Last week, I had a great experience at Hyatt Strength + Wellness! Jeremy Hyatt graciously invited me to come speak to his team of personal trainers about foot, ankle, and calf health. As we know in the physical health and wellness world, mobility problems in this area are very common but frequently misunderstood. Poor footwear choices, repetitive overuse, and poor self-care are common culprits. Problems can be local (e.g., plantar fasciitis, shin splints) or remote (e.g., knee pain, hip pain).
In my presentation, we focused on:
- Mobility Concepts
- Mobility is critical for healthy movement patterns and needs to be adequate for the activity you are undertaking (e.g., barbell overhead press vs. dumbbell overhead press)
- Bony articulations and surrounding soft tissues determine the mobility of a joint or region
- “Use it or lose it!”
- Improving Mobility
- Specificity is King. Recognize the movement potential of the region you’re working.
- Slow movements + cross-plane movements generally but not always work better than static long-holds
- Juicy Stretch vs. Sketchy Load
- Continuum from Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA):
- Goal: Functional and Non-Painful (FN)
- 2-week Rule:
- Functional Painful (FP)
- Dysfunctional Non-Painful (DN)
- Refer: Dysfunctional Painful (DP)
- Calf/Ankle/Foot Mobility
- Highest payoff will generally be relative motions or “between layers”
- Compare sides
- Expect changes over the week
If your interested in diving deeper into the world of feet, ankles, and calves mobility, here are some additional educational resources:
Overall it was a fun and educational afternoon. If you’d like a sneak peak at how fun, check out this Instagram post courtesy of our friends from @hyattgym!
If you’re suffering from lower extremity mobility problems such as plantar fasciitis, shin splints, knee pain, and/or hip pain. Please reach out, we’re here to help!
Seth