I got some Vffs on 12/24/11 and, I'll admit, I got to enthusiastic, too soon and my heel began to hurt. Only the left heel, the fleshy part in front of the Achilles tendon, and in the arch just before the heel. For the last 2 weeks I cut way back, doing only around 12 miles a week, and of those, only about 5 in vffs. But I still want to run some! It hurts most in the am and after long runs.But only after the run,seems to feel fine while running.the walk after just hurts like hell. Should I give up minimalism altogether? cross train only for a few weeks? I looked into it and it sounds a little like Calcaneal Apophysitis, but Im 28 years old. Sorry if I sound dense, I just got into this sport 6 months ago.
I knoww I started to hard, now how do I make my heel pain stop.
- Thread starter Neilhass
- Start date
It sounds like Plantar
It sounds like Plantar Fasciitis to me. If you do have PF, it is so important to totally heal it before you start running again; otherwise, it can get much, much worse and plague you for a long, long time.
The docs should be by soon to answer your questions.
It sounds like Plantar Fasciitis to me. If you do have PF, it is so important to totally heal it before you start running again; otherwise, it can get much, much worse and plague you for a long, long time.
The docs should be by soon to answer your questions.
It depends on the extent of
It depends on the extent of the injury really. I've had PF three times (twice directly associated with shoes and once indirectly associated with shoes). I found that I could run the first two times and healed on the fly, but the third time, the only thing that made it better was to not run. You'll just have to figure out how bad your PF is and decide what would be best to do. I know lots of people who run "barefoot" say they've actually gotten rid of their PF by running "barefoot," totally unshod.
It depends on the extent of the injury really. I've had PF three times (twice directly associated with shoes and once indirectly associated with shoes). I found that I could run the first two times and healed on the fly, but the third time, the only thing that made it better was to not run. You'll just have to figure out how bad your PF is and decide what would be best to do. I know lots of people who run "barefoot" say they've actually gotten rid of their PF by running "barefoot," totally unshod.
As a coach I'll say at this
As a coach I'll say at this point it doesn't matter what your injury is the only thing you need to do is stop. stop. stop. stop. Stop everything. Stop running in your old shoes. Stop running in VFFs. Stop exercising in ways that involve you to use your feet a lot. Try to rest, elevate, and ice as often as your schedule allows and let it heal. Given that it's in two spots in a small area it could be a few things but none of them will heal with you just backing off of what you normally do. I'm not a doctor but I've coached and trained more athletes than I can remember and I don't think any of them have ever healed by "taking it easy" for a while.
I would also say that it's probably not Calcaneal Apophysitis as that's usually reserved for younger people. It's a lot more likely that you have something Plantar Faciitis, heel spur, or just some good old fashioned inflammation. The best way to begin determining something like that is to actually rest though and by rest I don't mean run 12 miles a week
As a coach I'll say at this point it doesn't matter what your injury is the only thing you need to do is stop. stop. stop. stop. Stop everything. Stop running in your old shoes. Stop running in VFFs. Stop exercising in ways that involve you to use your feet a lot. Try to rest, elevate, and ice as often as your schedule allows and let it heal. Given that it's in two spots in a small area it could be a few things but none of them will heal with you just backing off of what you normally do. I'm not a doctor but I've coached and trained more athletes than I can remember and I don't think any of them have ever healed by "taking it easy" for a while.
I would also say that it's probably not Calcaneal Apophysitis as that's usually reserved for younger people. It's a lot more likely that you have something Plantar Faciitis, heel spur, or just some good old fashioned inflammation. The best way to begin determining something like that is to actually rest though and by rest I don't mean run 12 miles a week
I was going to stop running
I was going to stop running for one full week, but I should be able to cycle or swim, right? Maybe I'll try deep water jogging. As soon as it feels fine walking around on again I can start running, right?
Thanks for comments, fellas. Very helpfull.
I was going to stop running for one full week, but I should be able to cycle or swim, right? Maybe I'll try deep water jogging. As soon as it feels fine walking around on again I can start running, right?
Thanks for comments, fellas. Very helpfull.
Do nothing. Seriously.
Do nothing. Seriously. Cycling usess your feet. Swimming uses your feet. I had a client recently have surgery on his foot and he was not allowed in pool until the doc thought his recovery was at a point to where the foot was strong enough to swim. You are underestimating how much your foot is needed in nearly every movement/activity. My advice is to do nothing that you want to. It sucks but it is seriously what you need. Let it rest and possibly properly heal and you won't have this to worry about in the future. Don't and it may become a nagging injury that drives you to much worse scenarios. Just keep reminding yourself of what you said in your initial post. You over did it to get here.
