Flat Foot Fix| Ep. 23

Heyyy flat foot!!  Do you know how this derogatory slang arose. In the early 20th century large metropolitan cities employed foot patrols. These officers walked so much some of them acquired fallen arches. Of course quite the opposite is true now. Sedentary job styles and hard shoes lead to the deconditioning of the intrinsic muscles of the foot. This in turn places all stresses on the passive structures (ex. plantar fascia).  Repetitive strain eventually stretches these passive structures and results in the fallen arch.

This of course is only one scenario of many, but it is one we can help.  Regain foot functionality by waking up those dormant foot intrinsics.

Know Your Anatomy

As you can see there is a whole bunch of individual muscles here.  About 20 in varying depths so we are not going to name them all here.   Just know we are attempting to activate all of them during one of the 5 movements listed below.

Today’s Prescription:

1. 10 meters heel walk

2. 10 meters toe walk

3. 10 meter walking on outsides of foot

4. 10 meters walking on insides of foot

5. 5 meters short foot race

**Remember to do in turf or softer surfaces and with shoes off.

I didn’t answer this well in the video so I just wanted to make a quick note.  In the case of having mild pes planus.  I would only use an orthotic if:

1. I was having a symptom (pain) in my foot.

2. It was found by a professional that the fallen arch was the cause of my pain.

I would not use an orthotic because of functional deficient in my lifting such a valgus deformity (knee coming in on the squat).  I would work on activation of hip abductors and foot intrinsic, like the ones shown above.