Rearfoot : Forefoot Slope Ratio
/If you are like the Gait Guys you care about the heel:forefoot ratio of a shoe as the biomechanics change in the shoe. The closer you get the heel and forefoot to the same plane of contact the more natural the foot biomechanics. This is, in part, what the trend of the minimalistic / barefoot trend in shoes is all about. There are many other factors, but this is a big one.
The Gait Guys: YouTube video on Tight Calf, Posterior Compartment.
on same topic…. we see a huge number of patients with incompetent FHB (flexor hallucis Brevis and Extensor Brevis-EHB) muscles. Thus unable to complete the foot tripod and impairing ankle rocker as well……this is just the tip of iceberg. More to come on www.thegaitguys.com. See our YOUTUBE to make our EHB, FHB point.
Stress fracture factors guide orthotic choices→
/….well, some decent info here. But The Gait Guys are disappointed that there was no talk to dynamic evaluation of gait compensations and especially no talk of assessment for muscular inhibitions or weaknesses of foot controlling mechanics. Talked much about stability of the 1st MET, how about looking at the EHB, EHL, FHL, FHB function….to start !
The truth about barefoot running: It’s complicated→
/What is becoming increasingly apparent, however, is after the passing of the initial hype (and it is passing), the two sides (SHOES vs. BAREFOOT) are approaching a commonsense consensus. A lot of factors turn out to matter at least as much as shoes, including how a runner trains and what he or she got used to growing up.
The Amazing “Persistence” Hunt.
Running all day to hunt for your dinner.
Barefoot running……minimalistic running shoes ? Do we really know all that the fad is telling us ? The Gait Guys are studying hard. Reading, watching, studying video. Asking the hard questions from the research Gods like Lieberman at Harvard. At 3:40 into the video, 8 hour hunt, in the African outback…..yes folks, he has shoes on ? The Gait Guys are looking into the hype, myths, and truth.
yes folks, at 3:40 into the video, HE HAS SHOES ON !
Immediate effects of acupuncture on gait patterns in patients with knee osteoarthritis.→
/“while no significant changes were found in all the gait variables in the sham group, the experimental group had significant increases in the gait speed, step length, as well as in several components of the joint angles and moments.”
New changes around Mizuno's 2011 running footwear lineup→
/What the GAit Guys Say: It is Time for Shoe Talk on The Gait Guys: breaking news…New Mizuno Wave Rider Shoe…..still the same Heel to Forefoot Ratio (RF:FF ratio)……still 2:1 (24mm : 12mm). The Precision is also 2:1 (22mm:10mm). Concern ? The heel is still raised, altered forefoot load, promotes heel strike, short posterior compartment ?
It is well documented in the literature that cushioned shoes increase impact forces. Increased impact forces often lead to injury and compensation… and the Wave rider 12 won an editors choice award from Runners World? What are they thinking? Increased comfort does not necessarily equate to better performance. How many athletes do you know who train in a recliner?
Orthotic Shoe Inserts May Work, but It's Not Clear Why→
/Leading orthotics researcher, professor of biomechanics@ Human Performance Lab @ Univ. of Calgary,Alberta. His conclusion: orthotics may be helpful as a short-term solution, preventing injuries in athletes. But it’s not clear how to make inserts that work. The idea that they are supposed to correct mechanical-alignment problems does not hold up. The work of THE GAIT GUYS, hopes to offer some insight.
Ivo Waerlop A potential riff in the article (Via Stu Currie):1) Primates only have a transverse arch – they are flat in the longitudinal direction.
2) In primates the metatarsal bases are on the same plane as the metatarsal heads.
…
3) The length of the phalanges is 18% of total foot length in humans, and 35% in chimps.
4) Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy) has the beginning features of a longitudinal arch, while retaining many characteristics of the ape foot. The same can be said for other hominid ancestors (H. Habilus)See MoreJanuary 20 at 7:51am · LikeUnlike
Ivo Waerlop We have always said that orthotics serve as a therapy, not a solution. Your prescription should be getting better (lessening) or more correction taken out with time, not becoming greater. They are an excellent tool, but not a substitue for good mechanics.
The right fit matters, shoe studies suggest→
/Although the study did not analyze the association between shoe fit and hallux valgus angle, it did find that 79.7% of 153 children had hallux valgus angles of 5º or more. An angle of more than 15º is typically considered clinically abnormal.
The Gait Guys Youtube Channel→
/Plenty of great videos here to learn from. More to come !