Do nothing. Seriously. Cycling usess your feet. Swimming uses your feet. I had a client recently have surgery on his foot and he was not allowed in pool until the doc thought his recovery was at a point to where the foot was strong enough to swim. You are underestimating how much your foot is needed in nearly every movement/activity. My advice is to do nothing that you want to. It sucks but it is seriously what you need. Let it rest and possibly properly heal and you won't have this to worry about in the future. Don't and it may become a nagging injury that drives you to much worse scenarios. Just keep reminding yourself of what you said in your initial post. You over did it to get here.
NickW
Guest
This sounds exactly what I
This sounds exactly what I have and am resting right now, which is achilles tendonitis and pf. I kept running on it for over a month and now I've been resting for a couple weeks. It still hurts if I walk too much but I feel better than I did and it seems like it is getting better slowly. Listen to Jimmy when he says rest, I wish I would have done that very thing...
This sounds exactly what I have and am resting right now, which is achilles tendonitis and pf. I kept running on it for over a month and now I've been resting for a couple weeks. It still hurts if I walk too much but I feel better than I did and it seems like it is getting better slowly. Listen to Jimmy when he says rest, I wish I would have done that very thing...
Good call Neil. I know I can
Good call Neil. I know I can be a punk about it but after nearly 16 years of this I get a little grumpy at hearing the same kind of stuff with the same kind of responses. I'm glad you're willing to actually rest because it will do you good.
Nick you too!
Good call Neil. I know I can be a punk about it but after nearly 16 years of this I get a little grumpy at hearing the same kind of stuff with the same kind of responses. I'm glad you're willing to actually rest because it will do you good.
Nick you too!
Classic plantar fasciitis
Classic plantar fasciitis symptoms. Remember, with any injury - call it what you like - but it really doesn't matter what you name it. It's important to know why you got it. If you don't figure that out it's almost a guarantee you'll be injured again soon. Neil, this could have been from going to a zero-drop way to quickly, or training too hard.
Plantar fasciitis post and video on Sock Doc here.
Classic plantar fasciitis symptoms. Remember, with any injury - call it what you like - but it really doesn't matter what you name it. It's important to know why you got it. If you don't figure that out it's almost a guarantee you'll be injured again soon. Neil, this could have been from going to a zero-drop way to quickly, or training too hard.
Plantar fasciitis post and video on Sock Doc here.
I just ordered "How I Got My
I just ordered "How I Got My Wiggle Back" -can't wait to read it!
Having spent the last two decades incapacitated by pain, struggling to find what works for me, and becoming reasonably functional again. I wish I had thought to read these types of inspirational stories during that time, but I enjoy reading now, nonetheless.
Another awesome inspirational book to read is...
http://www.amazon.com/No-Not-My-Head-Wheelchair/dp/1600376991/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327720486&sr=8-1
I just ordered "How I Got My Wiggle Back" -can't wait to read it!
Having spent the last two decades incapacitated by pain, struggling to find what works for me, and becoming reasonably functional again. I wish I had thought to read these types of inspirational stories during that time, but I enjoy reading now, nonetheless.
Another awesome inspirational book to read is...
http://www.amazon.com/No-Not-My-Head-Wheelchair/dp/1600376991/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327720486&sr=8-1
Hi Jen Thank you for your
Hi Jen
Thank you for your kind words
Here is a list of books I have read and found to be valuable for barefoot runners
http://teamdoctorsblog.com/books/
I hope you find them helpful to you
Let me know what you think of How I Got My Wiggle Back
Thanks again for your words of encouragement Never give up!
Hi Jen
Thank you for your kind words
Here is a list of books I have read and found to be valuable for barefoot runners
http://teamdoctorsblog.com/books/
I hope you find them helpful to you
Let me know what you think of How I Got My Wiggle Back
Thanks again for your words of encouragement Never give up!
Hi there I want to thank
Hi there
I want to thank you for visiting the forum. I will try to help you but first of all we need to clarify where exactly this pain is because I think you may have a few people confused.
CLARIFY THE LOCATION OF THE PAIN
What you said was that you had pain in the heel both at the heel in the base of the arch and also behind the heel in the fleshy part in the front of the achilles tendon. I have inserted a photo for you to clarify the exact location for us because without the exact location we cant help you as much. Please let me know if this is the exact location.
Is the pain in front of the achilles and "behind" the heel where this arrow is?
http://www.ajronline.org/content/186/1/259/F1.expansion
Is the pain at the base of the heel but in the arch area? Is it between the Anterior process of the calcaneus and the cuboid on this image?
http://orthoanswer.org/foot-ankle/subtalar-dislocation/definition.html
If those are the two locations of your pain, the best description of the area is the subtalar joint and not the plantar fascia area.
