pristine neuromuscular movement patterns.  Like a run on a perfect early morning with the warmth of the sun on your face and wind at your back,  several miles on the neutral foot is a beautiful thing to behold.

Knowing your foot type is a true key to understanding your strengths and weaknesses,  as well as mechanical pathologies and propensity to certain injures.  Understanding how your body has to strategize over your foot type will lead to a better understanding of how your injuries mount and more importantly, how to resolve or cope with them better.  Finding someone who can help you discern your foot and bring the mechanical picture into clarity is of utmost importance.

The Gait Guys have designed a 3 part course fteaching you to fit your shoes to the appropriate foot type.  Certification begins this spring through the IFGEC.

Confused? Have no fear. Our shoe fit program is almost here! The Shoe fit functional testing module (also available separately from the 3 part program) discusses foot types in more detail.

The Gait Guys: promoting foot and gait competency everywhere!

http://cheilectomy.com/

We have talked alot of gait this week, especially this past Wednesday night on our monthly teleseminar on Chirocredit.com. Suffice it to say, it has been a long week

Friday Follies could not be complete with at least one musical reference….

Get out there and Walk Like an Egyptian! (really)

Have a great Friday

Ivo and Shawn

The Secrets to Running Downhill Fast.→

Last month we contributed to Jene Shaw’s article in Triathlete Magazine.

Please hit the link here for the entire great article by Jene Shaw. There is lots more here. LINK

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2012/05/training/the-secrets-to-running-downhill-fast_54031

Here were some of our Form tips used in Jene’s article for going fast downhill.

Lean forward from the hips, not the shoulders. Gravity naturally pulls you downhill. Avoid the urge to lean back and focus on keeping your body perpendicular to the ground. “As you increase speed, move your center of gravity forward with you; not enough and your feet are sliding out from under you, too much and you’re on your face,” Waerlop says.

Perfect Foot Position

Think of your foot as a tripod, with the three points being the heads of the big and little toes (at the ball line) and the heel. This tripod needs to be level for the foot to function optimally. If you are too much on your heel, your shins need to slow the descent of the foot, which can lead to shin splints. If you land too much on your forefoot, your calves have to work harder to lower your heel and will exaggerate any forefoot abnormality you have in your gait; this will place additional stress on your knees. —The Gait Guys, Drs. Ivo Waerlop and Shawn Allen

______________________________________

Here are some other things to remember when running down hill:

Be a drop of water:  The Zen of watching water run downhill can teach us much. Taking the path of least resistance often is the least stressful for our bodies. Though terrain features like rocks, grass and dirt mounds can be useful to control speed, they also cause deceleration of our bodies, which means you need to reaccelerate them (remember Newtons 1st law?). This costs energy and wear and tear on our chassis.  If you need to regulate speed on your descent, use the terrain options as described or angle your approach to one side or another zigzagging the descent.  Taking the descent on an angle enables you to get 2 legs of your foot tripod on the ground almost immediately for added stability and it shifts your center of gravity to a more vertical or stable position, it also puts your body mass closer to the hill. A slip when descending on an angle is a better controlled slip.  As you gain skill, you can point your feet more progressively down hill.

Do your homework:  In the simplest explanation, muscles contract two ways: concentrically and eccentrically. Concentric contractions explain how the muscle shortens as it contracts, like picking up something. Eccentric contractions explain how the muscle lengthens as it contracts, like putting something you picked up back down. Eccentric contractions are much more costly from an energy and wear and tear perspective, as it takes more energy to break bonds between muscle fibers than make them. Running down hill requires lots of eccentric contraction of muscle, especially the quadriceps and muscles on the front of the shins, as there is a shift from glute drive to quadriceps loading. Running hills requires more (or extra) training particularly the eccentric phase for hill descents because of the increased demand. 

The faster you go, the more perpendicular to the ground your body needs to be:   Because of gravity, you are pulled down a hill. Our instinct may tell us to lean away (or backward) as we descend and pick up speed, but that could spell out disaster and perhaps your last run for quite some time. As you increase speed, you need to have your center of gravity move forward with you; not enough and your feet are sliding out from under you, too much and you are on your face. Again, if speed control is getting challenging, like in backwoods steep descents, zigzag your descent. Managing speed but covering more terrain safely is better than being the first down the hill while the last to get out of the first aid tent.

Look down the hill, not at your feet:  Your brain works best pre-planning the next thing it should do, and works better when multitasking. Looking down at you feet actually facilitates your flexor muscles (the muscles which make you bend forward). This does two things: it makes you tend to fall forward and it turns off your extensor muscles (glutes, hams, back muscles) which are (or should be) the muscles in charge to keep you upright.