The Men Who live Forever→
/the cliff notes verson of McDougall’s “Born to Run” story. Neat article
In the hills of Mexico, a tribe of Indians carries an ancient secret: a diet and fitness regimen that has allowed them to outrun death and disease. We set out to discover how the rest of us can catch up.
Shod landing provides enhanced energy dissipation at the knee joint relative to barefoot landing from different heights.→
/Its great to wear shoes if you are jumping, but not necessarily running. It is interesting that ground reactive forces were not significantly different for shod vs unshod conditions and that that knee flexion, angular velocity and power were higher for those “perceiving” that there would be more cushioning. It goes to show we are not smarter than our brain (we just think we are !).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Yeow%20CH%22%5BAuthor%5D
Knee. 2010 Aug 24. [Epub ahead of print]
Shod landing provides enhanced energy dissipation at the knee joint relative to barefoot landing from different heights.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Division of Bioengineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Barefoot Shoe Companies please take note. Barefoot-Natural Running: Fad or Trend
/One question still remains, is this whole barefoot “thing” a fad or is it truly a trend that is here to stay ? The Gait Guys believe it has become entrenched enough now, in reputable research journals, that this is a firm trend that will not be going anywhere anytime soon. The studies are just too convincing that there are benefits. However, Dr. Waerlop and I feel that there are risks for some folks. Those mainly being that some foot types do not, and never will, have business being in such minimalistic shoes. We remained concerned about the misleading advertising, that these types of shoes will make everyone’s feet stronger. For some, they will, but most of the time strength education must be directed, so why would it be any different here ? For example, there is a right way to do a squat, and a wrong way and merely doing more of them without guidance does not guarantee that the intended and proper motor patterns will be achieved. We all need direction when it comes to difficult things, like proper foot function. Thus, merely putting on a minimalistic shoe does not mean that the correct patterns and strategies for foot strengthening are being automatically instituted. We see plenty of folks who are in minimalist shoes and yet still display toe hammering and clenching behaviors which are clearly not seen in strong feet, to the claims that these shoes will do it all are just not true. And, for those that have challenged foot types and lower limb torsional issues (ie. FF varus, Rothbart Foot, cavovarus foot, excessive tibial varum and/or tibial torsion etc) these folks will likely trend towards local foot problems or injuries or issues further up the kinetic chain (hip, knee, low back etc). Understandably, these are heavy medical terms and conditions that are very much out there in the running public. We know, we see them daily. The problem could be that those providing the education do not have enough clinical background to know what these issues are let alone recognize them. So how can they then draw these issues to the surface in educating the public ? As I say in my lectures, “You first have to know what a platypus is in order to identify it. Otherwise it is just a hedge hog with flippers and a duck bill." These underlying anatomic issues are the elephants in the room that everyone is missing, everyone except us. We get the folks who are running in these minimalist devices and we get to see who never should have been in them in the first place.
The good thing is that many companies are setting up educational programs to help folks drop down into "minimalism 2.0” but still, to date, no one is talking about the elephants in the room, those being those foot types that are too risky to be in the shoes and even more specifically, how to strengthen the foot. Merely putting the shoes on and wearing them does not mean the end user who already has challenged feet will begin to engage the correct muscular motor patterns. But who would admit to those risks, that would be stupid advertising and product risk. With 36+ clinical years we feel this is where we have some pull and can help.
Someone needed to be talking about the elephants in the room. We finally decided that we had enough experience clinically, and with runners and shoes, to be that person. Agreeably, there is a danger in doing too much barefoot running too soon. We made this clear over the past few years as Biomechanics Advisory Board members for one of the big players in this game. For us it is about “keeping them honest” as we like to say now. We are trying to make the calls on the products that have questionable statements and applaud those that stick their neck out but whom take our critique well. We do not know everything, but we seem to know much more than most when it comes to the biomechanics of what is going in these products. If you put 10 different feet in a product, you will get 10 different biomechanical presentations from the shoe. So, much of what is being missed is the education of what is going on with the parts that are in the shoe, and that is our world. A major part of the barefoot or natural running trend are the problems that exist with the thing you are putting into all of these products, a person. A person who likely does not have the classic middle of the road, ‘Average Foot’ these shoes were designed around; that foot that all these companies base their research and dialogue upon. To us, the most important thing for us to do is to raise the knowledge and awareness to the public, shoe companies and shoe stores that there is likely a ~10-15% standard deviation off of that average foot where their products will work as they claim. Those other 70%, well…….they need us and they deserve to have us help them see the elephants in the room that no one is talking about.
If the collective goal of the natural running movement is to reduce injuries then the education MUST continue into educating the fabricators and running public of all of the issues at hand (or “foot” in this case) which should include talking about the elephants in the room.
