Not only is your video great, but I also see your response to Leslie’s question and I can’t believe how helpful and thorough you are. You should have way more subscribers!
@@juliatolbert8965 So sorry for the late reply. I didn't see this question as it is hiding as a reply to someone's comment. If you're 70, your walking length needs to be determined by your goals and your fitness level. If you're looking for cardio-vascular exercise it will be different - and at a different pace - than if you're looking to work on balance and weight bearing to help with osteoporosis. What's your goals with your walking? Are you walking now and if so, for how long and how often?
Hello Marian, thanks a lot for your videos. Since you asked for it in the video, I will pose my question :) I had a car accident when I was 8 years old. A car ran into me and I suffered a right side 'bruised' hip. Ever since then, at sports when I was running I occasionally heard from coaching that I was dragging my foot on the right side. When I started working out in my early 20's, I always had problems with doing squats - even though I had strong legs, I could just not bend very deep on the right leg. I suspect that I tried to walk again too quickly after the accident and developed inferior technique, causing me to drag my foot along and perhaps affecting other parts of the right leg too. The problem is that I have no real idea how to fix it, I have seen several doctors and physiotherapists but I always feel very misunderstood and they do not really acknowledge my problem. Some of my own personal fixes include imagining that im walking with the upper legs only, and thus pulling up my legs very high. However there is sometimes that split-second where I start thinking about how I'm walking and the whole movement starts to feel awkward. Do you have any advice perhaps? Ty :)
Wow! Sounds like you’ve had a rough go of it! I can understand completely how frustrating it is to explain your symptoms to someone and feel like ‘they just don’t get it’. Even as a health care professional who uses ‘medical speak’, I’ve run into the same issues. Let’s see if we can get to the bottom of this. When there’s a movement dysfunction, the first thing we need to do is find the root cause. For example, you may be ‘dragging your foot” or “not bending very keep” on squats but these are symptoms of an underlying problem. If you and I were at my clinic or on a zoom call together, the first thing we’d do is check your joint mobility. So that’s where I want you to start. We need to evaluate your lower extremity mobility; your ankles, knees, and hips. I’ll make it easy for you and give you the link to a resource that takes you step-by-step in evaluating your joint mobility. (see below) marianbarnick.com/guide I want you to follow this Guide and then let me know where you find decreased range of motion. Make sure to test both the right and left sides - not just the side with the symptoms. Also, if there's a big difference between right and left sides for any movements, make a note of that too.
Recent read through notes in my online medical file and saw gait=n1; just curious if that is something I need to work on? I am 72 this year and walk 10k+ steps most days. I used to run a lot but worry about doing more harm than good, so have been swimming more instead. Thanks for providing the video which will help me understand my gait better and ways I can improve on it.
Hello there! Thanks for your kind words and congratulations on your step count. I'm curious as to what you mean by gait=n1. Did your doctor have you complete a gait analysis?
Hi Leslie: Sorry for the delay, I didn't see this comment was still open. If your knee pain is caused by extending your knee (straightening it) then I could see a reason for flat foot walking because it requires you to keep a bend in the knee (which limits use of certain muscles too). Other than a specific diagnosis that would limit your ability to straighten your knee, knee pain is alleviated by using proper body mechanics and using both your hips and ankles in addition to your knees to walk, which means NOT using flat foot walking. When you walk with heel-to-toe movement of your feet, your knee gets help from all the lower extremity joints and takes the pressure off the knee. This is the whole premise of proper walking mechanics. If you walk with just flat feet, you take away the rocker motion from the foot which not only helps with acceleration and alignment, but helps with shock absorption so the knee has less force applied to it. Hope that helps Leslie. Let me know if you have any questions.
Hi Maria, many thanks for your great video! I have had a problem for 2 years now with my second toe, at its joint, I have seen specialists, podiatrists had orthotics made but nothing seems to help it! I only wear trainers now. Trainers that curl up at the front bother my toe! Any advice please would be wonderful! Thank you so much! lindy😊
Hi Lindy and thanks for the kind words. I’ve got a couple questions….is it just on one foot or both feet that the second toe bothers you? Is that second toe longer than your first toe? And when you say “at its joint” do you mean the joint in the toe itself or the joint where the toe meets your foot (MCP joint). Sometimes when we have a curvature in our toe that has it pointing downward, it comes from tight tendons and fascia on the bottom of our foot. The muscles can get tighter and tighter and over time, they start holding the toe in a flexed position and other soft tissue tightens along with the muscles. More info from you will help me see if that might be your problem. 😀
Hi Teresa. Great question! Walking dogs on a leash can definitely have an affect on your gait pattern. It’s going to depend on how much pull or slack there is on the leash. If there’s always slack, then there won’t be much interference with your proper gait pattern as long as you remember to swing your arms. However, if there’s pulling on the leash, it’s going to torque your body into the direction of the pull. For example, if both dogs are on the right hand side and they’re pulling forward, that force is going to increase the movement of your right arm and it’s going to rotate your right hip forward and possibly rotate your spine. In your attempt to counteract the pull, you’ll be reversing that force so you’ll be pulling back against the force causing extension and left rotation through the spine/hip. I’m curious to know if you walk both dogs on the same side or opposite sides. I’m also curious to know if you’ve ever tried having a longer leash around your waist to secure the dogs. It probably would be helpful to know if these are big guys or little ones.
Super information.... Thank you. I have one questiin.... I cant walk without support i feel hip or lower back is shaking& also feel more weight.. I have vitamin b12 deficiency.. Can i walk without support? Please reply me
Hi there and thanks for the message! A couple follow up questions; what happens if you try to walk without support? Is your vitamin B12 deficiency being treated and are there any long term permanent issues from the deficiency? Looking forward to your reply. M
Marian u only mentioned the right arm, ok because I’m right handed but what about the left arm? And I don’t know why I start walking with my right leg if I’m right handed.
Thank you for making this video. I have been having pain in my right knee for past few weeks. I was wondering why do I have knee pain only when I do brisk walk. It doesn't pain through the day. I have had orthroscopy for a meniscal tear 17 years ago. I thought it could be related to that. But, I am going to focus on my walking the way you said and will see if the pain is gone. Keep making videos 😍
@@marianbarnick i think I was bending my knee a little while walking. I tried walking with straight knee today. I didn't feel the pain😁. Thanks to you!! God bless you!! Also, I was wearing knee cap today. Do u think, its okay to keep it while walking?
Hey Brenna: over the past few years there have been many therapists who have tried to get people to walk with a flat foot or mid foot stance. This is because of the number of people with chronic conditions like poor ankle mobility, muscle weakness, and balance problems. Some people have difficulty with heel strike so this alternative walking pattern was introduced to make things easier for people who can't or don't work on range of motion or biomechanics - think about all the shoes now with rocker soles or elevation in the rear of the shoes. Just like orthotics, it's to try and make things easier instead of fixing the problems at the source. BUT...when you don't walk properly - which biomechanically, requires heel strike as the first stage of walking, you increase muscle compensation patterns, decrease the proprioception in the bottom of the feet, and cause strain on your low back. The unnatural pattern of mid foot or flat foot walking (remember we're talking walking, not running) leads to long term problems. If, of course, you have a fused ankle, then you need to compensate. If you can work on ankle mobility and get that heel down first, your body will thank-you. 🙂
Great Vid! I always walk on the treadmill at 4.4 mph for 2.5 miles three time a week. I walk with my arms crossed in front of me, is that normal, or am I a little weird? I can also walk with my arms pined to my sides to where they don't move at all. I have never seen anyone walk that way, have you? I do realize that it is easier to keep your balance when you let your arms hang down at your sides or bent about 45 degrees. Only when I am walking 5 mph, do I unfold my arms, is just easier to walk faster. Tracy
Hey Tracy: Great Question! And congrats on that exercise routine. I actually use 'no arm' walking to help some of my patients who compromise their walking pattern based on problems with their arm swing (or shoulder mobility) or rely too heavily on their arms for locomotion. If you don't use your arms, you'll be using much more core to stabilize your position and be much more aware of your body position. It's tougher to walk this way. Make sure you're staying neutral (not swinging your shoulders forward and back to make up for 'no arms'). Also, if your arms are crossed, check your spine position and make sure it's neutral and not pulling through your mid-back area. Let me know about these two pointers after your next treadmill session.🙂
I've been trying to assess my own gait the muscles I use when walking. I have strong calves think I might overuse them, as I notice I don't really use my gluts as much. I've been wondering (and tried) focusing on using my gluts more to essentially pull my leg back as the other is swinging. Not sure if it's a good idea or not. Going to video myself I think as you suggested.
Hey Jennifer: Great question and congrats on doing your gait analysis and being so involved in improving your biomechanics. You indicated that your calves are strong and you may be overusing them. Let’s think about that another way - using your calves ‘a lot’ is making them strong. The calves cross two joints - the knee and the foot - so there are two ways in which the calf muscles are used. Your gait style may contribute to increased activation of this muscle. Does this relate to your glute issue??? It certainly can. Your glutes won’t be maximally activated if your have decreased hip extension. Your body would compensate for this with increased knee flexion (or sustained knee flexion instead of reaching full extension) as well as more plantar flexion of the foot. Both of these actions utilize the calf muscles. Of course, this is just one scenario which could be contributing to what you explained, and I have to mention that without specific evaluation, I can’t comment on your specific gait characteristics. But this can definitely help you with your biomechanics detective work. Hope this helps.
@@marianbarnick Thank you for taking the time to respond. I didn't go into detail because I wasn't sure if you were b still checking messages. Do you offer services (paid of course) remotely? I just found you on RUclips and haven't checked out your website yet. I have had plantar fasciitis, currently have piriformis pain, and have had hip bursitis in the past, so I know something is wrong. I've been strengthening glut meds, calf stretching, and trying to improve ankle flexion the past 4 weeks (going to PT). I just feel like there could be more to learn and I really want to understand my body as I'm fairly active and want to keep getting better shape knowing i have correctedany issues. Thx again.
@@marianbarnick And for hip flexion... does a person work on strengthening and stretching hip flexors? I can look up how to do that. I do a forward lunge stretch and Pigeon pose sometimes, and use a foam roller but I might need some strengthening.
@@jenniferg3251 Wow! You've got a lot going on. A couple suggestions....if you've had plantar fasciitis, you know how important it is to keep flexibility in your ankle joint. I'd check your calves and soleus muscles for tightness. I'd also check your form for glute mede strengthening as the positioning is pretty precise with some exercises and this may be aggravating your piriformis. You can check out the services on my website (MarianBarnick.com) and of course, send me an email if you have any specific questions: info@marianbarnick.com Hope that helps, and let me know!
@@jenniferg3251 with what we were discussing about activating your glutes for hip extension (which is glute max not glute mede) you would look to see if your hip flexors are over firing and tight. Remember, it's about your body alignment when you're doing your stretches so with your forward lunge stretch, do you have your spine in neutral (ears over shoulders, shoulders over hips), do you lean forward from the hip as opposed to arching the spine. And the same with the Pigeon pose. It's a hard pose to do correctly and the pose - in and of itself - tends to suggest arching of the lumbar spine instead of focusing on tightness in the hip flexors. The Pidgeon pose itself, depending on your positioning of the bent leg could in fact cause some of the tightness in your piriformis. So next time you try it, be aware of the bent leg and how the piriformis area feels in that stretch. Hope that helps and please let me know!
Thanks for the question. Let's take a look at the action of the glute muscle - I'm going to assume you're talking about glute max (gluteus maximus) but if not, please let me know. The glute max works primarily to extend the hip so when you're walking this occurs from the 'toe off' component of the gait cycle. When you 'toe off' you push the leg backward and the glute max engages to extend the hip and move the leg behind the body. So the heel strike component of the gait cycle isn't really a factor with the glute max. A word of caution - walking shouldn't be looked upon as an activity to develop your glutes. If you are trying to strengthen a muscle, then an endurance activity such as walking is not going to give you the results you're looking for. Hope that helps.
