Exercise has long shown to improve health but not all exercise is healthy.
Some doctors think just exercise alone without regard to what the exercise does is good enough.
Wrong!
Exercise such as running and even simple walking with over pronation or over supination can actually do you more harm than good.
Also, exercise of any kind with a locked spring puts you at risk for injury and theoretically causes stress, strain, wear, tear and inflammation of the area of locked spring and the floors above. I feel it is the responsibility of the medical profession and the fitness profession to detail out when its safe for exercise and when it is not.
To read more about how the exercise your doing can actually age you then click here
Im going to teach you what muscles support the spring mechanism, how you can prevent or train yourself out of an over pronated or over supination gait so your foot and ankle can land in the safe range between supination to pronation.The cuff of muscles that are designed to maintain the foot in the safe range between pronation and supinatoon preventing over pronation and over supination I refer to as the pronation supination cuff.
In this article I am going to teach you how to restore the strength to the natural spring mechanism of the body.
Since these same muscles protect the body from impacts by springing us down and up safely from impacts during our landings I also refer to them as the spring suspension system muscles or the landing muscles. These muscles also recycle energy through the human spring mechanism so they serve many purposes in important areas of our daily life.
Typical bodybuilding, fitness and even some sports training programs are flawed in that they don’t build the most important area of our body, the human spring mechanism.
The Evolution of the Complete Sports /Anti-aging Training Approach
I was appointed to the editorial advisory board for Joe Weiders, Muscle and Fitness magazine from 1993 – 2003.
During that time fitness evolved in many ways. I remember that back in the 80’s we had guys that only did bench press and curls to develop the chest and arms. To be huge was in.
Women were afraid to train with weights back then. They thought they would look huge, boxy or bulky like the men! Also people honestly thought muscle would turn into fat if you stopped training.
The result of not training the back muscles or even how to outbalance the upper bodies resulted in injuries to the shoulders, neck and back. We would teach them to train their back and other muscles to even out the balance between the chest and arms routines so they would have balance of strength across the upper body so they wouldn’t get injured.
Introducing Bodybuilding. the Complete Symetrical Training Program
Bodybuilding has been touting itself as the complete training method. When you look at a bodybuilder you see this symmetry and definition that is developed by training the body from all different angles and directions. If you’ve been a subscriber to Muscle And Fitness, Flex and/or Shape Magazine for many years like I have, you might wonder if he will ever run out of exercises to talk about and demonstrate in the magazines.
Arnolds Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding seemed to include every exercise known to man but he forgot the most important muscles!
Introducing Core Exercises
So many had lower back pain in the late 80’s. What was determined was that it was necessary to build a stronger core to reduce pelvic tilt and protect the lower back from the front. That helped but that didn’t solve the problem!
Introducing… The Rotator Cuff of the Shoulder
Rotator cuff training exercise were developed by orthopedic surgeons. This focused not only on training the primary muscles of the shoulders, pecks, delts, traps, rhomboids but also the four rotator cuff ms on the shoulder that secure the arm bone, called the humeral joint so that you could push harder without the shoulder slipping out of socket. This was very important for pitchers and athletes in throwing or racket sports. We have these exercises as part of the core routine of our athletes training now.
Introducing the Pronation Supination Cuff Training
The muscles that prevent over pronation and over supination of the foot consist of the tibialis posterior, tibialis anterior, peroneus longus, and peroneus brevis.
The strength of these supination and pronation spring suspension are not covered much in bodybuilding or fitness magazines, training routines etc but of all the muscles, in fact these are THE most important muscles in the body to work.
Why?
- These muscles suspend your foot as a leaf spring so it can bounce your body off the ground instead of bang your body into the ground.
- They store FREE elastic energy when your mass impacts the ground when they stretch. This storage of energy is what allows your body to move more efficiently as a spring mechanism rather than an inefficient lever mechanism.
- These muscles, which I also refer to the pronator supinator cuff muscles, maintain the foot and lower limb in the safe range between supination and pronation.
CLICK HERE TO REVIEW THE PAGE ON THE SAFE RANGE
Most trainers focus on the takeoffs and forget the landings
The Takeoff Muscles
Im always browsing the internet and reading books about training and it’s surprising for me to see so many trainers at the elite level talking about the hamstrings, quads, glutes and abdominal core muscles yet hardly ever if any time talking about the muscles which suspend and spring load the arch. No wonder so many have impact related injuries.
There’s no use planning a fitness regime to rival an Olympic athlete unless you first sort out how healthy or otherwise your gait is. You may be able to fly on the track but it’s not going to take too long before you’re grounded permanently if every step you take is the equivalent of a crash landing.
Hard landings cause shock to the skeleton, and while it might seem like heavily-cushioned shoes would be the answer, they are in fact, likely doing more damage as they dramatically affect the arch spring’s ability to appropriately absorb, store, then release the energy from each step.
Rather than strapping five inch ‘pillows’ to your feet, the best solution is to repair the spring mechanism in the arches by following the procedures and exercises in this article.
When your limbs veer outside of the safe range of supination to pronation rolling motion you enter the unsafe range. Any motion of a joint or complex of joints outside its normal range lead to abnormal movement patterns that can cause stress and strain, wear and tear, widespread silent inflammation, which can lead to painful inflammation.