The question was "Did you start off too strong?
My answer to that question is....
Not exactly easy to say that Why do I say that?
It was just fine for your right foot but too fast for your left foot? NAHHHH!
If you SIMPLY started off too strong you would have symptoms and signs on both the right and left foot. That is a simple deduction because it seems like your right foot can handle the force of the landing and the amount of landings but your left cannot.
So, we deduct your left foot cannot handle the force of the impacts (weak landing mechanism) or its locked somewhere not allowing the force to be distributed across 33 joints or your form and technique is off or all three, maybe something unknown we can only determine after careful examination. Lets face it, the docs here are doing their best with minimal information We need some WIGGLE ROOM here. I am a fan of the blue wiggle.
Ok lets go with common sense advice that could help you or anyone else across the board here. Maybe your left foot has one or many of the 33 joints locked. ITS STIFF IN AREAS AND LOOSE IN OTHERS
The locking of any one or many of these joints does not allow the force of the landing to spread over the 33 joints for a smooth landing. This can force an excessive movement of the subtalar joint or as we say in medicine, hypermobility of the subtalar joint. Excessive movement in a joint can cause pain. IT COULD BE THAT BECAUSE THAT IS COMMON AND MAKES SENSE. Your foot has been in a shoe for years
When you take any body part out of a brace it is weaker than it was when training without the brace----
They call this a PRINCIPLE OF TRAINING That is how we base our coaching or doctoring advice on. I will chose principles over studies performed on SHOD ATHLETES when determining what to do with BAREFOOT ATHLETES.
SELF HELP - MUSCLE FOOT LOCK - When the foot moves abnormal according to the way it is designed the brain senses this and creates what we call "tonic (constant) protective spasms" That means it stiffens the area.
When you are running you need the foot to be a spring mechanism to deform its shape to load the force of the landing into the mechanism, store the energy in the deforming process then reform back to its EXACT original shape releasing the energy.
When the mass hits the foot with the heel first the "landing muscles" of the peroneal, soleus and tibialis posterior lower the forefoot down similar to when you bench press. The weight is lowered into position then we push up. That landing can be smoooth, aligned and springy when these muscles are working right and all the joints are released to allow this mass to enter into the spring savely.
When the foot is stiff, when the muscles that lower the foot eccentrically into position are strong (landing muscles) then you are in a good postion to spring off the ground. If the foot (spring) is preloaded with muscle tension and or muscles are weak then the abnormal motion occurs to move around the locked weak mechanism or the path of least resistance.
We cannot examine you so we have to go with statistical probabilities to see if we can get closer to the target so maybe we can help you with this post. Statistically the tibialis posterior is the muscle I find to be the most commonly weaker than others which means that the foot is weakest in absorbing the forces of the landings. The heel rolls out of the safe range inward. That over rolling outside the safe range makes the subtalar joint hypermobile or stretches the joint.
I feel you are describing the front of your subtalar joint (the point at the bottom of the heel at the arch) and the rear of the subtalar joint (the area in front of the achilles tendon in the fleshy part behind the heel) This is a common place for pain. This is a common occurance
If we release the stiffness from the surrounding joints more forces can be taken up in these joints lessening the stress on the subtalar joint.
The most common muscles to stiffen in my 26 years of examining gait, manually checking and manipulating, rehabilitating patients and athletes are:
1. The muscles under the second toe
2. The muscles under the big toe
3. The muscles on the medial or inner edge of the big toe. http://hizaita.net/abductorhallucis.aspx
4. The muscles between the first and second toe.
5. The tibialis posterior muscle
I will have Debbie load the video tutorials of how to release the foot with the deep tissue techniques I developed which work great. I did these tutorials in Malaysia last summer after a barefoot race and they are great. Here they are.... Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY172vF2b6U Video Tutorial 77 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzKy6FFhN7I Video Tutorial 78 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx1iUF8zZBM Video Tutorial 79 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSR9V3yfGSE Video Tutorial 80 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzNP4NjhYzE Video Tutorial 81 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG5Eov1mqB4 Video Tutorial 82 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtSbsvapItk Video Tutorial 83 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN8z1i9Hb2I Video Tutorial 84 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as2byTNrooE Video Tutorial 85 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flD9qi7lrck Video Tutorial 86 Next... The tougher part
SELF HELP - JOINT FOOT LOCK - What I recommend for those who are untrained in foot manipulations is first work on the areas of pain with deep tissue then wiggle loose the 33 joints of the foot the best you can. When I manipulate a stiff or locked foot its like taking a piece of frozen steak out of the freezer and trying to thaw it out with my bare hands. When people watch me do this they are a bit shocked at the sheering force it takes to get the joint play back in the foot. However, I remind them that the human foot can take force. For example if you are 150 pounds running full speed it could be 450 - 600 pounds of force on one foot.