Engage your core:  Think of your core as your engine and your legs as your transmission. An engine needs to drive the transmission. Your core muscles (abs, glutes) provide a stable platform for the other limb muscles to work upon.  Not having the core engaged makes you more susceptible to injury, just like if your engine mount were broken.

Relax:  Your mind is like a parachute; it works best when open. Stiffening up elicits protective reflexes that could be dangerous while running downhill. Imagine trying to drive your car with the airbag inflated. Let go and follow the flow.

External Tibial Torsion: A Video showing the effects on the knee, foot and hip.

Tibial torsion is measured as the angular difference between the tibial plateau and the distal malleoli. Here we have put 2 blue dots on the tibia, one at the middle of the tibial plateau and one at the half-way bisection of the malleoli (“ankle bones”). You can see that the dots clearly do not rest on the same vertical plane, they are nowhere close in this case !  This is tibial torsion.  And since the lower dot is outside the upper dot, this is EXTERNAL TIBIAL TORSION.  It is one of the factors which determine the progression angle of the foot (see our post here).  It is easily seen here that, the foot will follow the lower dot because that is where the foot is attached to the ankle mortise joint.  This is thus what is referred to as an “increased or excessive” Foot Progression Angle.  Some will loosely, and humorously, refer to this as being “Duck Footed”.  (But we have never seen a duck with external tibial torsion so who knows how this came about ! :-)

Normally, the angle is 0 degrees in an infant leaving the feet straight or slightly “in-toed”, and the tibia “unwinds” with growth, leaving the angle in adults at approximately 22 degrees. Angles in excess of 25 degrees are considered external tibial torsion; angles less than 15 degrees, internal tibial torsion.

In this case video it is critical to note a few things:

1- at the beginning we coached the client to straighten the feet forward so we could see the effects of the tibial torsion on the knees. In External Tibial Torsion, as in this case, the knees will always drift inwards (this is why these clients will always turn out the feet so that the knees and patella can track forward in the  normal hinge progression that is necessary for gait.  A case of external tibial torsion like this case will never see them walking with the feet straight forward (0 degree foot progression angle) because they will knock the knees together and the patella will track incorrectly and develop knee tracking pain.

2- you should be able to see that the client cannot dorsiflex the ankle sufficiently at the start because of the binding of the ankle into the torsioned distal tibia-fibula ankle mortise joint.  The client gets “locked out” and cannot squat more than a few degrees.  Be sure to notice this.  These clients should not be pigeon-holed into how they do squats and lunges (“Straighten your feed lad!” should not be your recommendation, they just won’t be able to do much if they do. They will cheat !)

3. The second set of squats show them with the feet turned out excessively. They are able to get down further now, but the knees are now tracking too far outside and not forward.  This was too much accommodation for the external tibial torsion. 

4. The 3rd set are done (at 0:28 seconds into the video) with a more reasonable foot alignment.  Reasonable for this client but far too much for someone who does NOT have external tibial torsion. You can see that the single planar hinge joint knee (the joint with the least tolerance) now moves nicely forward towards the camera.  So, they will walk with the feet at this progression angle because this is where the external tibial torsion has left the knees to rest in the sagittal (forward) plane.  Here the client will have minimal if any knee issues. However, one can only imagine what their ankles and feet and hips will think of all this !

To discern tibial torsions from femoral torsions, observe the orientation of the tibial tuberosity (the upper blue dot) with respect to the foot; in tibial torsion, there is a large difference. If this angle is withing the 15-25 degree range, then the torsion lies in the femur (femoral retro torsion and ante torsion…the subject of another post).

So, if you are training, coaching or rehabing  a client are you aware of issues like these ? Are you attempting to drive skill, endurance and strength into your clients into a lower limb plane that is reasonable for their bony alignment?  Maybe you were not even aware of these issues at all ?  Lets hope not.  You just cannot pigeon-hole all of your clients into a similar paradigm. It just isn’t that simple.  Not if you do not want to injure someone.  We get alot of these cases, sadly.

We discuss this in more detail in our Shoe Fit program that is soon to launch, but we also presented several 1 hour slide presentations on www.onlineCE.com in the recent months if you wanted to take those lectures.

Shawn and Ivo, two twisted fellas.  Torsioned dudes.  One is internally torsioned, the other external……… we cancel eachother out !

