Barefoot: Strength From Your Foundation Up
• Structures of: bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles and innervation
o The structures of the foot each work harmoniously to produce movement, decelerate movement, absorb shock, create a system of checks and balances by sending messages to the brain to aid in balance and serve as the foundation of the kinetic chain.
• Kinetic Chain and Arthrokinetics
o The “head bone’s connected to the neck bone, the neck bone’s connected to the shoulder bone….” All bones are connected and their articulations and movement influence the movement one another.
o What is the kinetic chain?
- Kinetic chain pertains to the body’s systems involved in producing movement (nervous, muscular and skeletal systems). If one of the components of the kinetic chain isn’t functioning properly, it will affect the other components and ultimately affect movement.
- Nerve endings (sensory receptors sense pain, pressure, movement to the brain causing an appropriate message to be sent to the muscles to dictate a physical response via movement. Increased use of those pathways, promotes efficiency and healthy function of the neuro-muscular systems. Barefoot allows the receptors to freely receive feedback, provide input to the brain and allow the body to respond in a way that produces safe and efficient movement.
- Nerves and proprioception. Proprioception is the sensing of your limbs during movement, important in keeping your spatially oriented, balanced, protected from faulty movement etc. The more sensory nerves you have exposed to the elements, the more messages are sent to the brain telling it what is going on with your limbs and the brain influencing the right movement at the right time. These neural pathways are important in adjusting gait to adapt to uneven ground, respond to a harmful stimulus (heat, pressure, tension etc).
- Blocking the sensory receptors can lead to delayed neural response, decreased neuro-muscular efficiency, decreased proprioception and decreased balance. The more your foot feels the more information is sent to your brain, the quicker it can send the right message to produce the right movement.
o How can weakness in the foot create low back pain?
- The muscles that support the feet and ankles are connected to and support knee movement, when there is weakness in the muscles of the lower leg, muscles of the upper leg also become imbalanced which can further contribute to faulty movement patterns and increased muscle imbalances of the knee, hip and ultimately spine.
o Raised heels and back pain
-When
the heel is raised, the foot is put in a position of plantar flexion
forcing the body forward at the ankle. In order to maintain eye level
along the horizon and to avoid falling forward, the upper body is
brought back into upright position at the hip, anteriorly tilting the
pelvis and putting the lumbar spine in a position of hyper-extension
which can ultimately lead to low back pain. Muscle imbalances ensue
leading to more faulty and painful movement.
So, Why Barefoot?:
-Ankle, knee and hip stabilization
-Increased neuromuscular efficiency and balance
-Proper spinal alignment
-Increased body awareness
-Decreased impact and ground collision force
-It's fun
-It's empowering
-It's inexpensive
-It's natural
• Structures of: bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles and innervation
o The structures of the foot each work harmoniously to produce movement, decelerate movement, absorb shock, create a system of checks and balances by sending messages to the brain to aid in balance and serve as the foundation of the kinetic chain.
• Kinetic Chain and Arthrokinetics
o The “head bone’s connected to the neck bone, the neck bone’s connected to the shoulder bone….” All bones are connected and their articulations and movement influence the movement one another.
o What is the kinetic chain?
- Kinetic chain pertains to the body’s systems involved in producing movement (nervous, muscular and skeletal systems). If one of the components of the kinetic chain isn’t functioning properly, it will affect the other components and ultimately affect movement.
- Nerve endings (sensory receptors sense pain, pressure, movement to the brain causing an appropriate message to be sent to the muscles to dictate a physical response via movement. Increased use of those pathways, promotes efficiency and healthy function of the neuro-muscular systems. Barefoot allows the receptors to freely receive feedback, provide input to the brain and allow the body to respond in a way that produces safe and efficient movement.
- Nerves and proprioception. Proprioception is the sensing of your limbs during movement, important in keeping your spatially oriented, balanced, protected from faulty movement etc. The more sensory nerves you have exposed to the elements, the more messages are sent to the brain telling it what is going on with your limbs and the brain influencing the right movement at the right time. These neural pathways are important in adjusting gait to adapt to uneven ground, respond to a harmful stimulus (heat, pressure, tension etc).
- Blocking the sensory receptors can lead to delayed neural response, decreased neuro-muscular efficiency, decreased proprioception and decreased balance. The more your foot feels the more information is sent to your brain, the quicker it can send the right message to produce the right movement.
o How can weakness in the foot create low back pain?
- The muscles that support the feet and ankles are connected to and support knee movement, when there is weakness in the muscles of the lower leg, muscles of the upper leg also become imbalanced which can further contribute to faulty movement patterns and increased muscle imbalances of the knee, hip and ultimately spine.
o Raised heels and back pain
So, Why Barefoot?:-Ankle, knee and hip stabilization
-Increased neuromuscular efficiency and balance
-Proper spinal alignment
-Increased body awareness
-Decreased impact and ground collision force
-It's fun
-It's empowering
-It's inexpensive
-It's natural
Exercises you can do to strengthen your feet and ankles (a count of 8 for each exercise is a sufficient start)
-Point (plantarfex) and flex (dorsiflex): while sitting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_7V4hxLiHU-Alternate touching your big toe to the floor (eversion) to your pinkie toe (inversion) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia1LXBbgCF4
-Toe raises: with your foot flat on the floor, lifting only your toes (keeping the lateral arch or "ball" of your foot on the floor)
-Splaying your toes, while sitting work on spreading your toes apart slowly with each day you'll find that the distance between each toe increases. Work on both feet
-Foot fold: while standing, bring your heel high up off the floor coming up onto your lateral arch. Raise and lower your heel dynamically one foot at a time.
- Toe challenge! While standing, aim to touch only your big toe and pinkie toe to the floor while lifting the middle 3 toes
-Toe curls: while standing, lay a paper towel or small thin rag on the floor, while curling your toes scrunch the towel under your foot. Then pick it up with your toes. Have fun with it!
-Walking around barefoot on different surfaces is also great stimulation for the feet and ankles.
Start slowly and ease your way in, eventually you'll have strong solid feet and ankles.
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