I will have Debbie load the videos of how to wiggle loose the 33 joints of the foot.
Running form and Technique
if your running form and technique is off your joints will be effected. You never talk about that but obviously this is important. You can say that you work on your running form and technique but you really dont know what is going on unles you evaluate it. What I have found to be the best way to evaluate it is to get a simple Flip Video camera or similar and videotape yourself running. I did it with myself by having someone in the back of an suv while I ran behind the truck. We brought the video home and put it in the computer and moved the curser across to evaluate the movement patterns of my form and technique frame by frame. You should do that. Then you will get a huge education on how your human spring mechanism is taking up the forces of the landings.
Here is a video of myself (Im 49) and Christian Medina, 2 x USA Taekwondo champion running barefoot.
Put this link into your browser http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18zwfHQHyEI&feature=related
Move the curser slowly to see the orientation of the ankle over the foot to see the alignment of the ankle. You should see the alignment is straight. Take a video of your running (must be barefoot) with NO vibrams and look at the way your left foot lands. Im a little bloated here
1. Is there a difference between your right and left foot landing?
2. Is the foot landing with the second toe towards the target?
3. When your bodyweight is over the foot is the ankle straight or collapsed
4. Do you land on your heel or mid-forefoot?
You can even post this video on youtube and send us a link and we will evaluate it for you on video and post it back up here for you and others to learn.
In the meantime review the video tutorials to release the spring mechanism of your feet, ankles and lower extremities.
HOW LONG DO YOU REST TO HEAL?
Rule of thumb
If you have a sprained wrist its a minimum of 2 - 3 weeks for the inflammation, the sprained ankle is minimum 2 - 3 weeks, the sprained subtalar joint is 2 - 3 weeks. You should not be running on a sprained anything.
JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO PAIN IN THE LEFT FOOT DOESNT MEAN RUN DOWN THE ROAD BAREFOOT AGAIN
Why cant the left foot handle the landings? Figure it out
No, you dont quit running
No, you dont quit barefoot running
Figure this out and get it together You are trying to reverse the negative effects of exercising with a brace-binding device on your joints SO YOU CAN RECLAIM WHAT YOU COULD DO EASILY AS A YOUTH. RECLAIMING YOUR YOUTH IS WORTH THE EXTRA WORK
Running involves tendon elastic recoil and tendons and other connective tissue demands 20 weeks to strengthen while muscles can strengthn in weeks according to research
WHAT ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING OUTSIDE YOUR RUNNING ROUTINE?
It is hard to say but we can proceed logically. We are just hearing about your symptoms, we dont know what kind of shoes you are wearing outside of your training and that is HUGE. It doesnt matter if you are barefoot or minimals in training if the shoes you wear arent maintaining your foot in the safe range when you have long periods or sustained contraction to fatigue the landing muscles so the arch spring drops and locks. If your footwear is weak when you are standing a long time you will never be able to run barefoot safely. We werent meant to be standing in one place for a long period of time because we had to run in multiple directions chasing the animal-meal that was running in multiple directions. Our meals stand still on shelves.
I stand on my feet 12 hours and I work on my feet with a giant vibration machine and do these soft tissue treatments to INSURE my feet are totally released before I go off on my barefoot runs. Plus if I feel the least bit of tenderness anywhere I stop and do the deep tissue points until the pain is GONE. You run through the pain knowing your form and technique isnt good because you dont run the same form when you have pain as you do pain free The brain makes sure of that.
When you run I suggest you run in zig zag patterns to evenely develop the tendons on both side of the foot as it is a 3 dimensional structure. We train bck, shoulders, chest, bis, tris, neck when we do upper body so we dont have imbalance of development but when we run we have different principles? NO The same principles that apply to the other body parts apply to the feet except the foot has to take up impact forces. That means we need to do impacts into the feet in multiple directions to strengthen tendons and connective tissue to absorb and spring back impact forces. You use it or you lose it.
I run an entire 6 mile course in 4 foot wide zig zags.