Case Quiz: Part 2: The Questions

Here was our reply:

She has a cross over gait pattern Right > Left; assumedly due to the amount of tibial varum on the Left; is it that prominent unilaterally? The lateral shift is compromising the LCL (lateral collateral ligament on the Left, combined with poor gluteus medius control. She appears to have an uncompensated forefoot varus bilaterally as well. I would question if she has an LLD (let length discrepancy) on the Right, with more pelvic glide/drift occurring to that side during stance phase of gait. Her arm swing is also greater on the right. With the reconstruction, she has a greater stride length on the Right, as she tries to unload the Left side. Does she look any better in the orthotics ?

Our suspicions are:

• LLD (leg length discrepancy), short on the right
  

• moderate Forefoot varus, uncompensated

• LCL (lateral collateral ligament) laxity

• weak Gluteus medius complex bilaterally

• crossover gait

What could be done?

• continued acupuncture for muscle facilitation

• “waddle walks” with theraband around legs (to challenge the gluteus medius), keeping them in some degree of abduction

• Single leg standing exercises on foot tripod

• foot intrinsic strengthening (lift, spread, reach exercise; EHB; FDB, EDL)

• Sole lift if indicated to help with limb length challenge
  

prolotherapy may help but you need to know WHY the leg translates laterally; otherwise you are just band aiding it

Hope that helps. Let us know how it goes and if she has an LLD (short leg, anatomically).

Ivo and Shawn: asking the tough questions….

Case Quiz: Part 1

Here is a case submitted by a friend of ours, Dr Lance Robbins in Florida. You can see the problem (and a description below). Rather than just give you the answers, we want you to come up with what questions to ask. Tune in later for what we think.

Ivo and Shawn

Dr Robbins notes on the client in the video:

Intermittent left knee pain with a painless limp while walking

Medical History is positive for an ACL reconstruction on the Left many years ago where they used part of the patellar tendon

Currently wears orthotics made by Xtreme Footwerks

Exam:

Gait showed a lateral knee deviation 

Static exam findings showed a marked tibial varus on the left,  bilateral external tibial torsion, along with Bilateral abducto-hallux valgus and mild bilateral forefoot varus.

There is a decrease in the right side ankle rocker, mid and forefoot motion is WNL (within normal limits). 

She presents with unilateral right sided genu recurvatum. During the exam she explained that before her ACL reconstruction she had bilateral genu recurvatum and during the surgery they corrected the left side.

Static palpation reveals a tight hypertonicity in the posterior knee structure on the left. There is also a moderate a,out of swelling along the upper lateral side of the left knee around the insertion of vastus lateralis and the client indicates that this has been there for along time since the surgery. When she tried to reduce the swelling with a TENs unit her knee pain got worse.

Dynamic evaluation showed normal hip ROM (Range of Motion) and ankle ROM except for the decrease in ankle rocker noted above. The right knee ROM is WNL. The left knee has a very slight reduction in flexion compared to the other side but still falls within normal limits. There is a moderate amount of instability in the left knee during the Varus stress test indicating some LCL (lateral collateral ligament) laxity. 

There is a decrease in the Left popliteus, biceps femoris, and glute medius  muscle function.

After one session of CMT (chiropractic manipulative therapy) (L5, Left Sacroiliac joint), acupuncture to facilitate muscle function and kinesiotape to support ligament laxity she had an immediate reduction in the swelling around her knee without any occurrence of pain. This lasted for 4-5 days with a return of some swelling after. 

The ligament laxity was not majorly effected by the treatment. 

Prolotherapy is one alternative we are considering

My hunch is that this has developed as a post-surgical adaptation due to the change in structural orientation of the knee (unilateral correction of genu recurvatum).

Even with prolothery to tighten up ligament structure how do we proceed forward in order to prevent reoccurrence or early onset degenerative processes?

A case of the non-resolving ankle sprain.  Things to think about when the ankle and foot just do not fully come around after a sprain.

Gait Guys,

A while back I had a severe ankle sprain while trail running.  As I stepped on a rock my toes pointed downward, my ankle was rolled in and I felt a pop. This was follow by a lot of swelling and bruising both on the inside and outside of my ankle.  Being experienced with ankle sprains, I jumped on the initial treatment immediately. The reduction in swelling and bruising lead me to believe that I was in for a 4-5 week recovery, then I would be back at what I love doing. I was proven wrong:  

1.       Initial treatment consisted of immobilization, icing, and a very high dose of Ibuprofen (3 days only). After a couple weeks of this I began stretching, massage and trying to get into some modified activities as the pain allowed me to. I was able to  do some hiking but running was too painful.

2.       After 6 weeks, I was still having pain in the posterior tibial tendon area as well as the deltoid ligament area. I tried running but, I was met with severe pain beginning in the middle of the gait cycle through  the push off. I saw a PA at this time and was told to give it more rest. For the next few weeks I wore a soft brace and spent most of my time in a chair.