Please help us get the message out. Wouldn’t it be great if this message went viral ? Send this to your friend who just bought a pair of “barefoot or minimalistic shoes”. Send it to your shoe store owner, your coach, your trainer, your doctor, therapist, your running club colleagues, your brother etc.
Lets educate everyone so this positive trend does not have a dark undercurrent that no one speaks of.
Shawn Allen, Ivo Waerlop………with almost 4 decades of clinical experience…..we are, The Gait Guys
The effect of footwear and sports-surface on dynamic neurological screening (click for link)→
/Shoes make the man, or in this case, the athlete. This study shows that shoes (much like skis) allow us to perform faster than our brain is able to compensate ( in other words, we lack the skill) and allow us to sometimes stretch our abilities, often at the cost of an injury. We must remember that technology must keep pace with the rate of neural learning, not the opposite.
J Sci Med Sport. 2010 Jul;13(4):382-6. Epub 2010 Mar 15.
The Ecco Biom
The Human Foot: It makes up to 175 calculations per second …….Yes, the foot is just about one of the most amazing pieces of engineering out there. And when it works well, it is amazing. And when it goes sour……man it goes sour !
Watch this video for the new Ecco Biom. This guy Torbjorn Sindballe is an amazing athlete. Through the sagittal plane his biomechanics look pristine. However, through the frontal plane, well that is another matter. We will discuss that in a moment.
Of first order, lets look at the video segment at 13 seconds. In what at first looks like a cool video clip, at 13 seconds we see a foot flash before our eyes showing a heel strike barefooted (it appears to be running to us). If it is in fact running, that is just not realistic. It is fine for walking gait but not for running, the impact is too great, the necessary control is excessive, and the deceleration forces just too much.
* and to prove another point as to why heel strike while running is incorrect, think about this and then we will prove it at exactly 18 seconds into the video. The heel (calcaneus) is rounded. And it sits on top of a soft fat pad. If your sagittal mechanics are not perfect, the heel can wobble or rock suddenly and quickly from side to side. This is why you see running shoes with a deep seated heel counter and dual density foam in the arch to provide control and to help direct this foot forward onto the more stable bipod forefoot. A single point is unstable, and thus heel strike at a running velocity is asking for trouble. Now, go and watch the video again at 18-19 seconds…..see that sudden jarring of the heel ! If you are going into an accentuated inversion or eversion event, that impact event could carry you there in a hurry and that might not be good and/or it will necessitate a sudden ligamentous or muscular correction from the frontal stabilizers (which could lead to repetitive strain). So when you run, in our opinion (and that of many of the experts and current research) perfect form is one of forefoot /mid-forefoot strike, then kiss the heel down to the ground if you wish and then lever off with glute and calf power. That is proper mechanics and shoes with thick generous heels can impede this normal event as Lieberman’s Harvard studies have shown.
Now, back to Torbjorn. Well, his sagittal mechanics are admittedly gorgeous ! But his frontal plane foot pronation mechanics leave a little something to be desired (don’t get us wrong, “if it ain’t broken, maybe you don’t fix it” when it comes to a super athlete like Torbjorn, and additionally as we know very well, what appears to be wrong is not always the case when you examine a person) but we do not like what we see. Particularly, at 36 seconds into the video you see rather aggressive left foot rear and mid foot pronation. That might not be good over 26 miles and 100+ training weeks. The right foot needs a little work too if you ask us. He should not be in that shoe if you ask us. But hey, who the heck are we anyways right ?……..
Shawn and Ivo……we are…….The Gait Guys……..(that’s who !)
(* Torbjorn, if you are reading……we could help you with that left foot if it becomes a problem. Lets hope not ! Keep up the really great performances, setting the standard ! Keep them looking at the backs of your shoes……and……just so you know…..we like some of the features of the shoe, we will be getting a pair and do a review unless you want to comp us a pair and begin some dialogue.)
Footballer’s Ankle (follow up on the iWalk Powerfoot):
This is clinical condition which is most often present in those who have engaged in kicking sports for a number of years. As in soccer, the striking of the ball forcefully in a plantarflexed position can generate a traction apophysis (bony tubercle) from the repeated traction stress put on the anterior ankle capsule and ligaments. This tubercle can form a spur that can act like a door stop impeding any further ankle dorsiflexion (rocker). Footballers ankle manifests itself with pain at the front part of the ankle joint. Soft tissue can become trapped at this anterior joint aspect and produce localized pain. IT will look like a normal degenerative spur, but the clients age and activity will help clarify the diagnosis and pathogenesis.
iWalk Powerfoot video Army
Here in this video our keen eye was correct regarding the reduction in ankle rocker and subsequent heel rise. The video when the soldier is walking down the stairs (most notable for on the last step) gives an excellent example of what happens when ankle rocker (tibiotalar dorsiflexion) is impaired (this can look like another clinical condition called FootBaller’s ankle if a spur develops). See how much knee lift he has to generate, forced by the early heel rise. Once again, still an amazing piece of engineering.