Minimalist SHOES - They are shoes-BRACES- I started running barefoot I guess I am not a paying member of the "almost barefoot" club. When it got chilly in Chicago I thought Id get a pair for cold days It took me 10 minutes to get them on and when I had them on I felt like they were more binding than shoes. I took them off because I KNOW they were compressing my joints and preventing the maximal plantar flexion recoil of my forefoot on toe off. I COULD FEEL IT The sole is not flexible in that direction enough for me and the material BRACED my foot. UGH
The MINIMALS are another variable. Lets see... Is it the minimals, my technique, the stiff foot, locked joints, weak landing muscles? Eliminate one of those variables and NOW you have less to screw your running up and you can get down to the nitty gritty.
I know you feel like you are b
arefoot because they are less of a shoe than the clunkers you are wearing but you are NOT BAREFOOT RUNNING YOU ARE RUNNING WITH SHOES if you ask anyone that runs "bare" they will tell you its a big difference.
Im not against minimal shoes. I advised Converse Japan to develope the 'NAKED" SHOE in 2007 after a lecture in Tokyo before this whole minimalist shoe craze started. I will never forget the reaction of their CFO/CEO when he exclaimed in Japanese. I asked the Product Development Manager Dan Weiss what he said about my naked shoe minimalist shoe idea and he said "They are SHOCKED" :0
I say go bare. DUMP THE SHOES You are not running barefoot if you are running with shoes That will get you on a safer pace (speed)
Take the time to prepare your feet maximally and release all muscles and joints for 30 minutes before you run. Then run zig zags for a mile at a pace that impacts your joints at 2 - 3x bodyweight or slow cool jog loose feet and legs so loose that your legs are like spagetti.
IF YOU FEEL EVEN MINIMAL PAIN ANYWHERE... STOP! DO THE DEEP TISSUE IN THAT AREA AND SURROUNDING AREA TILL ALL PAIN IS GONE IN THE MUSCLES ON DEEP TISSUE PRESSURE
One time this patient-runner was advised to do this and she said some trainer for an NFL football team told her not to do deep tissue before running SO WRONG! I asked her why but he could not come up with an explanation because its REDICULOUS
So she asks me "what do I do if Im at mile 13 and I feel pain?"
I said, "His way you get out your cell phone and call your husband to take you home"
My way is to do deep tissue like I taught you and run when the tenderness is out.
She stopped by at the office the next day after the race with the ribbon of completion and said...
I had pain in my calf and foot at mile 14 and thought about quitting then I did the deep tissue and felt great finishing with miles faster on the second half of the race than the first half
Why are you running through a sprained joint in your foot? That is just not wise.
Force of Landing = Weight x Speed
Increase speed to see if your landing muscles can handle it.
In fact when you run with the cameras rolling you can run at different paces to see how your landing gear is responding. You can set up cones and pick up the pace at different sections ( I hate treadmills because you cannot zig zag run on a treadmill so
YOU CANNOT GET A COMPLETE TRAINING OF YOUR THREE DIMENSIONAL FOOT AND ANKLE ON A TREADMILL THAT ONLY ALLOWS A FORWARD RUNNING DIMENSION
Then as weeks goes increase the speed to 4x bodyweight. One does not go in a gym and pick up a 80 pound dumb bell and curl it 10 x and you dont introduce impact forces of 1000 pounds on a foot that just came out of a cast (shoe!)
I cant understand why people are shocked if people have difficulty running barefoot when they have had a cast on their foot for 30 years. THAT IS EXPECTED Principles!
When we take a brace off a wrist, neck ankle brace do we just go all out right away? Use common sense. Barefoot running is not bad for the world. Its only ill advised if your not conditioned for the landings and that is more likely when you have been wearing a brace or device on your joints for years
You cannot do anthing at full capacity when the area has been braced or training with a binding device or brace for 8-12 hours a day for 30 years Embrace the simple common sends principles of adaptation..... That is what we base this advice on and not what someone thinks
Well what this shoe company foot expert says is barefoot running is bad and he is a consultant for a shoe company
Really? Im shocked
Ill load the video tutorials as soon as Debbie is done loading them on the Team Doctors blog and Youtube.
I know this is a lot but you need to know what you are doing or you will fail and go back to the Barefoot to Bedridden path.
You are trying to recapture the acitvity of your youth running barefoot and its WORTH IT!!!!
DONT GIVE UP! Make it happen! Read Anthonys story in How I Got My Wiggle Back He was worse than you He found the answer and he never gave up.. You gotta love the blue Wiggle
Hi there
I want to thank you for visiting the forum. I will try to help you but first of all we need to clarify where exactly this pain is because I think you may have a few people confused.
CLARIFY THE LOCATION OF THE PAIN
What you said was that you had pain in the heel both at the heel in the base of the arch and also behind the heel in the fleshy part in the front of the achilles tendon. I have inserted a photo for you to clarify the exact location for us because without the exact location we cant help you as much. Please let me know if this is the exact location.