3.       By week 9, there was no improvement. I could walk fine but, I had the same pain when I tried to run. I visited the PA again and was put in a walking cast and had an MRI. The MRI should a low grade deltoid and ATFL sprain as well as a bruised bone. I spent 2 weeks in the walking cast then returned to the soft cast for another week. During this time I did nothing besides give it rest.

4.       At week 11, I did not see a noticeable improvement. I still had a sharp pain in my posterior tibial tendon area and deltoid area during the middle of my gait (when trying to run). At this time, I had another visit with the PA. After looking at my MRI more closely, he saw fluid buildup behind my talus. He thinks that I had an impact injury to my Os Trigonum. He also noticed that I had very limited dorsiflexion.  He has advised me to stretch and give it a few more weeks. If it’s not going in a positive direction he recommended a cortisone shot.

As it stands today at week 12, in a dorsiflexion position, I have a sharp pain in what feels like my Achilles tendon and posterior tibial tendon area (the MRI shows these are intact). I also have a lot of tenderness in the deltoid area. Walking, I am almost pain free but as soon as I begin to run, the pain starts in the areas described above. This is the first injury I have ever had where I haven’t seen a steady improvement when recovering (maybe I am just getting old). The pain I am having now when trying to running is the same as it was at week 4. This really concerns me.

I guess my question is, where do I go from here? Do I keep doing what I am doing? Should I seek a second opinion?  Any help or guidance you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

On a side note, your blog has helped me to get though the last 12 run-less weeks without losing my mind or falling into a deep depression.  You guys do some great stuff.  Keep up the good work!

Best Regards,

MR

____________________

Dear MR:

Somehow we missed this email. Sorry about that.

Whenever things are not resolving with reasonable intervention one must think of two things: either the injury was severe or the diagnosis is incorrect.

Without seeing you we are unable to determine either. But here are our thoughts.

The Os Trigonum syndrome is a good thought. It seems to be in the correct area of your complaint. These “Os” bones can be embedded in tendon or soft tissue and they can be fixed to the posterior talus by either bone or a cartilagenous bridge. It is possible for this to be your problem if the inversion event was severe enough although it is not that common in this described mechanism.

One must also be suspect of osseous compression of the medial talus against the medial calcaneus, which will bring thoughts of a posterior subtalar facet fracture. We pulled up an article we read a few years ago on this issue (click here), the article is entitled, “Pseudo os trigonum sign: missed posteromedial talar facet fracture”. Obviously this needs to be considered in your case since there are similar components in area and symptom of your complaints. Posteromedial talar facet fracture (PMTFF) is a rare injury, sparsely reported in the literature and it must be chased as a diagnosis of suspicion when all other clinical presentations have not panned out. Damage to the sustentaculum tali must also be assessed, as this too can be fractured.  Osteochondral defects are also always on the list in violent inversion events; they are classically seen anteromedially and posteriolaterally at the ankle mortise joint.

Something else that is often missed in ankle inversion sprains is avulsion or rupture of the extensor digitorum brevis on the lateral foot. As the rearfoot inverts and forefoot plantarflexes the EDB is tensioned to the point of tearing. Although you seem to have no symptoms in this area it can never be overlooked. These are easy to discern from the lateral ligamentous structure damage because the areas are clearly separate from eachother.  Look for tenderness down into the top of the metatarsals into the forefoot. Also test for weakness and pain of toe extension.

So, lots to consider here in this case. When things to not resolve you have to start looking for less common problems and damage.  We would love to hear how you are doing MR. Drop us a line.

Shawn and Ivo……. also geeks of orthopedics.  We paid the piper long ago.

Forefoot balance and forefoot variants. Are you a forefoot strike runner ? You had better read this.

So, what about the attached video ?

What do you see as this gentleman loads onto the forefoot.  Watch the left hallux (big toe) and watch the long flexor strategy for the lesser toes.  It is plain to see that this subject has flawed forefoot stability. The big toe does not even engage during forefoot loading ! The metatarsal head it taking it all, and that can mean risk to the metatarsal shaft, ligaments, sesamoids and soft tissues.  Can you imagine this person running ? Without proper toe function, one of which is to help add stability and to offset metatarsal loading pressures, this person is at risk for pathologic loading responses in the forefoot.  We see flawed patterns like this all the time in our runners, of all ages.  Think this kind of educational information needs to be part of the form running classes and natural running courses being offered around the country ? We think so.  Education does not mean you cannot do something, it merely helps the end user to be more aware of their limitations and risks. Education can lead to the adjustment of a behavior. But you often have to bring the behavior to a persons recognition. 

