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West PRE + strides

April 15, 2015 (Afternoon)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: nearly 60, sunny, nice!

Comments:
Pretty good day: got some work done, including two new gait analyses...including David Riddle! He's been struggling with injuries for a YEAR. He sent me a few vids & pics, and it turns out, he's doing the same shit as me: compromised R foot, "slopping" him over to the left! So we're already hard at work, which is cool.

Went home around noonish to get in a short run. Pretty nervous about flaring my left achilles, but I'm glad to say it felt 100% Felt NOTHING, including on the 4 hard strides I did at the end.

Interesting reading the past couple days. Somehow I stumbled upon the term, "hyperarch mechancism". This random Asian guy is all about the idea that the foot and arch are crucial to glute activitation...and he's RIGHT. He says that a huge issue for "glute de-activation" in all sports is having a foot that's too weak, passive and floppy. He advocates a forefoot, rigid strike.

I think he's mostly right.

What I think you need is what I think I'm doing: to have a strong, engaged foot and medial arch (arch + ball of the foot + big toe), then keep it strong through mid-stance. You don't want to "foot point", but the implication is, if you leg the ankle dorsiflex too much:

- the foot goes passive
- you lose alignment of foot+ankle+lower leg
- the ankle AND knee flexes too much
- the glutes turn off, and you overuse quads and hammies

I even broke down Rupp's stride in that Salazar video, and saw how little he let his ankle bend during midstance.

I then read about the "Short Foot" idea, proposed by a classic ortho+sports MD, Vladimir Janda. Same idea: foot is strong, pushing into the ball of the foot and arch, without curling or stiffening the toes. It's essentially an "active foot".

What I told Riddle is that, while the foot may need support (via orthotics, especially initially), you MUST activate it through that mechanism!

I can already tell the difference: when I run whole foot, using the medial arch, AND be sure my knees aren't collapsing, the glute activation - when running - is strong.

That was a big focus today: "elite feet" (quick, whole, and pushing straight back). Again, no symptoms, including four good strides, with heavy emphasis on strong arm swing and big hips, as well.

PM: worked 2.5hrs at Axis, then yoga.