The first post in this series asked if a pigeon toe was friend or foe. It is certainly a strategy, an adaptation that has a purpose. For me, my half with the pigeon toe also carried my biggest problems, particularly… Read more ›
Oh, the mighty pigeon toe. Such a strange little insurgent, and yet, it exists peacefully all around us. Where does it come from and how does it form? Does it afflict one leg or both? Is it the tibia or… Read more ›
Part 1 of this series explained how knee should not be used as a load-bearing joint. Part 2 showed how pressuring the knee can help build safety, alignment, and desired force at the desired time. This third and final segment… Read more ›
In part 1, I suggested that using the knee as gas instead of brakes could help free up the knee for motion and elicit the hips and ankle-foot as stabilizers. For folks with chronic pain, however, their nervous system likely… Read more ›
While walking through the streets of Europe last Spring, Adarian Barr wondered why his feet felt so good. He traced it back to the cobblestones. The lift, the variability, the multiple points of potential folding. This was the impetus behind… Read more ›
When new words are introduced, we tend to react as if they make things more complicated. We already know. We already have an understanding on what the terms we already use mean. Why would we change? We change when we are… Read more ›
Pairs. Roles. Asymmetry. The body knows and the body has ways. Understanding the differences between the halves helps you appreciate them. One side isn’t ‘good’. The other isn’t ‘bad’. They hold a function within the system. Here’s a big picture… Read more ›
My left leg has some problems. I could fill in the whys with any number of stories — the many ankle sprains during my athletic career, the torn and hamstring-repaired ACL, the pigeon toe I gave myself because of a… Read more ›
Adarian Barr does this thing. Well, first he does his thing — take a snapshot of what is going on in a way that only he seems to notice. Then he’ll send it to me without words and see what I… Read more ›
This post serves as a follow up to: A Path Towards Harm. Otherwise titled: The things I did wrong when I didn’t pay attention or have compassionate patience. The tag to this blog used to read, “fix yourself.” But… Read more ›
When assessing the lower leg, it has become common place to examine the foot. The pliable and separable toes receive much of the attention. The heel, strange and seemingly uninteresting, gets neglected. Considering the calcaneous is a starting point… Read more ›
The low gait might be the truest test of healthy knees. It requires full flexion under full bodyweight while pulling the center of mass. A single knee is responsible for stabilizing load while the feet and ankles pivot and reposition.… Read more ›
Joint ‘popping’ is a curious thing. It alarms without hurting. Especially when you realize it wasn’t there before. You notice something is different when you do that particular thing in that particular way. The different becomes ‘less than’ when… Read more ›
This post serves as a companion piece to Pain Exploration: Medial Knee. It picks up right where it left off, with manipulations of the ankle, foot, and toes. A low sit with the heel up and toes extended (an expression… Read more ›
Increasing dorsiflexion is a popular yet frustrating goal. Getting the ankles to do more lessens the strain on the knees, and is an important factor in being able to drop into a deep squat — an often used marker of overall… Read more ›
For about two months, I’ve had some chronic discomfort in my left knee. On a scale of 1-10, with ’10’ being agony and ‘1’ being noticeable/annoying, it oscillates between 1 and 4. Though this might be thought of as acceptable… Read more ›
The tip toes position is an assessment of toes, feet, and ankle control. Balance comes from joint stacking. The push off when we walk comes from a high heel. A toe point or push is required with reaching. Loaded plantar… Read more ›
Thirteen years ago, I had ACL reconstruction surgery using a hamstring graft. My tissues have long since ‘healed’, but the overall function still lacks behind my non-injured leg. Full flexion remains it’s biggest weakness. Here’s snapshot of the discrepancy in… Read more ›
feature photo credit: Dr. Andreo Spina Tibial rotation is necessary for keeping the knees in line with the ankles during a deep squat. It also greatly influences walking gait and joints of the knee, hip, ankle, and foot. Issue… Read more ›
The lower leg can be a mess. The shins are responsible for two main movements, dorsiflexion (top of foot pull) and plantar flexion (bottom of foot push). … Read more ›
Systemized by functional range conditioning (FRC), lift-offs are an ingenious way to focus on stability to achieve gains in mobility. Lift-offs are essentially lever tighteners. You place yourself in a supported end-range position, ‘screw-in’ the limb connection to the torso,… Read more ›
It’s happened to all of us. The foot torques, somebody steps on us, or we land on uneven footing and bam! — ankle sprain. It hurts to darn much that first minute or so, but then we can walk it… Read more ›