The next time you decide to lace up your shoes, before you do it slip off your socks and do a double and a single leg forefoot heel risk like this fella in the video.  What is your strategy? Do you clench the toes or do you PRESS them like you should with a balanced strategy with the long and short toe flexors and long and short extensors ?  Do you load the big toe nicely?  Do you have hammer toes ?  How is your forefoot bipod stability ? Are you wobbling all over the place ? Remember, running is a single leg strategy. You are merely alternating one legged balancing when you run. You never have both feet on the ground.  So, what is that single leg stability like?  You may say that a  static assessment like we have suggested is not reality.  But we say that is incorrect. Sure it is different. But one main difference is that the forward speed of running allows momentum to blur the pathologies you might see in a quieter slower assessment.  The forward momentum will surely blur frontal plane stabilities but we assure you, they are still there.  One of our favorite lines is “speed kills”.  But in this case speed will hide the tiny instabilities and flaws that exist. Just because you cannot see them or feel them when you run doesn’t mean they are not there. Kinda like the “Boogey Man”. 

Work on your forefoot loading response every day. Get to the point that you can get to a single leg stance with good posture and stability with reduced sway. Then see if you can get to a clean quiet forefoot load on that leg as you lean forward into a wall. 

The smallest of things can make the biggest difference. Especially if you are doing sometihng (like walking or running) thousands of times a day.

Don’t be a casualty. Do the work you need to do.

Here is some research to support or views.

Everyone is on the barefoot and minimalist running kick these days. Much of the time, justifiably so. But, if you have been reading our work here on our blog you will know that there are many issues that these same folks are just not talking about.  We have tried to share our concerns about the forefoot load when there is a forefoot varus or forefoot valgus and the implications of faulty mechanics and injury resulting from asymmetrical forefeet.  Not everyone can forefoot strike without heightened injury risk.  This is why many times we suggest a midfoot strike since it dampens some of these risk factors when present.  Manufacturers who promote a forefoot landing loading event need to be talking about these risks. 

Today we share a research article giving a little more rooting to some of these concerns but from a slightly different angle.  In this article,

 

Gait Posture. 2011 Jul;34(3):347-51. Epub 2011 Jun 22. Gait, balance and plantar pressures in older people with toe deformities. Mickle KJ, Munro BJ, Lord SR, Menz HB, Steele JR.  Biomechanics Research Laboratory, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. kmickle@uow.edu.au

Mickle et al discuss toe deformities such as hallux valgus and very likely hammer toes and their effects on balance and stability. In their abstract they focus more on older folks with hallux valgus and lesser toe deformities who displayed different gait, balance and plantar pressure characteristics compared to individuals without toe deformities.

Spatiotemporal gait parameters were measured as well as postural sway. Their results indicated that, although there were no effects of toe deformities on spatiotemporal gait characteristics or postural sway, older people with hallux valgus and lesser toe deformities were found to display altered forefoot plantar pressure patterns. These findings suggest that toe deformities alter weight distribution under the foot when walking, but that the relationship between toe deformities and falls may be mediated by factors other than changes in spatiotemporal gait parameters or impaired postural sway.

Make of this research what you will, but in our opinion you just cannot ignore the fact that faulty forefoot function will impact stability and performance.  It may even be a predictor for injury, in this case falls from instability, but in our opinion other musculoskeletal injuries in the lower limbs.  It is clear that altered biomechanics result in compensations and we all know that compensations are alternative strategies from the norm.  And if you add enough miles to alternative strategies, injuries are not likely to be far behind.

Here is another article:

Foot Ankle Int. 2005 Jun;26(6):483-9. Gait instability in older people with hallux valgus. Menz HB, Lord SR. Musculoskeletal Research Centre, L Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria.

In their study they determined that “subjects with moderate to severe hallux valgus were found to exhibit significantly reduced velocity and step length on both walking surfaces and less rhythmic acceleration patterns in the vertical plane when walking on the irregular surface compared to subjects with no or mild hallux valgus.”

They thus concluded that “hallux valgus has a significant detrimental impact on gait patterns that may contribute to instability and risk of falling in older people, particularly when walking on irregular terrain.”

___________________________________________

The smallest of things can make the biggest difference. Especially if you are doing something (like walking or running) thousands of times a day.

Don’t be a casualty. Do the work you need to do.

Shawn and Ivo

Learn without thinking begets ignorance.
Think without learning is dangerous.

Confucius - Lun Yu Chap. 2