Join Dr Ivo as he talks about pronation and supination. This is excerpted from the National Shoe Fit Certification Program.
want to know more? email us at thegaitguys@gmail.com
The Gait Guys on Movement, Physiologic Overflow & Muscle Function.
Movement is largely isotonic, meaning that muscles maintain a steady state of contraction (“same tone”) throughout a physiological range of motion; in other words, our body mass does not change as we move through space. Exercise is specific as to the type of contraction (isometric, isotonic, isokinetic) and speed on contraction. Different rehabilitative exercises we prescribe can have different results based on the points or angles of application. This video discusses some of these points. See us also on You Tube: The Gait Guys
Watch for a Podcast of classic Shawn and Ivo at noon!
Gait Guys/IRRA Running Event Recap
Well, it was a fast a furious 2 days for us. We arrived Tuesday evening and put the finishing touches on the presentation for Wednesday morning. We were up and lecturing, 8AM Texas time and were very well received with many interesting questions. This was one one smart group of retailers!
We then had a photo session and whisked off to the Austin School of Film (Thank You Anna, KIrk and Brian!) to finish filming the rest of the Shoe Fit Certification Program (Excerpts to be posted soon!). A few hours later we were back at the event and met up with Dr Mark Cucuzella (a good friend and colleague of ours; you have seen his videos here on the blog) and David Jonson from Sole Running. We were then off to a mixer and out to dinner with Dick Beardsley (yes, THE Dick Beardsley from the 1982 Boston Marathon with Salazar), his wife, Curt Munson and Daren DeCavitte from Playmakers, and Dr Mark. Thursday morning was filled with meetings, including a Magazine interview with Max Lockwood of the Georgetown Running Company. Then we were off to the airport by 2PM and away we went. We have full days at the clinic today and are looking forward to some much needed rest (and a lot of film editing!) this weekend!
Thanks again for all your support.
Ivo and Shawn
Neuromechanics Weekly:
What does the Reticular Formation have to do with gait?
Have you ever worn flip flops? What do you need to do to keep them on? Clench (flex) your toes (specifically your flexor digitorum and flexor hallicus longus). What does that have to do with gait?
Take off your shoes (hopefully you showered); reach inside (unless there is something growing in there) and pull out the removable insole. Look at it. See those toe marks? Looks like someone has been clenching their toes again! So what?
This video exemplifies why flexor dominance (you have heard us say it many times) inhibits extensor activity. The upper part of the reticular formation fires the extensors, but the lower part inhibits them AND the corticospinal tract (basically the motor pathway you use to fire most of your voluntary flexors) stimulates the lower reticular formation (which inhibits the extensors). Many pathologies are because of flexor activity, and his is one of the pathways that’s facilitates that pathway. The key to fixing many problems? Fire the extensors! (And stay out of flip flops)
The Gait Guys….figuring it out and explaining it to you in terms that make sense. And no, we do not own any flip flops….
Don’t let the title scare you. While watching this excerpt from an acupuncture lecture, think about the implications for gait.
In this installment of Neuromechanics weekly, we discuss how everything we do, smell, see or hear influences muscle tone through the cerebellum. The take home message is environmental cues as well as therapeutic ones will influence muscle tone via the muscle spindles..
You just can’t get away from neurology. It is EVERYWHERE!
Just when you thought it was safe to watch a Neuromechanics Weekly episode, Dr Ivo throws a curveball. Check out the interesting clinical asides about myelopathy (pressure on the spinal cord causing ataxic gait) and the importance of which modality to check 1st, when doing an exam.
Keep these things in mind the next time you are evaluating someone’s gait.
In this Neuromechanics weekly, Dr Waerlop Introduces the cerebellum and talks about its importance clinically, since it contains more than ½ of the neurons in the brain! It’s anatomy and inputs from the periphery are discussed. The take home message is the cerebellum is the key to understanding and directing movement, since it receives feedback from most ascending and descending pathways.
You evidently can’t have your cake and eat it too…
Here is more research to show that running in shoes give you a mechanical advantage in force generation, but at the cost of increased stress on the knees.