Hi Kaweh. Thanks so much for watching the video and I appreciate your comment. Let me try to assist with your comment about the knee and its involvement with a proper walking pattern. The knee is going to flex and extend while you walk. That's it. It's a hinge joint so that's all it can do. As outlined in the video, the leg is straight - including the knee - during stance phase. All other movement of the knee is going to be generated by the movement of your foot and ankle. I'd like you to give this a try ... As you move your foot to place the heel onto the ground (Stage 1) your knee will automatically straighten to assist with your goal. Do you see how straightening the knee helps with the heel placement? When you reach Stage 2, as mentioned above this is stance phase, the full leg including the knee is straight. That doesn't mean locking you knee, it just means there's no bend at the knee joint. Try this out and see how as you lower your toes toward the ground your knee stays straight and your hip moves to be over top of your knee position. Stage 3, which is toe off, requires the knee to stay straight for maximal positioning of the ankle and foot. Play around with this and see how if you bend your knee you shorten your stride length. Stage 4 immediately starts after the toe leaves the ground and during this swing through phase, the knee helps the foot by bending. Also, if you're running, the contraction of muscles for propulsion will also bend the knee (think running back, hamstrings, and how close the heel gets to the butt). Hopefully, as you try out the 4 phases of proper walking slowly, you can see the positioning of the knee with each phase. I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any further questions or comments.
Is this happening only with the first step? If you think about walking it's repetitive, reciprocal. So you are going either left/right, left/right of right/left, right/left. Either way you are doing the same thing over and over again. So whether you start with the right or left should not influence your gait pattern unless you are doing something outside the normal walking pattern. Hope this helpsl
@@marianbarnick yea it’s at the beginning and when I’m tired. I try to swing the opposite arm during my first two steps and after that then I swing both arms (one to the front and one to the back). Get it? My opposing arm during steps 1 and 2 and the both after that.
I don’t have a problem on the second step but if I omit the back swing on the first step and not on the second I feel like a schocking sensation. So what’s your advice…? To omit the back swing just on the first or on both steps.
There seems to be a lot of disagreement in the community about striking with the heel and how that can lead to a lot of pain. What are people with chronic heel pain supposed to do, keep striking their heel?
Thanks for the comment Martin. I think it's important to acknowledge that each complete phase of gait is approximately 1 second in length and that the stance phase (when you're standing on your foot) which includes the initial heel contact, the flat foot, and then the toe off, is approximately 60% of that 1 second. If we break that down further, that initial contact that moves from heel to flat foot is approximately 27% of the 60%. What I'm trying to demonstrate, with objective numbers, is that the amount of time when the heel is touching the ground is extremely minimal. Many times, the pain we have in our feet is due to asymmetries in gait and muscle imbalances and this includes heel pain. Many people with plantar fasciitis, for example, have heel pain and it can take a long time to alleviate this issue. But walking with improper gait is not the solution for long term success. Early this year I had surgery to repair a tear in one of my tendons from a car accident. The surgeon recommended that I have my heel bone cut (calcaneal osteotomy) and then reattached with screws to help create less stress on the tendon and allow it to heal. It's been a process to re-establish proper gait and I'm still working on it! And yes, I totally understand heel pain (cuts, screws, scar tissue - OUCH!). But I knew that if I kept walking with a dysfunctional gait pattern, I'd be at more risk for further musculoskeletal problems and never heal optimally.
@@marianbarnick so maybe you can help point me in the right direction. I've had chronic pf for 2.5 years. It was primarily arch pain. I have orthotics and I have been following rathleff protocol, and now my arches are much stronger. But now I'm getting geel pain that I've never had before. I wonder if i need to start adjusting my walk or not and why I'm suddenly getting heel pain.
@@martinmackey7191 That's a long time to have plantar fasciitis!!! The Rathleff Protocol that you mention finds success in the first 3 months. Their research showed that follow ups after that had the same results as stretching programs. I'm wondering if you're using the heel raises that were utilized in the research study? Did the heel pain come on suddenly and for how long have you had it? Were there any changes to your orthotics or your footwear? I'm also wondering how you know your arches are stronger? Are your orthotics not supporting your arches? Looking forward to your response. Marian
@@marianbarnick well first of all thanks for taking an interest in my situation! I've had it since April 2021, onset by sudden overuse after the pandemic ended, I'm a referee and started working a million games as soon as i could. I also started keto at that exact same time. In 2023 I got everything under control and got good orthotics. Things were fine until this year. In January i bought birkenstock Arizona sandals which are acclaimed for helping with pf. I wore them 24/7 indoors, and my feet started going down hill. In July i found myself in crippling agony. I started rathleff and couldn't even do single heel raises. I have extremely strong and tight calves so they weren't the issue. I think my feet got coddled by the supportive sandals. First time in my life i went a long time without ever walking barefoot. Since then I've been doing rathleff. Now i can do single legs holding a heavy item and wearing a backpack full of books, so that's why i think my arches are getting stronger. What's strange is now i don't have much arch pain, but i get heel soreness which I've never had. I suspect that there's something biomechanically wrong with my walk, I'm not sure.
Gor someone like myself with incredibly flat feet and terrible gait pattern (both my feet/toes point outwards with very short steps) is it ok to practise this barefoot?
Hi there and thanks for the question. Barefoot is great! Unless you've had a doctor tell you that you MUST wear shoes, barefoot walking will give you way more proprioception (feedback) about your foot placement, pressure, and positioning. If you emphasize the toe off positioning it will help you with your flat footedness. Also, I want you to check out this video... ruclips.net/video/YKZkZpIA4Xo/видео.html It has some good ankle mobility exercises with proper lower body alignment that I think might help you. Let me know what you think!
You act as a teacher, but it is only a private, individual expression of opinion. Please take note of the tibial posterior muscle! It erects the medial arch of the foot and inverts the foot. Then ground contact is made at the outer edge of the foot. Whether you put more on the heel area or on the tuberositas of the fifth metatarsal or where the little toe is connected to the middle foot depends on the muscle strength and experience of the runner but also on the pace and the desired athletic goal. Thanks to the lower ankle, the foot can be rotated from a slightly inverted position to a neutral position more or less in its longitudinal axis. Then the foot is pressed over the bale of the forefoot with the focus on the big toe. This means rolling the footprint onto the ground as you see it in the wet sand on the beach of the sea.
Hello and thanks for the comment. I actually am trying to teach something through my videos which are based on research and my 30+ years of experience as a Kinesiologist. So, humbly, this is not just an opinion. You asked me to take note of the posterior tibialis muscle. However, what we're looking at is the functional performance of walking which requires many, many muscles. Yes, you can certainly break down each muscle into its actions but what you lose when doing so is the actual motor control required for this foundational movement. Also, we're not talking about running here - just walking. They are quite different.
@@marianbarnick I was hoping to help you move forward. 45 years after starting my vocational training with the study of anatomy and after 25 years of long-distance running including health setbacks, I allow myself to describe my findings and experiences as sound. I look back on conversations and experiences with coaches and athletes of national rank and importance, although my sporting achievements are not up there. Recreational athletes and ordinary citizens with foot, knee and hip problems I was able to help as their doctor, if they followed these instructions. If you think that you should not focus solely on the posterior tibialis muscle, you are certainly correct. But why not focus on a previously completely hidden focus for didactic reasons!? When walking, the heel is put on, as well as in rolling jogging with slightly bent knees. When you run, you put on the middle or forefoot. That's the difference. But both when walking and when running, the swinging foot should be more or less inverted before touching down. As soon as the load is on the bale of the forefoot, it rotates about this axis of the lower ankle, which cannot be precisely determined, back into a neutral position. Pushing away from the ground can then take place even in a slight eversion. You may not forget the lower ankle neither when walking nor when running. If you don't want to follow me (why should you?), then look at what Asians and blacks teach about it. The truth has become rare, but it is precious.
Why do various PTs have different opinions on how to walk? The mechanics of walking should have been studied and every PT should say the same thing. Very confusing.
Hey Chris - great question and I agree that all therapists/trainers should understand and promote the proper biomechanics of walking. What's important to understand is that walking biomechanics are different from running biomechanics so it's important to compare apples to apples. What's happened as osteoarthritis has plagued so many millions of people and our older population wants to stay active, different ways of walking have been incorporated to try and reduce pain while walking. As one of the researcher papers state (I'll paraphrase): gait retraining teaches a new way of walking to to reduce the movement that causes pain and while they work to decrease certain joint loads, they introduce an abnormal gait pattern and cause secondary injuries. So therapists that don't train the proper biomechanic gait cycle may be trying to reduce a client's pain but this comes at a risk of secondary injuries and long term problems. Hope that helps. Let me know if you've got any questions. 🙂
This is an important topic for longevity,however it is not a easy topic to just talk thru,it would be much more easy to follow if use animations.Pls try again and find better ways to demo or some kinds of drills. th@nks!
Hey Eric, thanks so much for the comment. I will certainly do more videos on gait and walking and appreciate your input. I generally stay away from animations as they cannot convey body alignment with proper form. I will, however, look for more video and more ways to demo proper technique and biomechanics. 🙂
Hello again , I would love to hear your take on this information if you wouldn't mind ruclips.net/video/WJZmejSbJgM/видео.html&si=5L7YWnafnENBh6VK Both opinions make sense to me but my physio agrees with you on the heel strike (he used to play for the Eagles Australian football league so he's very well versed in sports performance) I used to compete in powerlifting and could bench, squat and deadlift A LOT of weight with minimalist barefoot shoes and keep my feet rooted feet arched but outside of lifting my walking gait is terrible (flat feet, small stride,loose knee's from martial arts injuries) and now trying to walk comfortably instead of only being good at three things (bench, squat and deadlift). Love your content, thanks for the reply on my last question and I'll stop hassling you with questions after this as I know you can't answer every Tom, Dick and Harry on the internet
Hey Shaun, thanks for the message and the link. I did watch it and have a LOT to chat about with respect to the information within this video. I'm wondering about the best format to share my thoughts but for the moment, I'll say that I do not agree with the person in the video. I'll let you know how I choose to share as I have a lot of notes.☺
So I don’t have to worry about my left arm? Just right arm forwards and left leg forwards and then right leg back and right arm back? I fatigue easily when I walk and I believe it’s because poor walking mechanic. I get shoulder and back pain as well as knee pain. I’m a right handed male, help if you can.
Hey Denni: Yes, you're right. The reciprocal gait pattern has the right leg forward with the left arm forward and vice versa. If you're getting fatigued when you're walking it's really important to watch for two things. #1 I want you to watch that your foot stays straight when you push off with your toes. That means when your foot is behind you I want you to make sure your heel doesn't sneak over toward your midline (toward the other leg). #2 As you walk I want you to make sure your belly button stays forward. This helps to make sure your hips aren't rotating as you walk. I also want you to grab my free walking guide to make sure your ankles and hips have good range of motion needed for walking. Here's the link: onlinemovementtherapy.com/proper-walking-posture/ Give this a try and let me know how it works for you.
This doesn't really make too much sense. We should observe walking when barefoot, as that will give us the best information on how we naturally move. Barefoot walking has been observed, and heel striking is not the way. I don't recommend it, but if you go outside onto the pavement barefoot and try to heel strike as you do in cushioned shoes, you're going to hurt yourself. This should be a red flag. Humans evolved to be on their feet for many hours a day long before shoes existed, so we should listen to our body. Our heels are hard and send the shock from impact up into our joints. They're also round so they're unstable. Heel striking also encourages us to overextend, which is not good. There's more cushion, spring, and width in our mid and forefoot, which makes it a great landing zone for walking and running. It doesn't transfer the shock up into our joints since it's not rigid like our heel. It's very hard to overextend while walking on the mid/forefoot, and it's very noticeable when it happens. And we can't look to modern shoe trends when it comes to foot health because they're the things that hurt us in the first place. They're not foot shaped, the raised heel shortens our achilles, and the cushioning and arch support weaken our feet because they're not letting our feet do any work. When we want or need to get stronger, we exercise. After we get injured and can't use a certain part of our body, it loses function and muscle mass, so we go to a therapist to rehabilitate it. When our feet and ankles are weak, why do we put on comfortable shoes or orthotics instead of making them stronger? I have low arches and I overpronate, always have. I also sprained my foot in 2016 and never rehabbed it. I was wearing stability shoes when it happened, I just had to jog across a road and my foot gave out. My feet are quite weak. I haven't worn "normal" shoes in over 2 months. This means of course that I've been wearing barefoot shoes. I changed how I walk and run, focusing on keeping my ankles straight by landing on the outside of my feet. In that time, my achilles have returned to their normal state. They used to be tight in the morning and I'd have to be careful with each step, but now they feel perfectly fine as soon as I wake up. I've sprinted on concrete in shoes that have zero cushioning, they are less than 4mm thick. I didn't get injured, and it felt like the fastest I'd run in my whole life, and I currently weigh more than I used to and haven't ran in years. My feet are showing a bit of an arch, my balance is slowly getting better, I was on the verge of getting orthotics. It's not all sunshine and rainbows though, it is a very difficult transition, and I still have a looooooong way to go. Comfortable shoes made my bad habits bearable, and they do nothing to fix the actual problems. When we have a problem, we don't just cover it up and let it get worse, we fix it.
