Overpronation, Orthotics and Calf-Stretching

Okay, you've discovered your feet (Blog #4), the Foundation of Movement, and are beginning to grasp, conceptually, Oat Philosophy.  But before we expand, its essential that I, with regard to YOU, build on your seminal understanding of Fitness.  Another quill in your quiver, the following should aid in avoidance of injury, while, at the same time, ensuring that each exercise you perform--each movement--is mechanically efficient and sound.

I begin with mechanics--BIO-mechanics--for just as the human type aid an engine, the kinetic variety ameliorate Power.  Again, we turn to our new pal, the Foot.  Often--so often, that I feel comfortable "generalizing"--when I assess a client's gait, I notice that they collapse, to some degree, at the in-step, or arch, while weight-bearing.  The greater the collapse, the greater the "pronation"--a fancy word for the amount of medial (inner) motion during foot-strike.  As in most things, a multitude of contributors may cause the inefficiency (Is your digiti minimi soft?  Can you see your shoes but for your stomach?), though a common culprit is tightness in the calf--in the soleus and gastrocnemius--superior to the foot.  Two types of flexion, "plantar" and "dorsi," occur in the ankle.  Shorten the S-and-G complex, and--BOOM!--you plantar-flex (point your toes).  Lengthen the calf, by actively drawing the toes toward the chin, and, with little or no fanfare, you become the danseuse of the dorsi ballet.   

But problems develop.  When we fail to stretch prior to activity, or, worse, avoid activity, the calf becomes fibrous, limiting "dorsi-flexion."  A healthy gait-pattern includes the striking of the heel upon "landing"; but if motion is limited, if the calves are unable to present the heel to the floor, weight transfers to the arch.  In time, it flattens, a deflated human tire.  Ever drive on a flat?  Bent rims, mis-alignment, poor mileage....  

Like Beemer, like Bod....  A flat arch--excess pronation at heel-strike--engenders torque above the ankle.  If your in-step collapses each time you bear weight, it follows--does it not?--that compensatory rotation will occur at the knee, hip and spine.  Bent rims, mis-alignment, poor mileage....  

There are remedies.  First: read and follow Blog-4; Second: on a daily basis, whether in preparation to rob a bank or plant parsley, STRETCH the calf muscles.  Find stairs, something flat and elevated, position the forefoot near your edge of choice, and, without bending the knee, lower one heel.  All that weight, anchored by toe and stair, breaks the bond of oppression!  Sing the Bill of Rights.  Switch feet.

Congratulations---you're on the Steel Cut Lane to Self-Reliance, a Force of NATURE, rubber-stamped with Pure Joy.  Still, as fine as you feel, a flat foot is the Humpty Dumpty of ailments, and, as such, requires support, not only of family and friends, but of "inserts," comprised of rigid plastic, to make you efficient mechanically.  Should you run to the doctor for a shoe-insert?  Whoa!  While each foot is unique, and may require an extremely inflated (and dubiously effective), "prescription" orthotic, for my money, Superfeet are the reader's best bet.  Superfeet (the name of the product) are indestructible inserts perfectly suited to support so efficient that, around the time they wear out, you will feel emotion.  I love them.  They are the BEST product available to address hyper-pronation of the foot.  The only time Steel Cut Oats panics is when he finds himself in shoes de-coupled from his smelly green Superfeet.  That said, if you suspect your arches are flatter than a cadaver's E.K.G., visit a professional--a doctor or physical therapist--and, if they confirm your suspicion, run--don't walk--to the footwear department.  Never was a product more amply named, nor so well-suited to forging Cut Steel.

Makten, S.C.O.

Next Blog: Advanced Single-Leg Standing (The Shipwreck Chronicles)

Note: Superfeet retail for around $30---1/10th the price of the "prescription" equivalent--and are available at R.E.I.