Is the pain in front of the achilles and "behind" the heel where this arrow is?
http://www.ajronline.org/content/186/1/259/F1.expansion
Is the pain at the base of the heel but in the arch area? Is it between the Anterior process of the calcaneus and the cuboid on this image?
http://orthoanswer.org/foot-ankle/subtalar-dislocation/definition.html
If those are the two locations of your pain, the best description of the area is the subtalar joint and not the plantar fascia area.
The question was "Did you start off too strong?
My answer to that question is....
Not exactly easy to say that Why do I say that?
It was just fine for your right foot but too fast for your left foot? NAHHHH!
If you SIMPLY started off too strong you would have symptoms and signs on both the right and left foot. That is a simple deduction because it seems like your right foot can handle the force of the landing and the amount of landings but your left cannot.
So, we deduct your left foot cannot handle the force of the impacts (weak landing mechanism) or its locked somewhere not allowing the force to be distributed across 33 joints or your form and technique is off or all three, maybe something unknown we can only determine after careful examination. Lets face it, the docs here are doing their best with minimal information We need some WIGGLE ROOM here. I am a fan of the blue wiggle.
Ok lets go with common sense advice that could help you or anyone else across the board here. Maybe your left foot has one or many of the 33 joints locked. ITS STIFF IN AREAS AND LOOSE IN OTHERS
The locking of any one or many of these joints does not allow the force of the landing to spread over the 33 joints for a smooth landing. This can force an excessive movement of the subtalar joint or as we say in medicine, hypermobility of the subtalar joint. Excessive movement in a joint can cause pain. IT COULD BE THAT BECAUSE THAT IS COMMON AND MAKES SENSE. Your foot has been in a shoe for years
When you take any body part out of a brace it is weaker than it was when training without the brace----
They call this a PRINCIPLE OF TRAINING That is how we base our coaching or doctoring advice on. I will chose principles over studies performed on SHOD ATHLETES when determining what to do with BAREFOOT ATHLETES.
SELF HELP - MUSCLE FOOT LOCK - When the foot moves abnormal according to the way it is designed the brain senses this and creates what we call "tonic (constant) protective spasms" That means it stiffens the area.
When you are running you need the foot to be a spring mechanism to deform its shape to load the force of the landing into the mechanism, store the energy in the deforming process then reform back to its EXACT original shape releasing the energy.
When the mass hits the foot with the heel first the "landing muscles" of the peroneal, soleus and tibialis posterior lower the forefoot down similar to when you bench press. The weight is lowered into position then we push up. That landing can be smoooth, aligned and springy when these muscles are working right and all the joints are released to allow this mass to enter into the spring savely.
When the foot is stiff, when the muscles that lower the foot eccentrically into position are strong (landing muscles) then you are in a good postion to spring off the ground. If the foot (spring) is preloaded with muscle tension and or muscles are weak then the abnormal motion occurs to move around the locked weak mechanism or the path of least resistance.
We cannot examine you so we have to go with statistical probabilities to see if we can get closer to the target so maybe we can help you with this post. Statistically the tibialis posterior is the muscle I find to be the most commonly weaker than others which means that the foot is weakest in absorbing the forces of the landings. The heel rolls out of the safe range inward. That over rolling outside the safe range makes the subtalar joint hypermobile or stretches the joint.
I feel you are describing the front of your subtalar joint (the point at the bottom of the heel at the arch) and the rear of the subtalar joint (the area in front of the achilles tendon in the fleshy part behind the heel) This is a common place for pain. This is a common occurance
If we release the stiffness from the surrounding joints more forces can be taken up in these joints lessening the stress on the subtalar joint.
The most common muscles to stiffen in my 26 years of examining gait, manually checking and manipulating, rehabilitating patients and athletes are:
