FEET! They are the bedrock of HEALTH!

Here is the story...two days before I was going on a big backpacking trip to Mount Rogers with my son the perfect storm of tissue overload occurred! Three 12 hour shifts, a run on tired tissue, a new loded plyometric drill and new boots on a foot that was on its way to injury! Well, the perfect storm colided which meand I needed to take action because I was not about to cancel this trip! Here is what I did...

I reached out to my Jess Buckley, friend, coach and all around boss of a human for tools how to disrupt the inflammatory process. Because, at this point I did not know if I had a stress fracture or if it was a tendonopathy. Jess NAILED it and gave me this amazing tissue series which brought some relief but my foot could not hold it so, onward we marched.

First step, support the tissue with a good boot, so I went to REI and got the trusted Keen hiking boots which gave me the stability I needed for a hike in the wet, dark, and very foggy terrain! During the hike I was able to produce a great heel lock with lacing and tweak my steps to a degree to create more inversion, protecting my irritated plantar fascia. I also brought my hypervolt which did not help the weight of my pack, adding up to 40+ pounds but improved circulation in the tissue produceing immediate relief in the evening!

Now we know that loading tissue is ALWAYS more healing than rest and stagnation! I bet you already know, after a 12 mile hike on very rugged terrain, carrying a pack, my foot actually felt much better!

Good thing becasue Monday morning after the trip I had the first day of the Summer Pelvicore Wellness training series! And TUESDAY was my first observation shift for midwifery! The shift was AMAZING but, my foot was episodically annoyed!

Finally the next day, before I swam, I connected the dots, pulling on my AFS fellowship and remembering how to retrain the foot to achieve stability! I share that whole series below! The left foot was the affected foot!

Video One!

Internal rotation with dorsiflexion. Reach the knee across the midline but avoid opening up the hip. Lock up the foot when actively stretching the calf

Video Two!

Anterior rotational step with opposite arm rotational reach at head height

This one we are using the hip and core to help use the calf to lock up the foot. Keep the inside and outside of the heel down and let sense the load through the core with the arm reach.

Video Three!

Anterior step with opposite side rotation at overhead

The hip is a huge helper to the foot. It must be mobile and strong and work well with the core. When you take your arms up at overhead and reach behind you, this brings in the core. Add rotation and you have an added bonus!

Video Four!

Unaffected leg anterior step with bilateral hands at overhead-reach.

The unaffected hip impacts how well we can load and explode into the affected side. If you cannot get full hip extension along with the core on the opposite side hip and the foot lifts early, you cannot wind up the hip on the left leg. Use the arms and sense how well you can load the core.

Video Five!

Single leg balance with opposite side rotational reach at ankle. Here you are asking your foot to tolerate rotation and control the motion from the top town at the foot and the ankle. You are looking for an adaptable foot here and one that can tolerat rotationfrom a top down reach.

Video Six!

Loading the unaffected hip into abduction with a lateral lunge and bilateral hand reach opposite side at overhead also allows the affected foot to experience pronation along with hip adduction. The hip must have the ability to move freely and control motion in the frontal plane so it can help to lock up the foot.

Video Seven!

Now we combine drills! A posterior lunge on the unaffected side hip to a single leg balance with same side reach at overhead. Explode out of hip flexion and allow the opposite side hip to control pronation at the foot! This one feels so good!

Video Eight!

Single leg balance with same side rotational reach at chest. Now we bring in the ribcage and core and and see if the whole body can help the foot explode out of supination.

Video Nine!

Single leg balance anterior reach at ankle with opposite side rotation arm reach at chest. This is the unaffected leg. Can the foot control pronation driven from the top down!

Fast forward 10 days and we are at 90%! Not running but 90% pain free and adding in 3 doses of foot drills throughout the day! For a FANTASTIC foot series, check out Rali_Fitnesscoach and her foot series on Instagram. The midfoot drills are FANTASTIC and made a HUGE difference in my foot feeling safe!

Take home...Injury may happen but we are inherently capable of HEALING. The answer is RARELY complete rest and it is NEVER pain meds and antiinflammatories only! We need to load the tissue and then allow for adaptation! During this period of healing, I continued training but adapted and allowed for a lot more healing time! Low impact zone 2 cardio like swimming, biking, slide board and rowing all allowed for a safe loading of tissue and circulating nutrients for healing. On top of this, nutrition to support healing and adequate rest all play a role!

Out of EVERY injury we have the capacity to come out stronger and more resilient. I know foot drills will be a permanent fixture in my arsenal!