Thanks for your comment. I'll reply to each of your points separately so the answers don't get lost in a paragraph. You have a long comment so I may run out of room but I'll continue in another comment, if necessary, to make sure you get the answers you need. YOU: This doesn't really make too much sense. ANSWER: I’d love for you to tell me what doesn’t make sense so we can have a discussion about each point. Please let me know. YOU: We should observe walking when barefoot, as that will give us the best information on how we naturally move. ANSWER: If we spent our day barefoot, then this would be a great idea but we spend the majority of our day in shoes so we need to evaluate how we move in shoes. this helps us determine if issues are related to foot wear or to true joint biomechanics. This is not to say that barefoot analysis isn't important. YOU: Barefoot walking has been observed, and heel striking is not the way. ANSWER: Of course we have observed barefoot walking and when doing so we see the natural requirement of heel strike to allow acceleration. Acceleration is a for the mobility component of gait. YOU: I don't recommend it, but if you go outside onto the pavement barefoot and try to heel strike as you do in cushioned shoes, you're going to hurt yourself. This should be a red flag. ANSWER: Again, we spend the majority of the day in shoes and the pavement and harsh ground surfaces are a big reason we use shoes. We don’t want to get injured from man made products. If you’re going to walk barefoot, walk on softer surfaces. YOU: Humans evolved to be on their feet for many hours a day long before shoes existed, so we should listen to our body. ANSWER: Unfortunately, most humans don’t spend hours a day on their feet. If they did, they’d probably be more healthy. Our body isn’t what dictates shoe wear, it’s generally safety from injury. Just as you mentioned the pavement above, there are many things that can injure our feet and skin. YOU: Our heels are hard and send the shock from impact up into our joints. ANSWER: I’m not sure why you think there is a shock caused by heel strike. There is a force created between the ground and the heel as well as every other part of the foot that touches the ground. Newton’s Laws tell us about forces - for every force there is an equal and opposite force. YOU: They're also round so they're unstable. ANSWER: Our heels are not round and they are actually quite stable. Loss of stability when walking can occur when you’re not in proper body alignment. Body alignment is what should be reviewed if you believe there are stability issues. Heel walking is actually a great test of stability/balance. YOU: Heel striking also encourages us to overextend, which is not good. ANSWER: I’m not sure what area of the body you believe is being over extended but Heel striking does not encourage over extension. Again, if you walk with a proper gait pattern and work toward proper biomechanics and body alignment, then there will be no over extension. Improper movement patterns occur when you’re not utilizing proper walking mechanics which could include extension of the lumbar spine. YOU: There's more cushion, spring, and width in our mid and forefoot, which makes it a great landing zone for walking and running. ANSWER: Walking and running have quite different gait patterns so it’s not wise to compare the biomechanical patterns between these two different activities. Yes, the mid foot and forefoot are wider than the heel, but there is actually no “spring” in any area of the foot. There are only forces and counter forces, creating contraction and relaxation of muscles, and changes in joint angles. YOU: It doesn't transfer the shock up into our joints since it's not rigid like our heel. It's very hard to overextend while walking on the mid/forefoot, and it's very noticeable when it happens. ANSWER: If you try to land on your mid foot instead of your heel when walking you’re actually going to flex forward causing increased strain on your back and lessen the ability to accelerate through toe off and hip extension. YOU: And we can't look to modern shoe trends when it comes to foot health because they're the things that hurt us in the first place. They're not foot shaped, the raised heel shortens our achilles, and the cushioning and arch support weaken our feet because they're not letting our feet do any work. ANSWER: There certainly can be shoes that have a raised heel and there are some shoes with an arch support, but to indicate that all modern shoes are this way would be incorrect and this is too big a topic to cover here. YOU: When we want or need to get stronger, we exercise. After we get injured and can't use a certain part of our body, it loses function and muscle mass, so we go to a therapist to rehabilitate it. When our feet and ankles are weak, why do we put on comfortable shoes or orthotics instead of making them stronger? ANSWER: An injury doesn’t always cause a loss of function and muscle mass. That’s why therapy/rehabilitation should be based on the specific type of injury. I totally agree that shoes shouldn’t be utilized to try and create stronger feet or ankles. You’ve provided information related to your particular issue which I greatly appreciate. However, diagnostically I won’t comment as I haven’t evaluated your gait, your mobility through the muscle attachments to your achilles tendons, or your ankle mobility. I will say, however, that keeping your “ankles straight” cannot happen unless they’re fused. Your ankle movement is a key component in weight bearing mobility. I absolutely agree that comfortable shoes can help people who have pain form bad habits. Hope this helps. Marian
@@marianbarnick Thanks for the response. Saying it didn't make sense was a lead into the things I mentioned. We do spend our day in shoes, but that doesn't mean the shoes we wear are helping us move properly. It would be like if we lived in a world where we put wrist braces on every day because wrist mobility is bad for some reason, or because whatever we were doing required straight wrists. Foot mobility and strength is very important, and modern shoes don't allow us to use our feet as they were intended since they can't really move or feel anything. Observing movement with the wrong equipment is silly, like if a bike had square wheels and we blamed the bike frame for not riding smoothly, rather than observing other bikes with round wheels. Stating that a heel strike is a natural requirement for acceleration is contradictory to the video, as you mention in the toe off portion that the acceleration comes from the toes. If acceleration comes from the toes, then why not have both feet in a constant state of acceleration by landing on and pushing off of our toes? This doesn't mean that our heel can't touch the ground, but why should it be the first part to contact the ground if the acceleration is in the other end of the foot? In regards to walking on harsh surfaces, we didn't have shoes for millions of years. Dirt that is frequently compressed will become as hard as rock, there were also plenty of rocks and twigs. Walking on harsh terrain is nothing new to humans. The difference is that we weren't covering up our feet from a young age so we built up calluses to deal with it. Harvard has a video on youtube just titled Barefoot Walking that compares the feet of people in Kenya from a rural area without shoes, and an urban area with shoes. I said that humans evolved to be on our feet for many hours, and that's true. We would chase animals through persistence hunting which would require running very long distances. There was no transportation so humans would walk much further than most of us do today. And many people are on their feet for long hours. Restaurants, retail, construction, manufacturing, mail service, sanitation, etc. And while being active contributes to our health, it is not the only factor, as you know. My own weight gain/ loss was determined by portion size. I stopped eating so much and I lost like 50-60lbs. Don't worry, I didn't do anything crazy or unhealthy to lose weight quickly, I'm still healthy. Just being active wouldn't have gotten those results if I kept eating like I was, and we all know that portion sizes are crazy in North America. Our heels are harder and narrower than our forefoot, that's just a fact. There is a lot of movement and padding in the front of our foot, and when I say spring, I don't mean a literal spring. Since there is so much flexibility and strength in our forefoot, we can dampen impact when landing on the front of our foot. There is no dampening whatsoever when landing on our heels because our heel doesn't move. There's nothing to slow down it's momentum when it's the first point of contact. This explains why shoes have so much padding on the heel these days. We wouldn't need that padding if our heels were already cushioned (which they aren't), or we didn't walk/ run heel-first (which we do, since cushioned heels have become more prominent). Modern shoe design was not backed by any science. Nike's own research states that their shoes are not designed for function and do not decrease the risk of injury. There are many reasons to believe that modern shoes cause more harm. And I'm curious how/ why walking and running are different mechanics. To me, a run is an exaggerated walk. That exaggeration creates different forces through the air and on the ground that our body needs to adjust to, but the core movement itself is no different to me. It's still one foot ahead of the other and pushing off to accelerate. I'm not sure what you mean by "flex forward" when forefoot or midfoot walking. Forefoot or midfoot walking has a short cadence where our feet are landing underneath our hips, so I'm not sure it's possible to flex any further than heel-striking. And that's where overextending comes in, because when we heel-strike, our feet land in front of our hips. When midfoot walking, you can take a step forward and plant both feet firmly on the ground and be very stable. This is actually a proper stance in the style of karate I practiced many years ago. Karate is of course traditionally performed barefoot. One foot in front of the other, shoulder width apart, fully planted, pointing straight forward, knees slightly bent. When heel-striking, if you take a step forward and plant both feet, your front foot is much further in front of you with your knee fully straight and all of your weight on your back foot. This is not a very stable position. Walking on our heels really is a test of balance because it's not very stable. I think it was just last night, before you even brought this up, I tried walking on my heels and it's quite unpleasant. But walking on our tiptoes is completely normal, we do it all the time. Whether we're trying to be quiet, trying to be careful of where we step, or walking up the stairs, we do so on our forefoot without issue. And of course not every injury will cause a body part to atrophy, like if you're only out for a week or two then you'll probably be fine. When I sprained my foot, I couldn't walk for 2 months. My left leg is still weaker to this day, even though it was 7 years ago. I have less balance on that leg, and it gets tired or sore much sooner than my other leg. And again, I don't mean it literally when I say I keep my ankles straight. What I mean is I have to work to hold my ankles up and put more weight towards the outside of my feet so they don't collapse inward and cause problems like they have my whole life. No one has ever told me to change my stance (I haven't been to any professionals about the matter), but they've been quick to suggest supportive shoes and orthotics. I had to figure it out through people on the internet who have lived it that I can build strength in my feet and ankles and be able to carry myself without external support. I'm sure if I went to a podiatrist, they'd tell me I overpronate and would benefit from orthotics, rather than suggesting I actually fix the problem by moving correctly and strengthening my base. A brace requires no effort from the user and it makes the podiatrist/ orthotist a good bit of money. It's a win-win, sort of.
