Hello, since I broke my 3rd met I haven't moved at all and I've spent hours and days looking into why it happened. And now after almost 2 months I think I even started to develop some pain in the other foot, like a stepping over stones feeling (metatarslagia symptoms). I've been all the time at home, barefoot just walking from bedroom, desk, kitchen, bathroom and once a week 1-2km with minimalist shoes for grocery shopping.
There is a lot of information on how should we run but on the other hand there is very little about how should we walk. Everyone just assumes that everyone knows how to walk, and that may apply for some people who have been lucky and have not been affected by what conventional shoes do...
Can someone recommend free resources to learn about this?
My understandings and questions:
0. Ears, shoulders, and hip should be aligned.
1. I think in all places everyone agrees that our upper body should be relaxed, the arms should swing to counteract the movement of the opposite leg and the movement should also go to the thoracic cage. But the arms should move in the "inside direction" but parallel to the body.
2. The lower back and pelvis should stay stable all the time and not go up and down, the same applies for the head. The core should be slightly activated to prevent any kind of hyperlordosis:
https://nutritiousmovement.com/gait-101/
3. Once we got down to the legs it starts to be more complicated to find information where all people agree or just expose different things.
3.1 In some places I've read we should initiate the movement with gravity, therefore shift forward the weight by leaning out center of gravity and then lift one leg ahead of us. Probably this is the "easiest" way we think about preserving energy.
3.2 In other places they say you should initiate the movement by activating your glut and putting the opposite leg forward. This probably helps to have less impact on the landing but maybe helps to be moving in a "more rigid way"?
What do you think?
4. Should we land we the leg straight when we contact the floor or should we more like a flexed knee to soften the shock with the quadriceps?
5. On landing there is also not a clear consensus but I think generally everyone agrees that it's not important to focus on how to land but let the feet adapt to the terrain freely. It's ok to land with the heel, but it should be a light touch and when you start weight bearing the whole feet should already be on the floor.
6. In general you should move the weight from the heel to outside midfoot and then to the big toe.
6.1 Should we actively spread (abduct) the toes during this rolling motion to have more 1st metatarsal support or even push with the 1st toe down when we do the toe off?
6.2 Should we lift (extend) the toes when we have the feet in the air?
In most barefoot videos I've where people with mortons toe walk barefoot they have a huge gap between the 1st and the 2nd toe, i.e. So that makes me think that to overcome problems with metatarsalgia probably coming from too much too soon (1) or too much pressure from narrow shoes (2). i.e. or mortons foot shape (3) we should focus on that:
What other biomechanical problems could be contributing to develp shin splints and/or metatarsalgia during the gait cycle WALKING?
Edit: Also in a lot of german videos about walking barefoot, they say it should be landing first with the outerside of the feet, for example here, min 3:37:
But I don't see many videos in English talking about this, almost everything is just about benefits/cons and not the actual technique, and when they show some images it seems like most of them are walking heel first.
There is a lot of information on how should we run but on the other hand there is very little about how should we walk. Everyone just assumes that everyone knows how to walk, and that may apply for some people who have been lucky and have not been affected by what conventional shoes do...
Can someone recommend free resources to learn about this?
My understandings and questions:
0. Ears, shoulders, and hip should be aligned.
1. I think in all places everyone agrees that our upper body should be relaxed, the arms should swing to counteract the movement of the opposite leg and the movement should also go to the thoracic cage. But the arms should move in the "inside direction" but parallel to the body.
2. The lower back and pelvis should stay stable all the time and not go up and down, the same applies for the head. The core should be slightly activated to prevent any kind of hyperlordosis:
https://nutritiousmovement.com/gait-101/
3. Once we got down to the legs it starts to be more complicated to find information where all people agree or just expose different things.
3.1 In some places I've read we should initiate the movement with gravity, therefore shift forward the weight by leaning out center of gravity and then lift one leg ahead of us. Probably this is the "easiest" way we think about preserving energy.
3.2 In other places they say you should initiate the movement by activating your glut and putting the opposite leg forward. This probably helps to have less impact on the landing but maybe helps to be moving in a "more rigid way"?
What do you think?
4. Should we land we the leg straight when we contact the floor or should we more like a flexed knee to soften the shock with the quadriceps?
5. On landing there is also not a clear consensus but I think generally everyone agrees that it's not important to focus on how to land but let the feet adapt to the terrain freely. It's ok to land with the heel, but it should be a light touch and when you start weight bearing the whole feet should already be on the floor.
6. In general you should move the weight from the heel to outside midfoot and then to the big toe.
6.1 Should we actively spread (abduct) the toes during this rolling motion to have more 1st metatarsal support or even push with the 1st toe down when we do the toe off?
6.2 Should we lift (extend) the toes when we have the feet in the air?
In most barefoot videos I've where people with mortons toe walk barefoot they have a huge gap between the 1st and the 2nd toe, i.e. So that makes me think that to overcome problems with metatarsalgia probably coming from too much too soon (1) or too much pressure from narrow shoes (2). i.e. or mortons foot shape (3) we should focus on that:
What other biomechanical problems could be contributing to develp shin splints and/or metatarsalgia during the gait cycle WALKING?
Edit: Also in a lot of german videos about walking barefoot, they say it should be landing first with the outerside of the feet, for example here, min 3:37:
But I don't see many videos in English talking about this, almost everything is just about benefits/cons and not the actual technique, and when they show some images it seems like most of them are walking heel first.
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