Hi
The plantar fascia is not stretchy. According to research it only holds about 14% of the load at plant.
So why is it sore?
Lever Model thinkers say it is because the achilles is pulling too hard through the plantar fascia and it is straining it. This is a prehistoric view and hardly useful for most who are looking for long term relief and top level performance from the mechanics. You stretch the fascia and the achilles. What you may not understand is that you cannot improve the loading capacity of a fascia by stretching and if it is a NON CONTRACTING structure then how can you really stretch it.
Did anyone ever ask this question?
What if it is overloaded? Would you stretch or impart more strain on an already overloaded structure by static stretching? No way! I never stretch the plantar fascia with a patient with plantar fasciitis.
I sometimes look at doctors and healers as mechanics who dont understand the true mechanics of a region so when all else fails.... STRETCH That will wipe out the 15 minute procedure code and you look kinda cool doing it. That is a mechanic and not an engineer.
What none of the research experts or those who write about the plantar fascia ask is the MOST important question
If the plantar fascia only holds 14% of the load at plant what are the other structures that hold up the other 86 % of the load?
If those other structures are not doing their part to suspend the load off the plantar fascia then they are what needs to be approached.
The plantar fascia does not stretch much so when the foot pushes off the ground the arch actually MUST elevate by articulating (joints move) to allow it to raise up to allow the foot to push off without stretching the plantar fascia beyond its yield point or plastic deformity or tear point.
CHECK AND RELEASE THE ARCH SPRING MECHANSIM
So a good place to look for potential stress on the plantar fascia is the intersegmental motion of the metatarsal cunieform joints. That is the middle of the arch area between the longer toe bones and the mid foot. Bend each long bone back and forth while you hold the bones it bends from in the mid foot to see if any of them are stuck. I call this the "wiggle" test You wiggle the bones to check the joint play and you wiggle them lose if you find they are stiff or locked. Then to keep them moving I recommend running in zig zag patterns, figure 8 patterns, side shuffle patterns and circle patterns as this mobilizes the 33 joints of the foot and ankle naturally as your foot lands on these angles. I run this way and I never have foot pain.
CHECK, RELEASE AND STREGTHEN THE ARCH SPRING SUSPENSION SYSTEM MUSLCES (LANDING MUSCLES)
What doctors and scientists elude to is a structure that suspends the arch complex over the fascia. It is my expert opinion that the load of the foot plant is suspended off the plantar fascia by the suspension system muscles of the foot. If you look at the design of the anatomy you will see these muscles have a strategic attachment at the bottom of the foot.
Introducing the Pronation Supination Cuff Training
The muscles that prevent over pronation and over supination of the foot consist of the tibialis posterior, tibialis anterior, peroneus longus, and peroneus brevis.
The strength of these supination and pronation spring suspension are not covered much in bodybuilding or fitness magazines, training routines etc but of all the muscles, in fact these are THE most important muscles in the body to work.
Why?
- These muscles suspend your foot as a leaf spring so it can bounce your body off the ground instead of bang your body into the ground.
- They store FREE elastic energy when your mass impacts the ground when they stretch. This storage of energy is what allows your body to move more efficiently as a spring mechanism rather than an inefficient lever mechanism.
- These muscles, which I also refer to the pronator supinator cuff muscles, maintain the foot and lower limb in the safe range between supination and pronation.
Most trainers focus on the takeoffs and forget the landings
The Takeoff Muscles
Im always browsing the internet and reading books about training and it’s surprising for me to see so many trainers at the elite level talking about the hamstrings, quads, glutes and abdominal core muscles yet hardly ever if any time talking about the muscles which suspend and spring load the arch. No wonder so many have impact related injuries.
There’s no use planning a fitness regime to rival an Olympic athlete unless you first sort out how healthy or otherwise your gait is. You may be able to fly on the track but it’s not going to take too long before you’re grounded permanently if every step you take is the equivalent of a crash landing.
Hard landings cause shock to the skeleton, and while it might seem like heavily-cushioned shoes would be the answer, they are in fact, likely doing more damage as they dramatically affect the arch spring’s ability to appropriately absorb, store, then release the energy from each step.
Rather than strapping five inch ‘pillows’ to your feet, the best solution is to repair the spring mechanism in the arches by following the procedures and exercises in this article.
When your limbs veer outside of the safe range of supination to pronation rolling motion you enter the unsafe range. Any motion of a joint or complex of joints outside its normal range lead to abnormal movement patterns that can cause stress and strain, wear and tear, widespread silent inflammation, which can lead to painful inflammation.
These muscles must not only be strong enough for us to walk pain free with some energy recycling but also they must possess strength, speed, stamina, suppleness and flexibility.
When we know how much resistance or impact force the pronation-supination cuff or spring suspension system can resist then we can design the right training program that creates the exact adaptation we need.
- See more at: Self-Tests & Exercises To Reduce Over Pronation and Over Supination From Impacts During Walking and Running