Evolutionary Athletics

This is a small case study of one of the members (nba8340) of our forum.  He contacted me with the following post:

“hey alex, i know i asked you this awhile about what shoes to get.  I’ve always worn bball sneakers, and i tried on the nike zoom waffles like you said to check out but they just felt real bad, i have very flat feet and my feet instantly were collapsing in and i knew that if i even tried to run or do anything in them i would sprain my ankle or something.  So just wondering what you would recommend to get or if you had any other thoughts, i just want a light pair of sneakers not bulky like bball shoes that i can use for everyday wear, lifting, or some sprinting. Maybe cross trainers would be the type to look at, however i tried on a few stability running shoes at the store and actually bought the brooks shoe

i’m starting to think now after talking to adarqui, it doesn’t make any sense to have those sneakers since i’m not interested in doing any long distance running however they do feel better than wearing the bball shoes i always wear as my feet don’t collapse as much in them.  Are their cross trainers or something i could buy that are geared more towards ppl with flat feet but that i could also be good using for everyday, lifting, sprinting, etc?”

Now I had recommended minimalist shoes without ever seeing his feet (mistake).  After this post I asked if he could video himself walking, as well as video different images of his feet so we could get a better feel for what we were dealing with.  Luckily he obliged with the video below:

I then forwarded his questions and the video to my friend Dr. Shawn Allen who has far more experiece dealing with foot function than I do.  Below is his response:

“1- flat feet…….of course.

2- impaired ankle rocker (mortise dorsiflexion) hidden by the fact that there is APPARENT ankle rocker but it is actually rocker obtained through excessive rear and mid foot pronation.  Suspicion……weak anterior compartment (see my youtube:

3. there is a rotational spin in his gait as evidenced by his “pinch” callus at the medial great toe…….this is evidence of foot spin into external rotation…..which is usually a sign of impaired ankle rocker or lack of internal  hip rotation……or both……certainly many other things can cause this but without examination of client it is up for guessing

4.  recommendation is always to build intrinsic foot strength (lumbricals, FDB etc) as well as anterior extrinsic strength (Tib Ant ie)  in a logical pattern for this client…..each client is different.

5. orthotic is a bandaid…..but might be helpful here………but doesn’t fix anything

6.  increased foot awareness to avoid collapse is imperative……..he needs to de-train this aberrant neurological recruitment pattern of the foot intrinsics-extrinsics and relearn foot tripod and progress from there

7. shoe……well, more support improves (reduces) the collapse……as foot becomes more skilled……and stronger…….reduce extrinsic shoe assistance……

8. brooks adrenaline…….saucony hurricane or Omni……asics (evolution)…….saucony MC stabil   are good shoe choices……..

9…..******* if he has  a forefoot (FF) varus a posting on the shoe insert will help him find a reasonable tripod……..if the FF varus is fixed…….the post is critical…….if the FF varus is functional (due to weakness and unawareness of how to achieve the tripod position) then he must relearn tripod and work upward to more SSE (skill, strength and endurance……..the mantra of The Gait Guys)

“

For drills that improve foot function please check out the following series of articles:

Foot Function for Sports Performance Part 1

Foot Function for Sports Performance Part 2

Foot Function for Sports Performance Part 3

I would like to thank Dr. Allen for his help in this mini case study and nba8340 for allowing me to post this on the main page, as I have learned a lot and I hope nba and the rest of my readers have picked up a thing or two.

Dr. Allen is in the process of launching a new site called The Gait Guys.  It is in its infancy and will be completely updated during the next few weeks.

Enjoy

-Alex