1. The muscles under the second toe
2. The muscles under the big toe
3. The muscles on the medial or inner edge of the big toe. http://hizaita.net/abductorhallucis.aspx
4. The muscles between the first and second toe.
5. The tibialis posterior muscle
I will have Debbie load the video tutorials of how to release the foot with the deep tissue techniques I developed which work great. I did these tutorials in Malaysia last summer after a barefoot race and they are great. Here they are.... Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY172vF2b6U Video Tutorial 77 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzKy6FFhN7I Video Tutorial 78 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx1iUF8zZBM Video Tutorial 79 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSR9V3yfGSE Video Tutorial 80 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzNP4NjhYzE Video Tutorial 81 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG5Eov1mqB4 Video Tutorial 82 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtSbsvapItk Video Tutorial 83 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN8z1i9Hb2I Video Tutorial 84 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as2byTNrooE Video Tutorial 85 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flD9qi7lrck Video Tutorial 86 Next... The tougher part
SELF HELP - JOINT FOOT LOCK - What I recommend for those who are untrained in foot manipulations is first work on the areas of pain with deep tissue then wiggle loose the 33 joints of the foot the best you can. When I manipulate a stiff or locked foot its like taking a piece of frozen steak out of the freezer and trying to thaw it out with my bare hands. When people watch me do this they are a bit shocked at the sheering force it takes to get the joint play back in the foot. However, I remind them that the human foot can take force. For example if you are 150 pounds running full speed it could be 450 - 600 pounds of force on one foot.
I will have Debbie load the videos of how to wiggle loose the 33 joints of the foot.
Running form and Technique
if your running form and technique is off your joints will be effected. You never talk about that but obviously this is important. You can say that you work on your running form and technique but you really dont know what is going on unles you evaluate it. What I have found to be the best way to evaluate it is to get a simple Flip Video camera or similar and videotape yourself running. I did it with myself by having someone in the back of an suv while I ran behind the truck. We brought the video home and put it in the computer and moved the curser across to evaluate the movement patterns of my form and technique frame by frame. You should do that. Then you will get a huge education on how your human spring mechanism is taking up the forces of the landings.
Here is a video of myself (Im 49) and Christian Medina, 2 x USA Taekwondo champion running barefoot.
Put this link into your browser http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18zwfHQHyEI&feature=related
Move the curser slowly to see the orientation of the ankle over the foot to see the alignment of the ankle. You should see the alignment is straight. Take a video of your running (must be barefoot) with NO vibrams and look at the way your left foot lands. Im a little bloated here
1. Is there a difference between your right and left foot landing?
2. Is the foot landing with the second toe towards the target?
3. When your bodyweight is over the foot is the ankle straight or collapsed
4. Do you land on your heel or mid-forefoot?
You can even post this video on youtube and send us a link and we will evaluate it for you on video and post it back up here for you and others to learn.
In the meantime review the video tutorials to release the spring mechanism of your feet, ankles and lower extremities.
HOW LONG DO YOU REST TO HEAL?
Rule of thumb
If you have a sprained wrist its a minimum of 2 - 3 weeks for the inflammation, the sprained ankle is minimum 2 - 3 weeks, the sprained subtalar joint is 2 - 3 weeks. You should not be running on a sprained anything.
JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO PAIN IN THE LEFT FOOT DOESNT MEAN RUN DOWN THE ROAD BAREFOOT AGAIN
Why cant the left foot handle the landings? Figure it out
No, you dont quit running
No, you dont quit barefoot running
Figure this out and get it together You are trying to reverse the negative effects of exercising with a brace-binding device on your joints SO YOU CAN RECLAIM WHAT YOU COULD DO EASILY AS A YOUTH. RECLAIMING YOUR YOUTH IS WORTH THE EXTRA WORK
Running involves tendon elastic recoil and tendons and other connective tissue demands 20 weeks to strengthen while muscles can strengthn in weeks according to research
WHAT ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING OUTSIDE YOUR RUNNING ROUTINE?
It is hard to say but we can proceed logically. We are just hearing about your symptoms, we dont know what kind of shoes you are wearing outside of your training and that is HUGE. It doesnt matter if you are barefoot or minimals in training if the shoes you wear arent maintaining your foot in the safe range when you have long periods or sustained contraction to fatigue the landing muscles so the arch spring drops and locks. If your footwear is weak when you are standing a long time you will never be able to run barefoot safely. We werent meant to be standing in one place for a long period of time because we had to run in multiple directions chasing the animal-meal that was running in multiple directions. Our meals stand still on shelves.
I stand on my feet 12 hours and I work on my feet with a giant vibration machine and do these soft tissue treatments to INSURE my feet are totally released before I go off on my barefoot runs. Plus if I feel the least bit of tenderness anywhere I stop and do the deep tissue points until the pain is GONE. You run through the pain knowing your form and technique isnt good because you dont run the same form when you have pain as you do pain free The brain makes sure of that.
When you run I suggest you run in zig zag patterns to evenely develop the tendons on both side of the foot as it is a 3 dimensional structure. We train bck, shoulders, chest, bis, tris, neck when we do upper body so we dont have imbalance of development but when we run we have different principles? NO The same principles that apply to the other body parts apply to the feet except the foot has to take up impact forces. That means we need to do impacts into the feet in multiple directions to strengthen tendons and connective tissue to absorb and spring back impact forces. You use it or you lose it.