@mshea_audio Hello again and thanks for your response. As I did previously, I responded to your comments and listed them as such below. YOUR COMMENT: We do spend our day in shoes, but that doesn't mean the shoes we wear are helping us move properly. It would be like if we lived in a world where we put wrist braces on every day because wrist mobility is bad for some reason, or because whatever we were doing required straight wrists. RESPONSE: I absolutely agree that shoes may not help us move properly, however, shoes are not the same as wrist braces. Wrist braces are MEANT to restrict movement. Shoes are made to support the foot. Ill fitting or poorly designed shoes MAY restrict movement but it is not the goal. Of course, I’m not talking high heals but running/walking shoes. YOUR COMMENT: Foot mobility and strength is very important, and modern shoes don't allow us to use our feet as they were intended since they can't really move or feel anything. RESPONSE: Again, I do not agree that all shoes limit movement nor do I agree that you cannot feel anything when you’re in shoes. Shoes, unless high tops, do not limit ankle mobility and generally shoes don’t restrict MTP joint extension nor PIP joint flexion. Shoes do limit sensory input and of course, this varies based on the type of shoe and brand of shoe. YOUR COMMENT: Observing movement with the wrong equipment is silly, like if a bike had square wheels and we blamed the bike frame for not riding smoothly, rather than observing other bikes with round wheels. RESPONSE: Many times people choose the wrong footwear - not on purpose - but because they’re unsure of their requirements. They can still walk but their gait is not optimized. When someone views the differences in their gait when wearing sub-optimal footwear and when barefoot it provides the information to help them understand why proper footwear is important. I don’t find that silly but educational and I certainly wouldn’t blame the person for making an uneducated footwear choice. YOUR COMMENT: Stating that a heel strike is a natural requirement for acceleration is contradictory to the video, as you mention in the toe off portion that the acceleration comes from the toes. RESPONE: Acceleration is a process and the heel strike is the first part of the acceleration process that ends with the toe off. There are fulcrums at work that create the rockers necessary for acceleration to occur. YOUR COMMENT: If acceleration comes from the toes, then why not have both feet in a constant state of acceleration by landing on and pushing off of our toes? This doesn't mean that our heel can't touch the ground, but why should it be the first part to contact the ground if the acceleration is in the other end of the foot? RESPONSE: First off, if you had your heel contact the ground after landing on our toes you’d be moving backward and that’s not the goal. Secondly, both feet cannot be in a constant state of acceleration. Logically, we’d never be able to stop if we were constantly accelerating. Think of your car - if you kept accelerating you’d never reach a constant speed and you’d never slow down. In addition, you mention landing AND pushing off of your toes which means there is deceleration occurring when you land which inhibits your idea of constant acceleration. Biomechanically, as soon as we touch the ground - regardless of what part of the body it is - we decelerate. The force we push off the ground with is what accelerates us toward the next stage of gait. Walking is a constant flow between acceleration, deceleration and there is a portion of the cycle when neither of these occur (during the stance phase). The heel touches the ground first because of the rocker system utilized to move us forward. As indicated previously, there are necessary rockers to create acceleration and this commences with heel strike, engagement of ankle movement to allow the foot to contact the ground which precedes the toe off portion of the gait cycle. Walking requires the reciprocal pattern of swinging one leg forward while the other leg is in contact with the ground. During the swing through phase of gait, there is no contact with the ground and the leg decelerates before it touches the ground in front of the body. This is also key to another comment you made about the foot landing in front of the body - if it didn’t land in front of us, we wouldn’t actually get anywhere when we walked. YOUR COMMENT: Harvard has a video on youtube just titled Barefoot Walking that compares the feet of people in Kenya from a rural area without shoes, and an urban area with shoes. I said that humans evolved to be on our feet for many hours, and that's true. RESPONSE: Actually, we have ‘evolved’ to spending way less time on our feet. I’m assuming you believe this is the problem. We spend time sitting at desks, driving cars, and riding in subways and planes. When our body, whether in sitting, standing, or walking, is not in proper body alignment, there is wear and tear on the joints and problems occur. Getting rid of compensations and returning to neutral positions is what all good rehab programs should be working on with their patients. I’ll bet that the rural Kenyans you reference have better body alignment based on their daily tasks compared to a group of city dwelling North Americans. YOUR COMMENT: Our heels are harder and narrower than our forefoot, that's just a fact. There is a lot of movement and padding in the front of our foot. Since there is so much flexibility and strength in our forefoot, we can dampen impact when landing on the front of our foot. There is no dampening whatsoever when landing on our heels because our heel doesn't move. RESPONSE: I would caution you with respect to thinking there is a lot of strength and movement in the forefoot. There is very limited movement between the metatarsals and yes, there is movement of flexion and extension at the MTP joints and PIP joints in the toes, but again, not a lot, especially compared to the ankle. The majority of movement below the knee during gait doesn’t occur in the foot but in the ankle which is right above the calcaneus (heel bone). If, like you suggested, we land on our forefoot, you would need to ensure the ankle joint was always plantar flexed to avoid the heel coming in contact with the ground. This puts a tremendous amount of strain on the MTP joints and surrounding ligaments which are soft and malleable and much more easily damaged than a hard bone like the calcaneus. Think of how many people have bunions because of forefoot alignment problems. You indicate that the heel has no dampening which is incorrect. The calcaneus (heel) has a fat pad to absorb the force from the ground and aid in the walking cycle. It is not the heel that needs to move when walking, it’s the ankle. The four ranges of motion of the ankle not only assist in the gait cycle but work to provide proper balance and proprioception. Yes, the heel is narrower than the forefoot but it doesn’t mean it’s less suitable for landing during walking. YOUR COMMENT: There's nothing to slow down it's {sic} momentum when it's the first point of contact. This explains why shoes have so much padding on the heel these days. We wouldn't need that padding if our heels were already cushioned (which they aren't), or we didn't walk/ run heel-first (which we do, since cushioned heels have become more prominent). RESPONSE: You’re incorrect when you state that there is nothing to slow down the heel’s momentum. There are many muscles in play during the gait cycle that work to decelerate the foot prior to contact with the ground. Regarding padding, as I mentioned, the heel has built in padding called the fat pad. Padding in shoes is not because of the force of heel contact. It’s because people have difficulty with proper walking biomechanics. Due to injury, tightness, movement issues, disease etc. gait changes and limits the movement required to walk properly. The heel lift (padding) decreases the ankle mobility requirement and alleviates problems that occur with tight calves, tightness in the Achilles tendon, plantar fasciitis etc. The elevation of the heel in shoes actually tries to mimic the heel to toe action of proper walking. It is easier for a person to purchase a soft ‘supportive’ shoe than to work on rectifying their biomechanical issues. In addition, there are people with permanent problems that require cushioned shoes. As mentioned previously, the mechanics of walking and running are quite different and need to be discussed as individual gait patterns (see below). YOUR COMMENT: And I'm curious how/ why walking and running are different mechanics. To me, a run is an exaggerated walk. That exaggeration creates different forces through the air and on the ground that our body needs to adjust to, but the core movement itself is no different to me. It's still one foot ahead of the other and pushing off to accelerate. REPSONSE: There are distinct differences in the mechanics of walking and running. A quick overview: There is never a moment during walking when there is a loss of contact with the ground. Running provides a substantial portion of time with no contact of any body part with the ground. Running propels the body both up and forward. Walking mechanics propels the body forward, not off the ground. There is a long phase of static standing in walking that never occurs with running. Running works to limit the amount of time that the foot is in contact with the ground. This does not occur with walking. Of course, there are many other differences but the easiest difference to see is the lack of contact with the ground during running.
continuing... YOUR COMMENT: I'm not sure what you mean by "flex forward" when forefoot or midfoot walking. Forefoot or midfoot walking has a short cadence where our feet are landing underneath our hips, so I'm not sure it's possible to flex any further than heel-striking. And that's where overextending comes in, because when we heel-strike, our feet land in front of our hips. When midfoot walking, you can take a step forward and plant both feet firmly on the ground and be very stable. This is actually a proper stance in the style of karate I practiced many years ago. RESPONSE: If you want to land on your mid foot or forefoot below your hip you won’t get anywhere. A step has to be in front of your hip in order to move forward. Otherwise, you’re marching in place. There is no overextension of your spine. Your hip extends - not your back - with contraction of your glute max so there's no need to lean backward. If, however, you land on your mid/forefoot with walking, you have to utilize your spine and flex forward. Picture the body position from the side with the heel striking on the front foot and the toe off on the back foot. The body is in a neutral position with the ear, shoulder and hip in alignment and no leaning. If you now want to change the front foot to land on the mid foot or forefoot you have to compensate for the height differential between the back foot and the front foot which is accomplished with forward flexion. That’s why mid foot/flat foot walking leads to injuries. The swing through phase that moves the leg in front of the hip prior to heel plant provides a balanced body position that allows the ankle to plantarflex at the same time the rear foot is moving onto the toe for push off and therefore there is no height difference and no need to extend or flex. A neutral spine can be maintained without flexion or extension with proper gait biomechanics. YOUR COMMENT: Karate is of course traditionally performed barefoot. One foot in front of the other, shoulder width apart, fully planted, pointing straight forward, knees slightly bent. When heel-striking, if you take a step forward and plant both feet, your front foot is much further in front of you with your knee fully straight and all of your weight on your back foot. This is not a very stable position. RESPONSE: Karate and walking have different objectives so a comparison between a martial art position and walking isn’t appropriate, in my opinion, to try and discern proper gait. YOUR COMMENT: Walking on our heels really is a test of balance because it's not very stable. … I tried walking on my heels and it's quite unpleasant. RESPONSE: You’re correct. But walking isn’t just completed on our heels. There is a very minute percentage of walking that involves just the heel contact and with walking, it’s completed when the other foot is NOT on the heel. So I can see why you felt it was unpleasant because you were staying on your heels. YOUR COMMENT: But walking on our tiptoes is completely normal, we do it all the time. Whether we're trying to be quiet, trying to be careful of where we step, or walking up the stairs, we do so on our forefoot without issue. REPSONSE: We do not walk on our tip toes all the time and it is not completely normal. There are many people who cannot walk on their toes and this is also a test of balance. It is also quite fatiguing for the muscles to be contracted in that position. I bet most people who can walk around the block properly would tell you they couldn’t do it on their toes. There may be instances when we tip toe but it’s quite rare and does not occur daily. I would guess it is less than 1% of your weight bearing activities in a month - even less. In addition, stair climbing is not the same as gait - and if the steps were deeper, you’d put your full foot on the step - the heel is missing only because of the design of the stairs you were climbing. YOUR COMMENT: And of course not every injury will cause a body part to atrophy, like if you're only out for a week or two then you'll probably be fine. RESPONSE: This is incorrect. Muscles that are not used begin to atrophy in as little as 24 hours. YOUR COMMENT: When I sprained my foot, I couldn't walk for 2 months. My left leg is still weaker to this day, even though it was 7 years ago. I have less balance on that leg, and it gets tired or sore much sooner than my other leg. RESPONSE: It’s important to know that long standing asymmetries are a big risk factor for future injuries. A good rehab program that commences with your basic mobility and stability and developmental movement patterns and neural retraining can definitely help you with this. YOUR COMMENT: And again, I don't mean it literally when I say I keep my ankles straight. What I mean is I have to work to hold my ankles up and put more weight towards the outside of my feet so they don't collapse inward and cause problems like they have my whole life. RESPONSE: I think it’s difficult to discuss specific issues when we’re not speaking about the same thing. You indicate that you need to work to hold your ankles up but your ankles are a joint. Perhaps you mean that you have poor ankle mobility and it’s hard to dorsi-flex your ankle to lift your foot up. I cannot comment when I’m unsure of your personal movement patterns. I truly thank you for the comments and hope that my responses can help you better understand the movement patterns and functional requirements in the walking gait cycle.
Hello there and thanks for your comment. What part of the video can't you see? I just reviewed and didn't seem to have an issue. Can I help you with a part of the video that you're having a problem with?
Hey David: Heel striking is the best way to: * keep your body in proper alignment * allow for ankle mobility to support better balance *help maintain proprioception in the feet * use less energy so it helps you to walk more with less fatigue * increase your acceleration so you can move faster * reduce knee and hip pain because it reduces the pressure and torsion on those joints with proper walking biomechanics * remove low back pain caused by flat foot walking because there's no need to lean forward and flex with each step * reduce the strain on the already overused hip flexor muscles Hope that helps.
@@marianbarnick exploring the great outdoors barefoot, as most did and do around the world, quickly taught me that "heel striking" is a no-go. It caused a whole host of problems for me. I'm currently attempting to learn/research the natural gait of our ancestors pre-shodden... Thank you for your reply 😊
I have learned heel strike is bad as well. Try to strike on the front of your foot where there’s padding. Also heel striking momentarily locks people’s knees and that’s no bueno.
Thanks so much for watching the video. There are several people walking in the video - I'm wondering which part of the video you're referencing? Remember that each person's stride width is based on their hips when you're looking at gait in the frontal plane. Making sure your legs are directly below your hips is an easy way to look at your stride width in this plane. Hope that helps.
@@marianbarnick I'm referring to the woman with the weights in her hands by the end of the video. I guess if it helps someone to release pain I can't argue against it. For a healthy person maybe other ways of walking could be even better. My experience is narrower steps is good start to lock up stiffness throughout all of the body🤔
@@bui340 Whether you're in a rehab program or you're 'healthy', proper alignment is key to reducing risk of injury. If you're using narrower steps as you suggest, your placing the foot inside of (or medially to) the hips. This causes a lot of pulling on the lateral (outside) muscles of the leg during stance phase and then repetitive exertion of these muscles when they have to correct for this narrow placement during swing phase. Over time, the muscles get over stretched and over used and therefore sore and weak. Also consider that a narrow stance means the knee if not in alignment with the position of the body and will be facing inward, causing strain on the joint itself. Take a look at two other videos to get a better idea of the pressure on the knee from poor foot placement: ruclips.net/video/F6fjs_CBjD4/видео.html and also ruclips.net/video/GvMst2fWQtA/видео.html Both of these review the neutral requirements of the knee in flexion/extension and the pressure that's caused when you're not in alignment. Hope that helps. 😃
Not only is your video great, but I also see your response to Leslie’s question and I can’t believe how helpful and thorough you are. You should have way more subscribers!
If you are 70 years old how long should you want
How long is your walk if you are 70
@@juliatolbert8965 So sorry for the late reply. I didn't see this question as it is hiding as a reply to someone's comment. If you're 70, your walking length needs to be determined by your goals and your fitness level. If you're looking for cardio-vascular exercise it will be different - and at a different pace - than if you're looking to work on balance and weight bearing to help with osteoporosis. What's your goals with your walking? Are you walking now and if so, for how long and how often?
Thanks a lot❤
You're welcome! Let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful video 📹
Hi Srinivasa: Thank-you so much for the comment. I'm so happy you like the video!
Thank you for the tips! Really chilling voice you have :)
You're welcome!
Hello Marian,
thanks a lot for your videos.
Since you asked for it in the video, I will pose my question :)
I had a car accident when I was 8 years old. A car ran into me and I suffered a right side 'bruised' hip. Ever since then, at sports when I was running I occasionally heard from coaching that I was dragging my foot on the right side.
When I started working out in my early 20's, I always had problems with doing squats - even though I had strong legs, I could just not bend very deep on the right leg.
I suspect that I tried to walk again too quickly after the accident and developed inferior technique, causing me to drag my foot along and perhaps affecting other parts of the right leg too.
The problem is that I have no real idea how to fix it, I have seen several doctors and physiotherapists but I always feel very misunderstood and they do not really acknowledge my problem.
