An excerpt from the below article from Engaging Muscles. A few weeks ago a runner came to see me. According to him, he had been to all the specialists, followed all the recommended stretches and strengthening exercises religiously, but still had pain and a noticeable limp. He went on to tell me (and I’m paraphrasing), “At this point I would be happy to walk normally and be able to play with my kids without pain.” When I analyzed his walking gait it was very clear that he could not get over his left foot, e.g., Dorsiflexion of his leg at the ankle joint. All the specialists were focused on the tight muscles on the back of his left lower leg. A major component of his inefficient biomechanics was a neurologically inhibited (weak) tibialis anterior. If you are not familiar with tibialis anterior, it is a muscle that runs down the front of the leg and then attaches to two bones on the inside of the foot. The muscle was not receiving enough neurological input to pull the lower leg over his foot. The muscles on the back of the lower leg were tight to protect the joint(s) from going into a positions(s) where the body could not feel stability. Here is that lazy word again…compensation. You could stretch every day for the next year and the muscles will continue to tighten up. engagingmuscles/2011/06/29/the-soleus-a-built-in-advantage-for-running-in-minimal-shoes/
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 10:30:04 +0000