You walk into a store with $20 to your name. The item that you would to purchase costs $10. Would it be difficult/challenging to pay $10 dollars for something knowing that it would leave you with just $10? How much would that feeling change if that $20 were decreased to $15 or $13? What if it were increased to $50, $80, $100, etc? Keep in mind that in each situation, you have the necessary $10 to make your purchase, but your security or comfort in making this purchase lies in the size of your “reserve” (the amount that you will have after making the purchase). I have a feeling that you understand this, but what does it have to do with your feet/ankles?
Let’s say you have two clients/patients performing a squat. One is able to complete a full bodyweight squat with great form (functional), while the other loses his/her balance in a posterior direction or elevates the heels as they descend (dysfunctional). Suspecting that there may be an issue at the foot/ankle complexes, you decide to assess their ability to dorsiflex their feet/ankles. For illustration, we will say that an individual needs 15 degrees of dorsiflexion to properly perform a squat. Upon assessing these two you learn that the functional squatter has 25-30 degrees of dorsiflexion and the dysfunctional squatter has 18-20 degrees of dorsiflexion. Both individuals have the necessary 15 degrees to complete the activity, so what gives? Maybe the problem isn’t at the foot/ankle since both clients/patients have more than the required range of motion. Is it fair to say that the foot/ankle complexes are clear?
Before you dismiss the foot/ankle complex’s involvement, keep this in mind. The foot/ankle complex is a sensory interfacing region of which the body has four (2 hands/wrists and 2 feet/ankles). Take a look at the skin on the palms of your hands and soles of your feet. These are the only places on your body that has this type of skin. Now run your finger across the skin on the back of your hand, then the palm, and do the same for the tops and bottoms of your feet. Notice the difference in sensitivity in the palms of your hands and soles of your feet. This is important because these areas are uniquely equipped to provide the brain (central nervous system or CNS) and the body (peripheral nervous system or PNS) with sensory information as they interact/interface with the environment. This means what happens at the foot/ankle complex(s), as it interfaces with the environment, largely determines the lower body’s, and thus the entire body’s, access to said movement, in this case the squat.
It is this sensory interfacing quality that makes the total motion, not just the required motion, at the foot/ankle important. This quality gives the foot/ankle complex the ability to assess “threat”. What I mean by this is that the foot/ankle complex will often be reluctant to give you all that it has, exhausting its reserve, as it senses and tells the body that it is unsafe for me to do this, so get it from somewhere else. You see, just as in the $$$ example earlier, the foot/ankle complex senses when its “reserve” is depleting and will send a message to guard against it, often resulting in dysfunctional compensation(s). This is why the dysfunctional squatter either loss his/her balance backwards or elevated the heel during the descent.
Now take those same two squatters, place them in Olympic weightlifting shoes, and have them squat again. You will likely see no gross changes in the functional squatter, but the dysfunctional squatter will greatly improve, possibly becoming “functional”. The requirements of the squat have not changed, but you have externally increased their dorsiflexion reserve. The Olympic weightlifting shoe places the foot in a stable plantarflexed position. This advantageously changes the starting position of the foot/ankle by allowing the necessary 15 degrees of dorsiflexion (to perform the squat) to largely be achieved via relative dorsiflexion as a close look at the foot/ankle will reveal that the actual/true dorsiflexion occurring at this complex is less than without the shoes. As a result, the dorsiflexion reserve has been increased, there is no perceived threat by foot/ankle complex, and the access to the movement is granted.
This isn’t to say that everyone should be in elevated heel shoes, as my position is quite the contrary, though Olympic weightlifting shoes have their place/purpose. This example was merely used to illustrate the importance of the dorsiflexion reserve in the execution of upright ground based activities. So take a little time each day to address foot/ankle mobility and controlled mobility. It will be well worth the investment!
Respect & Honor