Some of my own personal fixes include imagining that im walking with the upper legs only, and thus pulling up my legs very high.
However there is sometimes that split-second where I start thinking about how I'm walking and the whole movement starts to feel awkward.
Do you have any advice perhaps?
Ty :)
Wow! Sounds like you’ve had a rough go of it! I can understand completely how frustrating it is to explain your symptoms to someone and feel like ‘they just don’t get it’. Even as a health care professional who uses ‘medical speak’, I’ve run into the same issues.
Let’s see if we can get to the bottom of this.
When there’s a movement dysfunction, the first thing we need to do is find the root cause. For example, you may be ‘dragging your foot” or “not bending very keep” on squats but these are symptoms of an underlying problem. If you and I were at my clinic or on a zoom call together, the first thing we’d do is check your joint mobility.
So that’s where I want you to start.
We need to evaluate your lower extremity mobility; your ankles, knees, and hips. I’ll make it easy for you and give you the link to a resource that takes you step-by-step in evaluating your joint mobility. (see below)
marianbarnick.com/guide
I want you to follow this Guide and then let me know where you find decreased range of motion. Make sure to test both the right and left sides - not just the side with the symptoms. Also, if there's a big difference between right and left sides for any movements, make a note of that too.
@@marianbarnick Thank you very much for your response. I am downloading the mobility guide now :)
I will see what I can do with that! Ty again.
Recent read through notes in my online medical file and saw gait=n1; just curious if that is something I need to work on? I am 72 this year and walk 10k+ steps most days. I used to run a lot but worry about doing more harm than good, so have been swimming more instead.
Thanks for providing the video which will help me understand my gait better and ways I can improve on it.
Hello there! Thanks for your kind words and congratulations on your step count. I'm curious as to what you mean by gait=n1. Did your doctor have you complete a gait analysis?
One physio said if you have knee pain not to strike the heel down but to put the foot flat. Could you comment please. Thank you.
Hi Leslie: Sorry for the delay, I didn't see this comment was still open.
If your knee pain is caused by extending your knee (straightening it) then I could see a reason for flat foot walking because it requires you to keep a bend in the knee (which limits use of certain muscles too).
Other than a specific diagnosis that would limit your ability to straighten your knee, knee pain is alleviated by using proper body mechanics and using both your hips and ankles in addition to your knees to walk, which means NOT using flat foot walking.
When you walk with heel-to-toe movement of your feet, your knee gets help from all the lower extremity joints and takes the pressure off the knee. This is the whole premise of proper walking mechanics.
If you walk with just flat feet, you take away the rocker motion from the foot which not only helps with acceleration and alignment, but helps with shock absorption so the knee has less force applied to it.
Hope that helps Leslie. Let me know if you have any questions.
@@SummaConscientia thank-you!
Hi Maria, many thanks for your great video! I have had a problem for 2 years now with my second toe, at its joint, I have seen specialists, podiatrists had orthotics made but nothing seems to help it! I only wear trainers now. Trainers that curl up at the front bother my toe! Any advice please would be wonderful! Thank you so much! lindy😊
Hi Lindy and thanks for the kind words. I’ve got a couple questions….is it just on one foot or both feet that the second toe bothers you? Is that second toe longer than your first toe? And when you say “at its joint” do you mean the joint in the toe itself or the joint where the toe meets your foot (MCP joint).
Sometimes when we have a curvature in our toe that has it pointing downward, it comes from tight tendons and fascia on the bottom of our foot. The muscles can get tighter and tighter and over time, they start holding the toe in a flexed position and other soft tissue tightens along with the muscles.
More info from you will help me see if that might be your problem. 😀
Super. Thank you. What about walking two dogs on leash?
Hi Teresa. Great question!
Walking dogs on a leash can definitely have an affect on your gait pattern. It’s going to depend on how much pull or slack there is on the leash. If there’s always slack, then there won’t be much interference with your proper gait pattern as long as you remember to swing your arms.
However, if there’s pulling on the leash, it’s going to torque your body into the direction of the pull. For example, if both dogs are on the right hand side and they’re pulling forward, that force is going to increase the movement of your right arm and it’s going to rotate your right hip forward and possibly rotate your spine. In your attempt to counteract the pull, you’ll be reversing that force so you’ll be pulling back against the force causing extension and left rotation through the spine/hip.
I’m curious to know if you walk both dogs on the same side or opposite sides. I’m also curious to know if you’ve ever tried having a longer leash around your waist to secure the dogs. It probably would be helpful to know if these are big guys or little ones.
Thank you!
You're most welcome!
Super information.... Thank you. I have one questiin.... I cant walk without support i feel hip or lower back is shaking& also feel more weight.. I have vitamin b12 deficiency.. Can i walk without support? Please reply me
Hi there and thanks for the message! A couple follow up questions; what happens if you try to walk without support? Is your vitamin B12 deficiency being treated and are there any long term permanent issues from the deficiency? Looking forward to your reply. M
Marian u only mentioned the right arm, ok because I’m right handed but what about the left arm? And I don’t know why I start walking with my right leg if I’m right handed.
Thank you for making this video. I have been having pain in my right knee for past few weeks. I was wondering why do I have knee pain only when I do brisk walk. It doesn't pain through the day. I have had orthroscopy for a meniscal tear 17 years ago. I thought it could be related to that. But, I am going to focus on my walking the way you said and will see if the pain is gone. Keep making videos 😍
@@marianbarnick i think I was bending my knee a little while walking. I tried walking with straight knee today. I didn't feel the pain😁. Thanks to you!! God bless you!! Also, I was wearing knee cap today. Do u think, its okay to keep it while walking?
Hasn't heel striking been shown overwhelmingly to be terrible for feet, joints, gait, and posture?
Hey Brenna: over the past few years there have been many therapists who have tried to get people to walk with a flat foot or mid foot stance. This is because of the number of people with chronic conditions like poor ankle mobility, muscle weakness, and balance problems. Some people have difficulty with heel strike so this alternative walking pattern was introduced to make things easier for people who can't or don't work on range of motion or biomechanics - think about all the shoes now with rocker soles or elevation in the rear of the shoes. Just like orthotics, it's to try and make things easier instead of fixing the problems at the source.
BUT...when you don't walk properly - which biomechanically, requires heel strike as the first stage of walking, you increase muscle compensation patterns, decrease the proprioception in the bottom of the feet, and cause strain on your low back. The unnatural pattern of mid foot or flat foot walking (remember we're talking walking, not running) leads to long term problems. If, of course, you have a fused ankle, then you need to compensate. If you can work on ankle mobility and get that heel down first, your body will thank-you. 🙂
Great Vid! I always walk on the treadmill at 4.4 mph for 2.5 miles three time a week. I walk with my arms crossed in front of me, is that normal, or am I a little weird? I can also walk with my arms pined to my sides to where they don't move at all. I have never seen anyone walk that way, have you? I do realize that it is easier to keep your balance when you let your arms hang down at your sides or bent about 45 degrees. Only when I am walking 5 mph, do I unfold my arms, is just easier to walk faster. Tracy
Hey Tracy: Great Question! And congrats on that exercise routine. I actually use 'no arm' walking to help some of my patients who compromise their walking pattern based on problems with their arm swing (or shoulder mobility) or rely too heavily on their arms for locomotion. If you don't use your arms, you'll be using much more core to stabilize your position and be much more aware of your body position. It's tougher to walk this way. Make sure you're staying neutral (not swinging your shoulders forward and back to make up for 'no arms'). Also, if your arms are crossed, check your spine position and make sure it's neutral and not pulling through your mid-back area. Let me know about these two pointers after your next treadmill session.🙂
It might be because I usually turn to the left.
I've been trying to assess my own gait the muscles I use when walking. I have strong calves think I might overuse them, as I notice I don't really use my gluts as much. I've been wondering (and tried) focusing on using my gluts more to essentially pull my leg back as the other is swinging. Not sure if it's a good idea or not. Going to video myself I think as you suggested.
Hey Jennifer: Great question and congrats on doing your gait analysis and being so involved in improving your biomechanics.
You indicated that your calves are strong and you may be overusing them. Let’s think about that another way - using your calves ‘a lot’ is making them strong. The calves cross two joints - the knee and the foot - so there are two ways in which the calf muscles are used. Your gait style may contribute to increased activation of this muscle.
Does this relate to your glute issue??? It certainly can. Your glutes won’t be maximally activated if your have decreased hip extension. Your body would compensate for this with increased knee flexion (or sustained knee flexion instead of reaching full extension) as well as more plantar flexion of the foot. Both of these actions utilize the calf muscles.
Of course, this is just one scenario which could be contributing to what you explained, and I have to mention that without specific evaluation, I can’t comment on your specific gait characteristics. But this can definitely help you with your biomechanics detective work. Hope this helps.
@@marianbarnick Thank you for taking the time to respond. I didn't go into detail because I wasn't sure if you were b still checking messages. Do you offer services (paid of course) remotely? I just found you on RUclips and haven't checked out your website yet. I have had plantar fasciitis, currently have piriformis pain, and have had hip bursitis in the past, so I know something is wrong. I've been strengthening glut meds, calf stretching, and trying to improve ankle flexion the past 4 weeks (going to PT). I just feel like there could be more to learn and I really want to understand my body as I'm fairly active and want to keep getting better shape knowing i have correctedany issues. Thx again.
@@marianbarnick And for hip flexion... does a person work on strengthening and stretching hip flexors? I can look up how to do that. I do a forward lunge stretch and Pigeon pose sometimes, and use a foam roller but I might need some strengthening.
@@jenniferg3251 Wow! You've got a lot going on. A couple suggestions....if you've had plantar fasciitis, you know how important it is to keep flexibility in your ankle joint. I'd check your calves and soleus muscles for tightness. I'd also check your form for glute mede strengthening as the positioning is pretty precise with some exercises and this may be aggravating your piriformis.
You can check out the services on my website (MarianBarnick.com) and of course, send me an email if you have any specific questions: info@marianbarnick.com
Hope that helps, and let me know!
@@jenniferg3251 with what we were discussing about activating your glutes for hip extension (which is glute max not glute mede) you would look to see if your hip flexors are over firing and tight. Remember, it's about your body alignment when you're doing your stretches so with your forward lunge stretch, do you have your spine in neutral (ears over shoulders, shoulders over hips), do you lean forward from the hip as opposed to arching the spine. And the same with the Pigeon pose. It's a hard pose to do correctly and the pose - in and of itself - tends to suggest arching of the lumbar spine instead of focusing on tightness in the hip flexors. The Pidgeon pose itself, depending on your positioning of the bent leg could in fact cause some of the tightness in your piriformis. So next time you try it, be aware of the bent leg and how the piriformis area feels in that stretch. Hope that helps and please let me know!
Heel strike is discouraged for those who are trying glutes development . Is it so??
Thanks for the question.
Let's take a look at the action of the glute muscle - I'm going to assume you're talking about glute max (gluteus maximus) but if not, please let me know.
The glute max works primarily to extend the hip so when you're walking this occurs from the 'toe off' component of the gait cycle. When you 'toe off' you push the leg backward and the glute max engages to extend the hip and move the leg behind the body.
So the heel strike component of the gait cycle isn't really a factor with the glute max.
A word of caution - walking shouldn't be looked upon as an activity to develop your glutes. If you are trying to strengthen a muscle, then an endurance activity such as walking is not going to give you the results you're looking for.
Hope that helps.
Thanks for save us lady because i walk like a robot 🥲🤖
My absolute pleasure!
Good video.. however there is no mention of how the knee should be used during the 4 phases of the walk..
Hi Kaweh.
Thanks so much for watching the video and I appreciate your comment.
Let me try to assist with your comment about the knee and its involvement with a proper walking pattern.
The knee is going to flex and extend while you walk. That's it. It's a hinge joint so that's all it can do. As outlined in the video, the leg is straight - including the knee - during stance phase. All other movement of the knee is going to be generated by the movement of your foot and ankle.
I'd like you to give this a try ...
As you move your foot to place the heel onto the ground (Stage 1) your knee will automatically straighten to assist with your goal. Do you see how straightening the knee helps with the heel placement?
When you reach Stage 2, as mentioned above this is stance phase, the full leg including the knee is straight. That doesn't mean locking you knee, it just means there's no bend at the knee joint. Try this out and see how as you lower your toes toward the ground your knee stays straight and your hip moves to be over top of your knee position.
Stage 3, which is toe off, requires the knee to stay straight for maximal positioning of the ankle and foot. Play around with this and see how if you bend your knee you shorten your stride length.