(* If the fabricators are reading this, we are here to help ! Start by moving that metal bar at the front of the “mortise” another few millimeters forward and you will get the extra few degrees to reduce that rocker/heel lift issue. This will smooth out mechanics at the hip and knee and add to user stability and balance.)
iWalk PowerFoot Gait Animation
Check out this 3 million dollar bionic foot! For a walking gait cycle (not running cycle) it shows excellent heel rocker; and the appearance of a little hallux limitus (an articulating first metatarsophalangeal joint with an eccentric axis is likely a bit complicated to produce)…….But, for all that money you would have thought they could have added more ankle rocker ! The model gets to what looks like about 110-115 degrees which is the lower limit of what is necessary. It is why you see such an early heel rise in the video. Why don’t folks just call us…..we would have taken $100,000 for a consulting fee on this one to help them get it right ! Despite its shortcomings, it is quite a remarkable piece of engineering, truly.
Fabricating a Shoe Last: The LAST word
A few words about lasts (but not the last)
Dr. Ivo Waerlop & Dr Shawn Allen
A last is the mold or template for creating the shoe. It defines the shape of a shoe. The last can create a high, medium or low volume shoe. They can also be relatively straight or curved (this refers to the shape of the “sole” of the shoe). If you turn the shoe over and stare at the sole, mentally bisect the heel with a line going to the front of the shoe. If the line bisects it, it is a straight lasted shoe (this corresponds to the axis of the 2nd metatarsal, or slightly lateral to it). If more of the shoe falls medial to this (more of the sole on the big toe side) it has a curved last. Curved last shoes can vary in the degree of curvature. Curved last shoes are designed to help control pronation, as they provide medial support and slow its rate by causing a relative supination of the foot after heel strike (it weights the lateral border of the shoe for a longer period of time, theoretically allowing less pronation). Curved last shoes can put more motion into a foot, especially one with limited rearfoot motion (it still must pronate, but due to the lack of rearfoot motion, the forefoot must compensate and now must do so in a shorter period of time).
Last also refers to the material (or way that the material) overlays the midsole of the shoe. The last (look inside the shoe on top of the shank) is the surface that the insole of the shoe lays on, where the sole and upper are attached). Shoes are board lasted, slip lasted or combination lasted. A board lasted shoe is very stiff and has a piece of cardboard or fiber overlying the shank and sole (sometimes the shank is incorporated into the midsole or last). It is very effective for motion control (pronation) but can be uncomfortable for somebody who does not have this problem. A slip lasted shoe is made like a slipper and is sewn up the middle. It allows great amounts of flexibility, which is better for people with more rigid feet. A combination lasted shoe has a board lasted heel and slip lasted front portion, giving you the best of both worlds (theoretically).
A general rule of thumb is: You really can’t go wrong with a straight last. It will work for all feet, especially if you are using an orthotic. This is especially important with people with forefoot abductus, moderate to severe pronators and rigid feet (rear or forefoot). A forefoot abductus and severe pronator’s feet will move laterally in the shoe, often causing crushing, rubbing, cramping and blistering of the little toe against the side of the shoe. A rigid foot, because the foot needs to be able to pronate at the mid and forefoot, will have a similar problem. You can use a curved last with people with mobile or hypermobile feet, provided their pronation is not too severe (clinical judgment, trial and error).
I hope this clarifies some of the issues surrounding lasts, their shape, and usage. This will probably not be the last word on lasts, but hopefully will suffice some of the burning curiosities surrounding the subject.
* important addendum to the youtube video: please note that the last that was created has a raised heel (if you look closely). This will put the shoe and foot in relative plantarflexion. This is likely for a traditional trainer running shoe or daily dress shoe where there is a 20+mm heal lift in comparison to the forefoot platform. Beware, this is not how the foot was designed, ie. rearfoot and forefoot are supposed to be on the same plane for anatomically designed biomechanics. This plays into the mechanical features of the minimalistic shoe trend of Newtons, Vibrams, NB minimus, Atra Adam and EVE, TEraPlana etc.
We hope this was helpful,…….Ivo and Shawn……..we are, The Gait Guys
