How I Cured My Plantar Fasciitis Without Doing Any Foot Exercises.

 

About 10 years ago I completed my first marathon. It was a great experience. After the race,I took some time off from training, as many people do.  A few weeks later, I felt it was time to do something again.  I did not need to do marathon distances, but I figured my body could handle 5-10 miles at a time.  After doing this distance 2-3 times a week, I noticed some pain in my right arch and heel.  This made no sense to me.  It was apparently plantar fasciitis. But...why now?

The first thing to check was my shoes.  I had the same brand and model as I did when I was in training, but new.  I had purchased another pair of the exact same shoes. So that was not the problem.

Then one day I just happened to be at a "fun run" event at a local running shoe store.  This was a good opportunity to see video of my running form. They had the high speed video camera set up right by the treadmill.  I suspected it would reveal how my foot was striking the ground the wrong way. Maybe the foot was pronating too much.  Or maybe it was turned out, or turned in too much.  

So I recorded my stride, and what I saw was completely unexpected.    Every step with the right foot was on the far right edge of the tread. Every step with the left foot was directly in the middle of the tread.  Now I know that when I was on the treadmill, I was centering myself in the middle.  I know that my head and chest were centered in relationship to the console.  And yet the video showed something different. 

Initially this made no sense. But then I realized that it wasn't HOW my foot was striking the tread, it was WHERE. The far lateral position of my foot relative to my torso was causing the plantar fasciitis. The foot needing to create movement from a less than optimal position, and so it had to work much harder to achieve it.

I then surmised that the time I had taken off from all exercise had weakened my core muscles.  While it was smart to take some time away from running, I should have continued with some sort of core training.  Because I did not, the core was too weak to keep my hips and pelvis level. When my pelvis tilted, the left foot went midline and the right foot went too far laterally. 

So I did what I should have done the first time.  As I took time off from running, I worked on strengthening my core.  And I was treated by another chiropractor to help realign my pelvis. A few weeks later, I again started running again.  No plantar fasciitis.  

So to reiterate:

 I DID NOT DO ANY FOOT EXERCISES TO CORRECT MY PLANTAR FASCIITIS! 

The best doctors and therapists know that where the pain is and where the problem is are often two different areas.  I can only imagine that if someone like me had gone to a foot and ankle specialist or podiatrist, they would have never found the true cause of my condition.  If the clinician never looks past the area of pain, it is impossible to see the big picture.  I am sure some foot and ankle stretches would have helped, but I am also certain  that I would have never recovered so quickly without looking to the core. 

If you are interested in some examples of core exercises click here for a link to my Youtube page.  Everyone needs to work their core muscles. Call us for an appointment if you are interested in starting a new core routine. (616) 301-3000.

Heavy Breathing for Injury Prevention?

Most people don’t get hurt from a lack of core strength. They do get hurt from a lack of core coordination.

What is core coordination, you ask? 

Core coordination is when muscles fire in the right patterns with the right timing so as to stabilize the torso and spine. This is because MUSCLES NEVER WORK IN ISOLATION.  Muscles always work together in integrated systems. When systems fail, the dysfunction creates pain through overuse of certain muscles. But these patterns also need to coordinate with your breathing.

Why, you ask?

Well, breathing is kinda necessary.  And just about ALL of the core muscles ARE ALSO muscles involved with active breathing.  That is to say breathing when NOT at rest.  Look up "accessory muscles of respiration", and you will see what I mean.

According to Physiopedia, "The accessory expiratory muscles are the abdominal muscles: rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique, and transversus abdominis."

So forcefully breathing out turns out to be a great way to activate all of the major core muscles.

Also, the accessory muscles to inspiration (aka inhalation) are:

sternocledomastoid, scalenes,  serratus anterior, pectoralis major and pectoralis minor, trapezius, latissimus dorsi, erector spinae, iliocostalis, quadratus lumborum, serratus posterior superior, serratus posterior inferior, levatores costarum, transversus thoracis, and subclavius.

So are all of these muscles "core"?

That really depends on your definition of core. Various sources will cite many different muscles as being part of the core.  There is much grey area here. My opinion is that a core muscle is any muscle that takes part in stabilizing the spine in one of the six major planes of motion. To be clear, there are two planes of motion for each of the planes seen here:

The case can be made that just about all of the accessory muscles of inspiration are also core muscles.

So how does one incorporate heavy breathing into their exercise routine?  The best way to do that is to exercise to exhaustion.  Not to the point of collapse, of course, but until you are "out of breath".  Just about any cardio exercise will do.  Any movement that elevates your breath rate and volume.

This would go a long way in explaining why distance runners seem to always benefit from a weekly "sprint" workout.  Core activation improves running efficiency and reduces injuries. But you don't have to be a runner to do this.  You could challenge yourself to do a "sprint" on the elliptical, or stationary bicycle, or rowing machine.  Doing this weekly is best.

Start with a mild warmup for 5-10 minutes.  Then go as fast as you can for 1 min.  Then recover and catch your breath. This may take 1-3 minutes.  Then repeat two more times.  You can start with 3 one minute "sprints" and work your way up to as many as you want.  Just keep in mind that if can do this for more than 8 sprints you are probably not going as fast as you can. Keeping up that intensity for many repetitions is just not possible.

Whereas this is certainly an intense workout, it does not take very long.  I recommend incorporating stretches to be done afterward.  The increased intensity may otherwise create soreness in muscles that you never knew you had.

Top 3 Exercises to Avoid at the Gym. Part 3: Preacher Curl

   There have been a few documented cases of biceps muscle rupture while doing the "preacher curl", but that is not the only reason I think it is a poor exercise. As a general rule, one should not "isolate" a specific muscle to develop it. In reality, muscles never work in isolation, so why train them that way? As someone who has been a regular at various gyms and health clubs for 30 years, I have seen one thing to be consistent. In every new gym I go to, there is always the one guy who sits at the preacher curl bench for way too long, doing way too many reps and sets. It has been no surprise to me to see that usually, this person has a scar on one or both shoulders. The scar is usually from a shoulder surgery. As a general rule, I know that getting accurate medical history from a guy in a gym is not likely, so I rarely ask questions about it. But it never surprised me. 

   The whole purpose of putting the arms on such a device is to "stabilize" the elbow joint. But in "stabilizing" the elbow joint, we can expect that the shoulder and back muscles, which usually aid in such stabilization under normal circumstances, will be inactive. This is the perfect example of someone whose main purpose of going to the gym is for visual appearance. Excessive emphasis on the muscles most commonly desired such as chest (pectoralis major), arms (biceps brachii) and stomach (abdominus rectus) is the hallmark of someone more interested in muscular development for the sake of muscular development.  They are not really interested in overall health, strength, or athletic capabilities. 

   Integrating all of these muscles together will help protect one from injury. Only without injury, and with muscular balance, can someone achieve optimal physical capabilities. Isolation for the sake of visual muscle appearance will eventually lead to injury. If you are looking for a replacement exercise, try literally any other biceps exercise, where the elbow is not stabilized on a pad, bench or your knee.