I run an entire 6 mile course in 4 foot wide zig zags.
Minimalist SHOES - They are shoes-BRACES- I started running barefoot I guess I am not a paying member of the "almost barefoot" club. When it got chilly in Chicago I thought Id get a pair for cold days It took me 10 minutes to get them on and when I had them on I felt like they were more binding than shoes. I took them off because I KNOW they were compressing my joints and preventing the maximal plantar flexion recoil of my forefoot on toe off. I COULD FEEL IT The sole is not flexible in that direction enough for me and the material BRACED my foot. UGH
The MINIMALS are another variable. Lets see... Is it the minimals, my technique, the stiff foot, locked joints, weak landing muscles? Eliminate one of those variables and NOW you have less to screw your running up and you can get down to the nitty gritty.
I know you feel like you are b
arefoot because they are less of a shoe than the clunkers you are wearing but you are NOT BAREFOOT RUNNING YOU ARE RUNNING WITH SHOES if you ask anyone that runs "bare" they will tell you its a big difference.
Im not against minimal shoes. I advised Converse Japan to develope the 'NAKED" SHOE in 2007 after a lecture in Tokyo before this whole minimalist shoe craze started. I will never forget the reaction of their CFO/CEO when he exclaimed in Japanese. I asked the Product Development Manager Dan Weiss what he said about my naked shoe minimalist shoe idea and he said "They are SHOCKED" :0
I say go bare. DUMP THE SHOES You are not running barefoot if you are running with shoes That will get you on a safer pace (speed)
Take the time to prepare your feet maximally and release all muscles and joints for 30 minutes before you run. Then run zig zags for a mile at a pace that impacts your joints at 2 - 3x bodyweight or slow cool jog loose feet and legs so loose that your legs are like spagetti.
IF YOU FEEL EVEN MINIMAL PAIN ANYWHERE... STOP! DO THE DEEP TISSUE IN THAT AREA AND SURROUNDING AREA TILL ALL PAIN IS GONE IN THE MUSCLES ON DEEP TISSUE PRESSURE
One time this patient-runner was advised to do this and she said some trainer for an NFL football team told her not to do deep tissue before running SO WRONG! I asked her why but he could not come up with an explanation because its REDICULOUS
So she asks me "what do I do if Im at mile 13 and I feel pain?"
I said, "His way you get out your cell phone and call your husband to take you home"
My way is to do deep tissue like I taught you and run when the tenderness is out.
She stopped by at the office the next day after the race with the ribbon of completion and said...
I had pain in my calf and foot at mile 14 and thought about quitting then I did the deep tissue and felt great finishing with miles faster on the second half of the race than the first half
Why are you running through a sprained joint in your foot? That is just not wise.
Force of Landing = Weight x Speed
Increase speed to see if your landing muscles can handle it.
In fact when you run with the cameras rolling you can run at different paces to see how your landing gear is responding. You can set up cones and pick up the pace at different sections ( I hate treadmills because you cannot zig zag run on a treadmill so
YOU CANNOT GET A COMPLETE TRAINING OF YOUR THREE DIMENSIONAL FOOT AND ANKLE ON A TREADMILL THAT ONLY ALLOWS A FORWARD RUNNING DIMENSION
Then as weeks goes increase the speed to 4x bodyweight. One does not go in a gym and pick up a 80 pound dumb bell and curl it 10 x and you dont introduce impact forces of 1000 pounds on a foot that just came out of a cast (shoe!)
I cant understand why people are shocked if people have difficulty running barefoot when they have had a cast on their foot for 30 years. THAT IS EXPECTED Principles!
When we take a brace off a wrist, neck ankle brace do we just go all out right away? Use common sense. Barefoot running is not bad for the world. Its only ill advised if your not conditioned for the landings and that is more likely when you have been wearing a brace or device on your joints for years
You cannot do anthing at full capacity when the area has been braced or training with a binding device or brace for 8-12 hours a day for 30 years Embrace the simple common sends principles of adaptation..... That is what we base this advice on and not what someone thinks
Well what this shoe company foot expert says is barefoot running is bad and he is a consultant for a shoe company
Really? Im shocked
Ill load the video tutorials as soon as Debbie is done loading them on the Team Doctors blog and Youtube.
I know this is a lot but you need to know what you are doing or you will fail and go back to the Barefoot to Bedridden path.
You are trying to recapture the acitvity of your youth running barefoot and its WORTH IT!!!!
DONT GIVE UP! Make it happen! Read Anthonys story in How I Got My Wiggle Back He was worse than you He found the answer and he never gave up.. You gotta love the blue Wiggle
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