Stage 4 immediately starts after the toe leaves the ground and during this swing through phase, the knee helps the foot by bending. Also, if you're running, the contraction of muscles for propulsion will also bend the knee (think running back, hamstrings, and how close the heel gets to the butt).
Hopefully, as you try out the 4 phases of proper walking slowly, you can see the positioning of the knee with each phase.
I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any further questions or comments.
My foot is not clearing the ground what can I do to correct it
Ouch! Would you let me know if it's your toes that are dragging across the ground or if it's your heal hitting? Also is it on one side or both sides?
I get right shoulder pain when I start to walk with my left leg
Is this happening only with the first step? If you think about walking it's repetitive, reciprocal. So you are going either left/right, left/right of right/left, right/left. Either way you are doing the same thing over and over again. So whether you start with the right or left should not influence your gait pattern unless you are doing something outside the normal walking pattern.
Hope this helpsl
@@marianbarnick yea it’s at the beginning and when I’m tired. I try to swing the opposite arm during my first two steps and after that then I swing both arms (one to the front and one to the back). Get it? My opposing arm during steps 1 and 2 and the both after that.
@@marianbarnick what do u think it’s best…? To omit the back swing during the first step or also to omit the back swing during the first two steps?
I don’t have a problem on the second step but if I omit the back swing on the first step and not on the second I feel like a schocking sensation. So what’s your advice…? To omit the back swing just on the first or on both steps.
@@marianbarnick hi. What can I do if I want to walk left foot/right foot but I start with the right?
There seems to be a lot of disagreement in the community about striking with the heel and how that can lead to a lot of pain. What are people with chronic heel pain supposed to do, keep striking their heel?
Thanks for the comment Martin.
I think it's important to acknowledge that each complete phase of gait is approximately 1 second in length and that the stance phase (when you're standing on your foot) which includes the initial heel contact, the flat foot, and then the toe off, is approximately 60% of that 1 second. If we break that down further, that initial contact that moves from heel to flat foot is approximately 27% of the 60%.
What I'm trying to demonstrate, with objective numbers, is that the amount of time when the heel is touching the ground is extremely minimal.
Many times, the pain we have in our feet is due to asymmetries in gait and muscle imbalances and this includes heel pain. Many people with plantar fasciitis, for example, have heel pain and it can take a long time to alleviate this issue.
But walking with improper gait is not the solution for long term success.
Early this year I had surgery to repair a tear in one of my tendons from a car accident. The surgeon recommended that I have my heel bone cut (calcaneal osteotomy) and then reattached with screws to help create less stress on the tendon and allow it to heal.
It's been a process to re-establish proper gait and I'm still working on it! And yes, I totally understand heel pain (cuts, screws, scar tissue - OUCH!). But I knew that if I kept walking with a dysfunctional gait pattern, I'd be at more risk for further musculoskeletal problems and never heal optimally.
@@marianbarnick so maybe you can help point me in the right direction. I've had chronic pf for 2.5 years. It was primarily arch pain. I have orthotics and I have been following rathleff protocol, and now my arches are much stronger. But now I'm getting geel pain that I've never had before. I wonder if i need to start adjusting my walk or not and why I'm suddenly getting heel pain.
@@martinmackey7191 That's a long time to have plantar fasciitis!!! The Rathleff Protocol that you mention finds success in the first 3 months. Their research showed that follow ups after that had the same results as stretching programs. I'm wondering if you're using the heel raises that were utilized in the research study? Did the heel pain come on suddenly and for how long have you had it? Were there any changes to your orthotics or your footwear? I'm also wondering how you know your arches are stronger? Are your orthotics not supporting your arches?
Looking forward to your response.
Marian
@@marianbarnick well first of all thanks for taking an interest in my situation! I've had it since April 2021, onset by sudden overuse after the pandemic ended, I'm a referee and started working a million games as soon as i could. I also started keto at that exact same time. In 2023 I got everything under control and got good orthotics. Things were fine until this year. In January i bought birkenstock Arizona sandals which are acclaimed for helping with pf. I wore them 24/7 indoors, and my feet started going down hill. In July i found myself in crippling agony. I started rathleff and couldn't even do single heel raises. I have extremely strong and tight calves so they weren't the issue. I think my feet got coddled by the supportive sandals. First time in my life i went a long time without ever walking barefoot. Since then I've been doing rathleff. Now i can do single legs holding a heavy item and wearing a backpack full of books, so that's why i think my arches are getting stronger. What's strange is now i don't have much arch pain, but i get heel soreness which I've never had.
I suspect that there's something biomechanically wrong with my walk, I'm not sure.
Gor someone like myself with incredibly flat feet and terrible gait pattern (both my feet/toes point outwards with very short steps) is it ok to practise this barefoot?
Hi there and thanks for the question. Barefoot is great! Unless you've had a doctor tell you that you MUST wear shoes, barefoot walking will give you way more proprioception (feedback) about your foot placement, pressure, and positioning. If you emphasize the toe off positioning it will help you with your flat footedness. Also, I want you to check out this video...
ruclips.net/video/YKZkZpIA4Xo/видео.html
It has some good ankle mobility exercises with proper lower body alignment that I think might help you.
Let me know what you think!
@@marianbarnick thanks!
Heel Strike > Stance > Toe off > Swing
Yes, these are the 4 steps I outline in the video.
You act as a teacher, but it is only a private, individual expression of opinion. Please take note of the tibial posterior muscle! It erects the medial arch of the foot and inverts the foot. Then ground contact is made at the outer edge of the foot. Whether you put more on the heel area or on the tuberositas of the fifth metatarsal or where the little toe is connected to the middle foot depends on the muscle strength and experience of the runner but also on the pace and the desired athletic goal. Thanks to the lower ankle, the foot can be rotated from a slightly inverted position to a neutral position more or less in its longitudinal axis. Then the foot is pressed over the bale of the forefoot with the focus on the big toe. This means rolling the footprint onto the ground as you see it in the wet sand on the beach of the sea.
Hello and thanks for the comment. I actually am trying to teach something through my videos which are based on research and my 30+ years of experience as a Kinesiologist. So, humbly, this is not just an opinion.
You asked me to take note of the posterior tibialis muscle. However, what we're looking at is the functional performance of walking which requires many, many muscles. Yes, you can certainly break down each muscle into its actions but what you lose when doing so is the actual motor control required for this foundational movement.
Also, we're not talking about running here - just walking. They are quite different.
@@marianbarnick I was hoping to help you move forward. 45 years after starting my vocational training with the study of anatomy and after 25 years of long-distance running including health setbacks, I allow myself to describe my findings and experiences as sound. I look back on conversations and experiences with coaches and athletes of national rank and importance, although my sporting achievements are not up there. Recreational athletes and ordinary citizens with foot, knee and hip problems I was able to help as their doctor, if they followed these instructions. If you think that you should not focus solely on the posterior tibialis muscle, you are certainly correct. But why not focus on a previously completely hidden focus for didactic reasons!? When walking, the heel is put on, as well as in rolling jogging with slightly bent knees. When you run, you put on the middle or forefoot. That's the difference. But both when walking and when running, the swinging foot should be more or less inverted before touching down. As soon as the load is on the bale of the forefoot, it rotates about this axis of the lower ankle, which cannot be precisely determined, back into a neutral position. Pushing away from the ground can then take place even in a slight eversion. You may not forget the lower ankle neither when walking nor when running. If you don't want to follow me (why should you?), then look at what Asians and blacks teach about it. The truth has become rare, but it is precious.
Why do various PTs have different opinions on how to walk? The mechanics of walking should have been studied and every PT should say the same thing. Very confusing.
Hey Chris - great question and I agree that all therapists/trainers should understand and promote the proper biomechanics of walking.
What's important to understand is that walking biomechanics are different from running biomechanics so it's important to compare apples to apples.
What's happened as osteoarthritis has plagued so many millions of people and our older population wants to stay active, different ways of walking have been incorporated to try and reduce pain while walking.
As one of the researcher papers state (I'll paraphrase): gait retraining teaches a new way of walking to to reduce the movement that causes pain and while they work to decrease certain joint loads, they introduce an abnormal gait pattern and cause secondary injuries.
So therapists that don't train the proper biomechanic gait cycle may be trying to reduce a client's pain but this comes at a risk of secondary injuries and long term problems.
Hope that helps. Let me know if you've got any questions. 🙂
Nice reply
By the way, my behind leg when I’m starting is the right leg.
Interesting but half the puctures are hidden with the text
Please make sure you have the 'cc' subtitles turned off. That may help. Let me know!
This is an important topic for longevity,however it is not a easy topic to just talk thru,it would be much more easy to follow if use animations.Pls try again and find better ways to demo or some kinds of drills. th@nks!
Hey Eric, thanks so much for the comment. I will certainly do more videos on gait and walking and appreciate your input. I generally stay away from animations as they cannot convey body alignment with proper form. I will, however, look for more video and more ways to demo proper technique and biomechanics. 🙂
Hello again , I would love to hear your take on this information if you wouldn't mind ruclips.net/video/WJZmejSbJgM/видео.html&si=5L7YWnafnENBh6VK Both opinions make sense to me but my physio agrees with you on the heel strike (he used to play for the Eagles Australian football league so he's very well versed in sports performance) I used to compete in powerlifting and could bench, squat and deadlift A LOT of weight with minimalist barefoot shoes and keep my feet rooted feet arched but outside of lifting my walking gait is terrible (flat feet, small stride,loose knee's from martial arts injuries) and now trying to walk comfortably instead of only being good at three things (bench, squat and deadlift). Love your content, thanks for the reply on my last question and I'll stop hassling you with questions after this as I know you can't answer every Tom, Dick and Harry on the internet
Hey Shaun, thanks for the message and the link. I did watch it and have a LOT to chat about with respect to the information within this video. I'm wondering about the best format to share my thoughts but for the moment, I'll say that I do not agree with the person in the video. I'll let you know how I choose to share as I have a lot of notes.☺
@@marianbarnick thankyou!
So I don’t have to worry about my left arm? Just right arm forwards and left leg forwards and then right leg back and right arm back? I fatigue easily when I walk and I believe it’s because poor walking mechanic. I get shoulder and back pain as well as knee pain. I’m a right handed male, help if you can.
Hey Denni: Yes, you're right. The reciprocal gait pattern has the right leg forward with the left arm forward and vice versa. If you're getting fatigued when you're walking it's really important to watch for two things.
#1 I want you to watch that your foot stays straight when you push off with your toes. That means when your foot is behind you I want you to make sure your heel doesn't sneak over toward your midline (toward the other leg).
#2 As you walk I want you to make sure your belly button stays forward. This helps to make sure your hips aren't rotating as you walk.
I also want you to grab my free walking guide to make sure your ankles and hips have good range of motion needed for walking.
Here's the link:
onlinemovementtherapy.com/proper-walking-posture/
Give this a try and let me know how it works for you.
@@marianbarnick if U had to run clockwise and anti clockwise which one would u do first?
@@denniperez8028 so are you running around a track? I just want to make sure I understand correctly so I give you the best answer.
@@marianbarnick I’m walking around my house
@@marianbarnick i also walk in a straight line too when I do it indoors. So, for both cases?
This doesn't really make too much sense. We should observe walking when barefoot, as that will give us the best information on how we naturally move. Barefoot walking has been observed, and heel striking is not the way. I don't recommend it, but if you go outside onto the pavement barefoot and try to heel strike as you do in cushioned shoes, you're going to hurt yourself. This should be a red flag. Humans evolved to be on their feet for many hours a day long before shoes existed, so we should listen to our body. Our heels are hard and send the shock from impact up into our joints. They're also round so they're unstable. Heel striking also encourages us to overextend, which is not good. There's more cushion, spring, and width in our mid and forefoot, which makes it a great landing zone for walking and running. It doesn't transfer the shock up into our joints since it's not rigid like our heel. It's very hard to overextend while walking on the mid/forefoot, and it's very noticeable when it happens.
And we can't look to modern shoe trends when it comes to foot health because they're the things that hurt us in the first place. They're not foot shaped, the raised heel shortens our achilles, and the cushioning and arch support weaken our feet because they're not letting our feet do any work. When we want or need to get stronger, we exercise. After we get injured and can't use a certain part of our body, it loses function and muscle mass, so we go to a therapist to rehabilitate it. When our feet and ankles are weak, why do we put on comfortable shoes or orthotics instead of making them stronger?
I have low arches and I overpronate, always have. I also sprained my foot in 2016 and never rehabbed it. I was wearing stability shoes when it happened, I just had to jog across a road and my foot gave out. My feet are quite weak.