“The results imply higher mechanical stress in shod running for the knee joint structures during midstance but also indicate an improved mechanical advantage in force generation for the ankle extensors during the push-off phase.”
No surprise really. You could swing a broomstick with little effort and a baseball bat with more effort, but which will hit the ball farther? Which may tax your shoulder more?
Whenever we take a foot, that SHOULD supinate, effectively decrease its mobility (making it stiffer) and MAKE IT supinate, we will have more power. Remember P = W/t? P is power, W is work and t is time. W is also F X s, where F is force and s is displacement; so we have P= Force X displacement/time. We are increasing displacement here: with force and time remaining unchanged, we have more power.
But…all things wear out in time with use; including your joint cartilage. Hmmm, maybe we reduce the force and allow the joints (like the ankle) to displace (we see increased displacement in unshod running) and we run into our 100’s.
The choice is yours.
The Gait Guys: 2 docs, making a difference, one step at a time.
J Biomech. 2010 Aug 10;43(11):2120-5. Epub 2010 May 11. Footwear affects the gearing at the ankle and knee joints during running. Braunstein B, Arampatzis A, Eysel P, Brüggemann GP. Source
Institute of Biomechanics and Orthopaedics, German Sport University Cologne, Germany. braunstein@dshs-koeln.de
Abstract
The objective of the study was to investigate the adjustment of running mechanics by wearing five different types of running shoes on tartan compared to barefoot running on grass focusing on the gearing at the ankle and knee joints. The gear ratio, defined as the ratio of the moment arm of the ground reaction force (GRF) to the moment arm of the counteracting muscle tendon unit, is considered to be an indicator of joint loading and mechanical efficiency. Lower extremity kinematics and kinetics of 14 healthy volunteers were quantified three dimensionally and compared between running in shoes on tartan and barefoot on grass. Results showed no differences for the gear ratios and resultant joint moments for the ankle and knee joints across the five different shoes, but showed that wearing running shoes affects the gearing at the ankle and knee joints due to changes in the moment arm of the GRF. During barefoot running the ankle joint showed a higher gear ratio in early stance and a lower ratio in the late stance, while the gear ratio at the knee joint was lower during midstance compared to shod running. Because the moment arms of the counteracting muscle tendon units did not change, the determinants of the gear ratios were the moment arms of the GRF’s. The results imply higher mechanical stress in shod running for the knee joint structures during midstance but also indicate an improved mechanical advantage in force generation for the ankle extensors during the push-off phase.
“Shoe Insanity” – Highlights from the 2011 Paris and New York Fashion Shows
Our good friend, Bill Katovsky of http://zero-drop.com, did an awesome expose of wild and crazy shoes! If you are unflamiliar with Bill, or his work, please visit his site!
Thanks for the entertainment, Bill!
Ivo and Shawn
Dr. Ivo Waerlop→
/Reflection:
Sometimes we take for granted our backup systems. In my case, it is Dr. Waerlop. I have known him for the better part of a decade now and two things come to mind: 1) the guy has never let me down and 2) still to this day there are a rare few people i can think of who are more intelligent than this dude. The man is not only a “friend for the duration” but he is just plain old brilliant, ask anyone who knows him or has heard him lecture. It was a no brainer when he approached me with the idea of The Gait Guys (we had been bouncing our knowledge around the web for awhile when it all came together in that big enormous skull of his.) At that moment i knew we had hit a vein/nerve. From that moment on The Gait Guys were cookin.
I have had other business partners over the decades but i have to say, when you have a backup like this cool cat, business is smooth sailing. I personally wouldn’t hesitate to drive hours for the wisdom and smarts of this guy. Wonder why…..? read this below or check out the link at the top to his website. If you are within a day or two drive of his office, don’t think twice as to whether it will be worth your time. Know a friend within a day’s travel ?,…. don’t hesitate. As we like to say, he has the west coast covered, i have the east and we split the middle !
