WODdoc Episode 157 Project365: Forefoot Suppleness

December 7, 2014 4:49 am

I have encountered more than one person who complained of outside (lateral) foot pain during squatting or following squatting. Yep.. yep.. there are a million different reasons but one I see often is forefoot rigidity. High school and younger, not so much but, after that people have some stiff feet. It’s not their fault, it’s just happens really. Our lifestyles slowdown. We spend less time bounding around and more time in hard-soled dress shoes. Our feet are no longer required to twist and torque in all those wonderful positions and overtime solidify and become rigid.

How does that lead to lateral foot pain??? Well, if we are squatting correctly our knees travel outward as we descend into the bottom position. This requires the tibia to tilt laterally. In a supple foot we have no problems with this because each digit stays flat to the ground as the feet mold into the new position. With forefoot rigidity the digits stack against each other causing compression and after a while irritation.

So mobile forefoot = reduced likelihood of lateral foot pain with squatting.