I haven't worn "normal" shoes in over 2 months. This means of course that I've been wearing barefoot shoes. I changed how I walk and run, focusing on keeping my ankles straight by landing on the outside of my feet. In that time, my achilles have returned to their normal state. They used to be tight in the morning and I'd have to be careful with each step, but now they feel perfectly fine as soon as I wake up. I've sprinted on concrete in shoes that have zero cushioning, they are less than 4mm thick. I didn't get injured, and it felt like the fastest I'd run in my whole life, and I currently weigh more than I used to and haven't ran in years. My feet are showing a bit of an arch, my balance is slowly getting better, I was on the verge of getting orthotics. It's not all sunshine and rainbows though, it is a very difficult transition, and I still have a looooooong way to go.
Comfortable shoes made my bad habits bearable, and they do nothing to fix the actual problems. When we have a problem, we don't just cover it up and let it get worse, we fix it.
Thanks for your comment. I'll reply to each of your points separately so the answers don't get lost in a paragraph. You have a long comment so I may run out of room but I'll continue in another comment, if necessary, to make sure you get the answers you need.
YOU: This doesn't really make too much sense.
ANSWER: I’d love for you to tell me what doesn’t make sense so we can have a discussion about each point. Please let me know.
YOU: We should observe walking when barefoot, as that will give us the best information on how we naturally move.
ANSWER: If we spent our day barefoot, then this would be a great idea but we spend the majority of our day in shoes so we need to evaluate how we move in shoes. this helps us determine if issues are related to foot wear or to true joint biomechanics. This is not to say that barefoot analysis isn't important.
YOU: Barefoot walking has been observed, and heel striking is not the way.
ANSWER: Of course we have observed barefoot walking and when doing so we see the natural requirement of heel strike to allow acceleration. Acceleration is a for the mobility component of gait.
YOU: I don't recommend it, but if you go outside onto the pavement barefoot and try to heel strike as you do in cushioned shoes, you're going to hurt yourself. This should be a red flag.
ANSWER: Again, we spend the majority of the day in shoes and the pavement and harsh ground surfaces are a big reason we use shoes. We don’t want to get injured from man made products. If you’re going to walk barefoot, walk on softer surfaces.
YOU: Humans evolved to be on their feet for many hours a day long before shoes existed, so we should listen to our body.
ANSWER: Unfortunately, most humans don’t spend hours a day on their feet. If they did, they’d probably be more healthy. Our body isn’t what dictates shoe wear, it’s generally safety from injury. Just as you mentioned the pavement above, there are many things that can injure our feet and skin.
YOU: Our heels are hard and send the shock from impact up into our joints.
ANSWER: I’m not sure why you think there is a shock caused by heel strike. There is a force created between the ground and the heel as well as every other part of the foot that touches the ground. Newton’s Laws tell us about forces - for every force there is an equal and opposite force.
YOU: They're also round so they're unstable.
ANSWER: Our heels are not round and they are actually quite stable. Loss of stability when walking can occur when you’re not in proper body alignment. Body alignment is what should be reviewed if you believe there are stability issues. Heel walking is actually a great test of stability/balance.
YOU: Heel striking also encourages us to overextend, which is not good.
ANSWER: I’m not sure what area of the body you believe is being over extended but Heel striking does not encourage over extension. Again, if you walk with a proper gait pattern and work toward proper biomechanics and body alignment, then there will be no over extension. Improper movement patterns occur when you’re not utilizing proper walking mechanics which could include extension of the lumbar spine.
YOU: There's more cushion, spring, and width in our mid and forefoot, which makes it a great landing zone for walking and running.
ANSWER: Walking and running have quite different gait patterns so it’s not wise to compare the biomechanical patterns between these two different activities. Yes, the mid foot and forefoot are wider than the heel, but there is actually no “spring” in any area of the foot. There are only forces and counter forces, creating contraction and relaxation of muscles, and changes in joint angles.
YOU: It doesn't transfer the shock up into our joints since it's not rigid like our heel. It's very hard to overextend while walking on the mid/forefoot, and it's very noticeable when it happens.
ANSWER: If you try to land on your mid foot instead of your heel when walking you’re actually going to flex forward causing increased strain on your back and lessen the ability to accelerate through toe off and hip extension.
YOU: And we can't look to modern shoe trends when it comes to foot health because they're the things that hurt us in the first place. They're not foot shaped, the raised heel shortens our achilles, and the cushioning and arch support weaken our feet because they're not letting our feet do any work.
ANSWER: There certainly can be shoes that have a raised heel and there are some shoes with an arch support, but to indicate that all modern shoes are this way would be incorrect and this is too big a topic to cover here.
YOU: When we want or need to get stronger, we exercise. After we get injured and can't use a certain part of our body, it loses function and muscle mass, so we go to a therapist to rehabilitate it. When our feet and ankles are weak, why do we put on comfortable shoes or orthotics instead of making them stronger?
ANSWER: An injury doesn’t always cause a loss of function and muscle mass. That’s why therapy/rehabilitation should be based on the specific type of injury. I totally agree that shoes shouldn’t be utilized to try and create stronger feet or ankles.
You’ve provided information related to your particular issue which I greatly appreciate. However, diagnostically I won’t comment as I haven’t evaluated your gait, your mobility through the muscle attachments to your achilles tendons, or your ankle mobility. I will say, however, that keeping your “ankles straight” cannot happen unless they’re fused. Your ankle movement is a key component in weight bearing mobility. I absolutely agree that comfortable shoes can help people who have pain form bad habits.
Hope this helps.
Marian
@@marianbarnick Thanks for the response.
Saying it didn't make sense was a lead into the things I mentioned.
We do spend our day in shoes, but that doesn't mean the shoes we wear are helping us move properly. It would be like if we lived in a world where we put wrist braces on every day because wrist mobility is bad for some reason, or because whatever we were doing required straight wrists. Foot mobility and strength is very important, and modern shoes don't allow us to use our feet as they were intended since they can't really move or feel anything. Observing movement with the wrong equipment is silly, like if a bike had square wheels and we blamed the bike frame for not riding smoothly, rather than observing other bikes with round wheels.
Stating that a heel strike is a natural requirement for acceleration is contradictory to the video, as you mention in the toe off portion that the acceleration comes from the toes. If acceleration comes from the toes, then why not have both feet in a constant state of acceleration by landing on and pushing off of our toes? This doesn't mean that our heel can't touch the ground, but why should it be the first part to contact the ground if the acceleration is in the other end of the foot?
In regards to walking on harsh surfaces, we didn't have shoes for millions of years. Dirt that is frequently compressed will become as hard as rock, there were also plenty of rocks and twigs. Walking on harsh terrain is nothing new to humans. The difference is that we weren't covering up our feet from a young age so we built up calluses to deal with it. Harvard has a video on youtube just titled Barefoot Walking that compares the feet of people in Kenya from a rural area without shoes, and an urban area with shoes.
I said that humans evolved to be on our feet for many hours, and that's true. We would chase animals through persistence hunting which would require running very long distances. There was no transportation so humans would walk much further than most of us do today. And many people are on their feet for long hours. Restaurants, retail, construction, manufacturing, mail service, sanitation, etc. And while being active contributes to our health, it is not the only factor, as you know. My own weight gain/ loss was determined by portion size. I stopped eating so much and I lost like 50-60lbs. Don't worry, I didn't do anything crazy or unhealthy to lose weight quickly, I'm still healthy. Just being active wouldn't have gotten those results if I kept eating like I was, and we all know that portion sizes are crazy in North America.
Our heels are harder and narrower than our forefoot, that's just a fact. There is a lot of movement and padding in the front of our foot, and when I say spring, I don't mean a literal spring. Since there is so much flexibility and strength in our forefoot, we can dampen impact when landing on the front of our foot. There is no dampening whatsoever when landing on our heels because our heel doesn't move. There's nothing to slow down it's momentum when it's the first point of contact. This explains why shoes have so much padding on the heel these days. We wouldn't need that padding if our heels were already cushioned (which they aren't), or we didn't walk/ run heel-first (which we do, since cushioned heels have become more prominent). Modern shoe design was not backed by any science. Nike's own research states that their shoes are not designed for function and do not decrease the risk of injury. There are many reasons to believe that modern shoes cause more harm.
And I'm curious how/ why walking and running are different mechanics. To me, a run is an exaggerated walk. That exaggeration creates different forces through the air and on the ground that our body needs to adjust to, but the core movement itself is no different to me. It's still one foot ahead of the other and pushing off to accelerate.
I'm not sure what you mean by "flex forward" when forefoot or midfoot walking. Forefoot or midfoot walking has a short cadence where our feet are landing underneath our hips, so I'm not sure it's possible to flex any further than heel-striking. And that's where overextending comes in, because when we heel-strike, our feet land in front of our hips. When midfoot walking, you can take a step forward and plant both feet firmly on the ground and be very stable. This is actually a proper stance in the style of karate I practiced many years ago. Karate is of course traditionally performed barefoot. One foot in front of the other, shoulder width apart, fully planted, pointing straight forward, knees slightly bent. When heel-striking, if you take a step forward and plant both feet, your front foot is much further in front of you with your knee fully straight and all of your weight on your back foot. This is not a very stable position.
Walking on our heels really is a test of balance because it's not very stable. I think it was just last night, before you even brought this up, I tried walking on my heels and it's quite unpleasant. But walking on our tiptoes is completely normal, we do it all the time. Whether we're trying to be quiet, trying to be careful of where we step, or walking up the stairs, we do so on our forefoot without issue.
And of course not every injury will cause a body part to atrophy, like if you're only out for a week or two then you'll probably be fine. When I sprained my foot, I couldn't walk for 2 months. My left leg is still weaker to this day, even though it was 7 years ago. I have less balance on that leg, and it gets tired or sore much sooner than my other leg. And again, I don't mean it literally when I say I keep my ankles straight. What I mean is I have to work to hold my ankles up and put more weight towards the outside of my feet so they don't collapse inward and cause problems like they have my whole life. No one has ever told me to change my stance (I haven't been to any professionals about the matter), but they've been quick to suggest supportive shoes and orthotics. I had to figure it out through people on the internet who have lived it that I can build strength in my feet and ankles and be able to carry myself without external support. I'm sure if I went to a podiatrist, they'd tell me I overpronate and would benefit from orthotics, rather than suggesting I actually fix the problem by moving correctly and strengthening my base. A brace requires no effort from the user and it makes the podiatrist/ orthotist a good bit of money. It's a win-win, sort of.
@mshea_audio Hello again and thanks for your response. As I did previously, I responded to your comments and listed them as such below.
YOUR COMMENT:
We do spend our day in shoes, but that doesn't mean the shoes we wear are helping us move properly. It would be like if we lived in a world where we put wrist braces on every day because wrist mobility is bad for some reason, or because whatever we were doing required straight wrists.
RESPONSE:
I absolutely agree that shoes may not help us move properly, however, shoes are not the same as wrist braces. Wrist braces are MEANT to restrict movement. Shoes are made to support the foot. Ill fitting or poorly designed shoes MAY restrict movement but it is not the goal. Of course, I’m not talking high heals but running/walking shoes.
YOUR COMMENT:
Foot mobility and strength is very important, and modern shoes don't allow us to use our feet as they were intended since they can't really move or feel anything.
RESPONSE:
Again, I do not agree that all shoes limit movement nor do I agree that you cannot feel anything when you’re in shoes. Shoes, unless high tops, do not limit ankle mobility and generally shoes don’t restrict MTP joint extension nor PIP joint flexion. Shoes do limit sensory input and of course, this varies based on the type of shoe and brand of shoe.
YOUR COMMENT:
Observing movement with the wrong equipment is silly, like if a bike had square wheels and we blamed the bike frame for not riding smoothly, rather than observing other bikes with round wheels.
RESPONSE:
Many times people choose the wrong footwear - not on purpose - but because they’re unsure of their requirements. They can still walk but their gait is not optimized. When someone views the differences in their gait when wearing sub-optimal footwear and when barefoot it provides the information to help them understand why proper footwear is important. I don’t find that silly but educational and I certainly wouldn’t blame the person for making an uneducated footwear choice.
YOUR COMMENT:
Stating that a heel strike is a natural requirement for acceleration is contradictory to the video, as you mention in the toe off portion that the acceleration comes from the toes.
RESPONE:
Acceleration is a process and the heel strike is the first part of the acceleration process that ends with the toe off. There are fulcrums at work that create the rockers necessary for acceleration to occur.