Thanks for the great partnership dude….i look forward to the next 10 years anticipating the whereabouts of The 2 Gait Guys……..Heck, with just 6 months on Facebook and Social media sites and the tremendous domestic and surprisingly the even bigger international following (collective 30,000 monthly hits !) , i cannot imagine where the next 6 months will leave us, let alone 10 years ! Well, i suppose i can imagine for us……. Perhaps, maybe, just maybe…… someday uploading the day’s blog from our satellite up-link from the bow of our fishin boat (“Big Glutes”) klinking Corona’s and watching the sunset just before pulling up to the pier on St. Barts for a jam session with our new friend-to-be Jimmy Buffet. IF you are gonna dream, dream big !
I wish we could spill the beans on all the stuff in our pipeline for The Gait Guys, but hang tight folks…….there is a bundle to come. We have just gottn’ started !
Check out my brilliant partner below…….and, thanks again for always having my back during the ride man…..
-Shawn
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IVO F. WAERLOP D.C., DABCN, CCRP, CCSP, Lic Acp.
Dr Ivo is a 1986 summa cum laude graduate of the New York Chiropractic College. He received his post-graduate neurology diplomate from Logan Chiropractic College; he became board certified in 1990. Dr Ivo works with a broad base of patients including Olympic level, professional and paraprofessional running, skiing and cycling athletes. He is an adjunct faculty member with the Lincoln School of Post-Professional Education. He is engaged in publishing active research on cycling biomechanics and is involved in gait and lower extremity research. He is a board certified Chiropractic Neurologist, Chiropractic Rehabilitation Physician and certified Chiropractic Sports Physician. He lectures nationally on foot-ankle and gait biomechanics in sports and now in advanced acupuncture techniques. He is co-author of the textbook, Pedographs and Gait Analysis: Clinical Applications and Pearls.
Additional Background
Dr Ivo F Waerlop attended SUNY at Albany for his undergraduate work and graduated from the New York Chiropractic College in 1986. He then joined the Core Science faculty at the college and taught anatomy and cadaver dissection as well as Gonstead and Diversified chiropractic techniques. It was at this time he conducted research performing a serial dissection of alar ligaments in cadavers and completed post graduate work in Sports Medicine, receiving his Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician certification.
Dr Ivo then moved to Gloucester, Massachusetts where he founded Gloucester Chiropractic and Rehabilitation, a medically referral based office complete with CYBEX lab. During his time in Massachusetts, he completed additional post graduate work in rehabilitation and was accepted into the chiropractic neurology program at Logan Chiropractic College in St Louis, Missouri. Here, he was one of the fortunate doctors who studied directly under Dr Ted Carrick, and after 3 years and passing his written and oral board examinations, was awarded his Diplomate in Neurology Degree in May of 1991. At this point in time, Dr Waerlop began his post graduate teaching career, 1st in rehabilitation and later in neurology, lecturing throughout the US and Canada.
In late 1996, Dr Ivo relocated to Summit County Colorado, continuing to teach on a post graduate level and began a private practice in Frisco at the CARE Health Group. He began teaching Anatomy and Physiology locally at the Colorado Mountain College, which he continues to do today. In 1999, he relocated to a larger facility in Silverthorne and founded Summit Chiropractic and Rehabilitation, PC, a rehabilitation and neurology referral based practice, with an emphasis on gait and movement analysis.
In 2004, he became interested in acupuncture, largely because his 150 pound German Shepherd (Atlas) was epileptic, and a Veterinary Acupuncturist from Grand Junction (Dr Shalona McFarland) was able to help him control his seizures. Dr Ivo began his studies shortly thereafter and received his acupuncture license in the summer of 2005. He then studied neuromuscular acupuncture under Dr Yun Tao Ma and currently lecture with and is writing an acupuncture book with him.
In August of 2006, Dr John Asthlater joined the practice and the office was moved to our new facility in the Dillon Tech Center, in Dillon. In addition to injury, rehabilitative and preventative care, the new center offers the latest in cutting edge video motion analysis, an orthotic lab, electrodiagnostics, blood glucose and lipid analysis, lactate testing, training programs, expanded hours and many other services.
When Dr Ivo isn’t seeing patients or lecturing, he enjoys spending time tele-skiing, hiking and 4 wheeling with his wife, local photographer Lisa Ortiz, Their son's Vander and Saxxon and their dog, Pons. His hobbies include reading, music and cooking.