YOUR COMMENT:
If acceleration comes from the toes, then why not have both feet in a constant state of acceleration by landing on and pushing off of our toes? This doesn't mean that our heel can't touch the ground, but why should it be the first part to contact the ground if the acceleration is in the other end of the foot?
RESPONSE:
First off, if you had your heel contact the ground after landing on our toes you’d be moving backward and that’s not the goal.
Secondly, both feet cannot be in a constant state of acceleration. Logically, we’d never be able to stop if we were constantly accelerating. Think of your car - if you kept accelerating you’d never reach a constant speed and you’d never slow down. In addition, you mention landing AND pushing off of your toes which means there is deceleration occurring when you land which inhibits your idea of constant acceleration.
Biomechanically, as soon as we touch the ground - regardless of what part of the body it is - we decelerate. The force we push off the ground with is what accelerates us toward the next stage of gait. Walking is a constant flow between acceleration, deceleration and there is a portion of the cycle when neither of these occur (during the stance phase).
The heel touches the ground first because of the rocker system utilized to move us forward. As indicated previously, there are necessary rockers to create acceleration and this commences with heel strike, engagement of ankle movement to allow the foot to contact the ground which precedes the toe off portion of the gait cycle.
Walking requires the reciprocal pattern of swinging one leg forward while the other leg is in contact with the ground. During the swing through phase of gait, there is no contact with the ground and the leg decelerates before it touches the ground in front of the body. This is also key to another comment you made about the foot landing in front of the body - if it didn’t land in front of us, we wouldn’t actually get anywhere when we walked.
YOUR COMMENT:
Harvard has a video on youtube just titled Barefoot Walking that compares the feet of people in Kenya from a rural area without shoes, and an urban area with shoes. I said that humans evolved to be on our feet for many hours, and that's true.
RESPONSE:
Actually, we have ‘evolved’ to spending way less time on our feet. I’m assuming you believe this is the problem. We spend time sitting at desks, driving cars, and riding in subways and planes. When our body, whether in sitting, standing, or walking, is not in proper body alignment, there is wear and tear on the joints and problems occur. Getting rid of compensations and returning to neutral positions is what all good rehab programs should be working on with their patients. I’ll bet that the rural Kenyans you reference have better body alignment based on their daily tasks compared to a group of city dwelling North Americans.
YOUR COMMENT:
Our heels are harder and narrower than our forefoot, that's just a fact. There is a lot of movement and padding in the front of our foot. Since there is so much flexibility and strength in our forefoot, we can dampen impact when landing on the front of our foot. There is no dampening whatsoever when landing on our heels because our heel doesn't move.
RESPONSE:
I would caution you with respect to thinking there is a lot of strength and movement in the forefoot. There is very limited movement between the metatarsals and yes, there is movement of flexion and extension at the MTP joints and PIP joints in the toes, but again, not a lot, especially compared to the ankle. The majority of movement below the knee during gait doesn’t occur in the foot but in the ankle which is right above the calcaneus (heel bone). If, like you suggested, we land on our forefoot, you would need to ensure the ankle joint was always plantar flexed to avoid the heel coming in contact with the ground. This puts a tremendous amount of strain on the MTP joints and surrounding ligaments which are soft and malleable and much more easily damaged than a hard bone like the calcaneus. Think of how many people have bunions because of forefoot alignment problems. You indicate that the heel has no dampening which is incorrect. The calcaneus (heel) has a fat pad to absorb the force from the ground and aid in the walking cycle.
It is not the heel that needs to move when walking, it’s the ankle. The four ranges of motion of the ankle not only assist in the gait cycle but work to provide proper balance and proprioception. Yes, the heel is narrower than the forefoot but it doesn’t mean it’s less suitable for landing during walking.
YOUR COMMENT:
There's nothing to slow down it's {sic} momentum when it's the first point of contact. This explains why shoes have so much padding on the heel these days. We wouldn't need that padding if our heels were already cushioned (which they aren't), or we didn't walk/ run heel-first (which we do, since cushioned heels have become more prominent).
RESPONSE:
You’re incorrect when you state that there is nothing to slow down the heel’s momentum. There are many muscles in play during the gait cycle that work to decelerate the foot prior to contact with the ground.
Regarding padding, as I mentioned, the heel has built in padding called the fat pad.
Padding in shoes is not because of the force of heel contact. It’s because people have difficulty with proper walking biomechanics. Due to injury, tightness, movement issues, disease etc. gait changes and limits the movement required to walk properly. The heel lift (padding) decreases the ankle mobility requirement and alleviates problems that occur with tight calves, tightness in the Achilles tendon, plantar fasciitis etc. The elevation of the heel in shoes actually tries to mimic the heel to toe action of proper walking. It is easier for a person to purchase a soft ‘supportive’ shoe than to work on rectifying their biomechanical issues. In addition, there are people with permanent problems that require cushioned shoes.
As mentioned previously, the mechanics of walking and running are quite different and need to be discussed as individual gait patterns (see below).
YOUR COMMENT:
And I'm curious how/ why walking and running are different mechanics. To me, a run is an exaggerated walk. That exaggeration creates different forces through the air and on the ground that our body needs to adjust to, but the core movement itself is no different to me. It's still one foot ahead of the other and pushing off to accelerate.
REPSONSE:
There are distinct differences in the mechanics of walking and running. A quick overview:
There is never a moment during walking when there is a loss of contact with the ground. Running provides a substantial portion of time with no contact of any body part with the ground.
Running propels the body both up and forward. Walking mechanics propels the body forward, not off the ground.
There is a long phase of static standing in walking that never occurs with running.
Running works to limit the amount of time that the foot is in contact with the ground. This does not occur with walking.
Of course, there are many other differences but the easiest difference to see is the lack of contact with the ground during running.
continuing...
YOUR COMMENT:
I'm not sure what you mean by "flex forward" when forefoot or midfoot walking. Forefoot or midfoot walking has a short cadence where our feet are landing underneath our hips, so I'm not sure it's possible to flex any further than heel-striking. And that's where overextending comes in, because when we heel-strike, our feet land in front of our hips. When midfoot walking, you can take a step forward and plant both feet firmly on the ground and be very stable. This is actually a proper stance in the style of karate I practiced many years ago.
RESPONSE:
If you want to land on your mid foot or forefoot below your hip you won’t get anywhere. A step has to be in front of your hip in order to move forward. Otherwise, you’re marching in place. There is no overextension of your spine. Your hip extends - not your back - with contraction of your glute max so there's no need to lean backward.
If, however, you land on your mid/forefoot with walking, you have to utilize your spine and flex forward. Picture the body position from the side with the heel striking on the front foot and the toe off on the back foot. The body is in a neutral position with the ear, shoulder and hip in alignment and no leaning. If you now want to change the front foot to land on the mid foot or forefoot you have to compensate for the height differential between the back foot and the front foot which is accomplished with forward flexion.
That’s why mid foot/flat foot walking leads to injuries. The swing through phase that moves the leg in front of the hip prior to heel plant provides a balanced body position that allows the ankle to plantarflex at the same time the rear foot is moving onto the toe for push off and therefore there is no height difference and no need to extend or flex. A neutral spine can be maintained without flexion or extension with proper gait biomechanics.
YOUR COMMENT:
Karate is of course traditionally performed barefoot. One foot in front of the other, shoulder width apart, fully planted, pointing straight forward, knees slightly bent. When heel-striking, if you take a step forward and plant both feet, your front foot is much further in front of you with your knee fully straight and all of your weight on your back foot. This is not a very stable position.
RESPONSE:
Karate and walking have different objectives so a comparison between a martial art position and walking isn’t appropriate, in my opinion, to try and discern proper gait.
YOUR COMMENT:
Walking on our heels really is a test of balance because it's not very stable. … I tried walking on my heels and it's quite unpleasant.
RESPONSE:
You’re correct. But walking isn’t just completed on our heels. There is a very minute percentage of walking that involves just the heel contact and with walking, it’s completed when the other foot is NOT on the heel. So I can see why you felt it was unpleasant because you were staying on your heels.
YOUR COMMENT:
But walking on our tiptoes is completely normal, we do it all the time. Whether we're trying to be quiet, trying to be careful of where we step, or walking up the stairs, we do so on our forefoot without issue.
REPSONSE:
We do not walk on our tip toes all the time and it is not completely normal. There are many people who cannot walk on their toes and this is also a test of balance. It is also quite fatiguing for the muscles to be contracted in that position. I bet most people who can walk around the block properly would tell you they couldn’t do it on their toes.
There may be instances when we tip toe but it’s quite rare and does not occur daily. I would guess it is less than 1% of your weight bearing activities in a month - even less. In addition, stair climbing is not the same as gait - and if the steps were deeper, you’d put your full foot on the step - the heel is missing only because of the design of the stairs you were climbing.
YOUR COMMENT:
And of course not every injury will cause a body part to atrophy, like if you're only out for a week or two then you'll probably be fine.
RESPONSE:
This is incorrect. Muscles that are not used begin to atrophy in as little as 24 hours.
YOUR COMMENT:
When I sprained my foot, I couldn't walk for 2 months. My left leg is still weaker to this day, even though it was 7 years ago. I have less balance on that leg, and it gets tired or sore much sooner than my other leg.
RESPONSE:
It’s important to know that long standing asymmetries are a big risk factor for future injuries. A good rehab program that commences with your basic mobility and stability and developmental movement patterns and neural retraining can definitely help you with this.
YOUR COMMENT:
And again, I don't mean it literally when I say I keep my ankles straight. What I mean is I have to work to hold my ankles up and put more weight towards the outside of my feet so they don't collapse inward and cause problems like they have my whole life.
RESPONSE:
I think it’s difficult to discuss specific issues when we’re not speaking about the same thing. You indicate that you need to work to hold your ankles up but your ankles are a joint. Perhaps you mean that you have poor ankle mobility and it’s hard to dorsi-flex your ankle to lift your foot up. I cannot comment when I’m unsure of your personal movement patterns.
I truly thank you for the comments and hope that my responses can help you better understand the movement patterns and functional requirements in the walking gait cycle.
mam can't see anything. what a way to shoot . 😢😮😮😢
Hello there and thanks for your comment. What part of the video can't you see? I just reviewed and didn't seem to have an issue. Can I help you with a part of the video that you're having a problem with?
My walking and balance is terrible since I reached the age of 70.
Why are you promoting "heel striking" 😢
Hey David:
Heel striking is the best way to:
* keep your body in proper alignment
* allow for ankle mobility to support better balance
*help maintain proprioception in the feet
* use less energy so it helps you to walk more with less fatigue
* increase your acceleration so you can move faster
* reduce knee and hip pain because it reduces the pressure and torsion on those joints with proper walking biomechanics
* remove low back pain caused by flat foot walking because there's no need to lean forward and flex with each step
* reduce the strain on the already overused hip flexor muscles
Hope that helps.
@@marianbarnick exploring the great outdoors barefoot, as most did and do around the world, quickly taught me that "heel striking" is a no-go. It caused a whole host of problems for me. I'm currently attempting to learn/research the natural gait of our ancestors pre-shodden... Thank you for your reply 😊
I have learned heel strike is bad as well. Try to strike on the front of your foot where there’s padding. Also heel striking momentarily locks people’s knees and that’s no bueno.
Too many words :)
She walks too wide! Walking wide destroys everything.
Thanks so much for watching the video. There are several people walking in the video - I'm wondering which part of the video you're referencing? Remember that each person's stride width is based on their hips when you're looking at gait in the frontal plane. Making sure your legs are directly below your hips is an easy way to look at your stride width in this plane. Hope that helps.
@@marianbarnick I'm referring to the woman with the weights in her hands by the end of the video.
I guess if it helps someone to release pain I can't argue against it.
For a healthy person maybe other ways of walking could be even better.
My experience is narrower steps is good start to lock up stiffness throughout all of the body🤔
@@bui340 Whether you're in a rehab program or you're 'healthy', proper alignment is key to reducing risk of injury. If you're using narrower steps as you suggest, your placing the foot inside of (or medially to) the hips. This causes a lot of pulling on the lateral (outside) muscles of the leg during stance phase and then repetitive exertion of these muscles when they have to correct for this narrow placement during swing phase. Over time, the muscles get over stretched and over used and therefore sore and weak.
Also consider that a narrow stance means the knee if not in alignment with the position of the body and will be facing inward, causing strain on the joint itself.
Take a look at two other videos to get a better idea of the pressure on the knee from poor foot placement:
ruclips.net/video/F6fjs_CBjD4/видео.html
and also
ruclips.net/video/GvMst2fWQtA/видео.html
Both of these review the neutral requirements of the knee in flexion/extension and the pressure that's caused when you're not in alignment.
Hope that helps. 😃