Inflammation as you know increases your risk for diseases of aging, depression, brain fog, sickness syndrome, listnessness, loss of spirit amongst other problems.
These muscles must not only be strong enough for us to walk pain free with some energy recycling but also they must possess strength, speed, stamina, suppleness and flexibility.
When we know how much resistance or impact force the pronation-supination cuff or spring suspension system can resist then we can design the right training program that creates the exact adaptation we need.
This article focuses on deep tissue massage, self-help treatments like stretching to increase arch flexibility, resistance training, running drills, plyometric training, and sports training to strengthen the pronation and supinatiion cuff or landing muscles sufficiently to safely spring back the forces of impacts of simple walking, running and sports drills without allowing the foot to over pronate or over supinate.
Studies have linked over pronation/supination to conditions such as:
- foot pain
- plantar fasciitis
- ankle pain
- sprained ankles
- heel pain
- heel spurs
- knee pain
- hip pain
- back pain
- knee injuries
- menisus tears
- herniated discs that don’t heal
When these abnormal movement patterns persist this can lead to chronic conditions related to chronic inflammatory response such as chronic pain, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, brain fog and inflammatory diseases of aging.
Some doctors feel that people with chronic conditions of the weight bearing joints are unable to ambulate without some form of support. Some do not offer a program that focuses on restoration of the necessary strengthening of the pronation supination cuff muscles, which could allow a restoration of the spring suspension system to allow them to recapture activities of their youth. Instead they support the body, which eventually does not allow it to support itself.
I call this standard of care approach, barefoot to bedridden.
- Footwear (two supports)
- Motion Control Footwear (six supports)
- Orthotics (six supports)
- A Cane (seven supports)
- Four Prong Walker (10 supports)
- In a wheelchair (wheels)
- Bedridden (full body support)
If you find yourself in this approach where all the doctor is doing is adding progressive supports rather than restoration of function you will want to read on on what steps to take to restore the natural spring of the connective tissue structures, how to strength in the muscles that suspend the spring mechanism, what muscles prevent over pronation and/or over supination and maintain the arch spring.
The three steps to my human spring approach are:
- Release the stiffness or locking of the joints of the spring mechanism so the muscles can pull through full range of motion to maximize development.
- Strengthen the pronation supination cuff, landing muscles AKA spring suspension muscles with lever resistance exercises.
- Strengthen the pronation supination cuff, landing muscles AKA spring suspension muscles with spring impact exercises.
The most common problem with aging comes from a breakdown in the balance, reflexes and inability to support the upper body with the feet and legs. We see this natural progression of footwear, orthotics, orthopedic shoes, cane, walker, wheel chair and bedridden recommended by the doctor simply because their muscles could no longer support them anymore.
This progression of barefoot to bedridden can happen faster with injuries that they can’t recover from such as:
- Injuries that don’t get restored to normal function – Chronic foot and ankle conditions like bunions and the complications from bunion surgeries, plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, Mortons neuromas, foot pain, chronic knee conditions and the inability to cover fully from knee surgeries, hip conditions and the inability to restore normal hip function after hip replacement surgeries, back Injuries and surgeries that don’t fully recover from
- Decisions to support vs decisions to restore the muscle strength of the spring suspension system that allow for natural spring function.
The body is a giant spring with 7 floors of springs:
- The arch
- The subtalar joint
- The ankle mortise
- The knee
- The hip
- The spine
- The head-neck
Why not just put orthotics in to stabilize and or to support the arch?
The chief characteristic of this arch is its elasticity, due to its height and to the number of small joints between its component parts. Henry Gray (1821–1865). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
When we have a weakness in the core of our body that leads to stress on the spine, we don’t brace the spine and tell the patient that they must be in this brace for the rest of your life, we mobilize the area and prescribe exercises that will keep the area moving in all directions that support the area ranges of motion plus we tell them that they must do these exercises for the rest of their life.
Some of you reading this, including some doctors think that if you have over pronation or over supination that there is nothing you can do but get motion control shoes or orthotics.
That is NOT true!
If any area has abnormal movement patterns that cause stress and strain wear and tear inflammation and pain, all we have to do is figure out what is causing the abnormal movement patterns and correct it.
When bones move outside the safe range it is mostly because there is a weakness in the muscles that maintain it in the safe range.
Can it be that easy?
Lets look at the muscles which maintain the foot in the safe range between supination and pronation.
Posterior tibial tendon dysfunction is the most common cause of acquired flatfoot deformity in adults. he arch is further supported by the plantar aponeurosis, by the small muscles in the sole of the foot, by the tendons of the Tibialis anterior and posterior and Peronæus longus, and by the ligaments of all the articulations involved. Henry Gray (1821–1865). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
The Peronæus longus also everts the sole of the foot, and from the oblique direction of the tendon across the sole of the foot is an important agent in the maintenance of the arch. Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
Why hasn’t my doctor or trainer talked about these muscles?
The muscles that assist in the negative or eccentric loading the force of impacts during walking running or the performance of sports or leisure activities are sometimes forgotten by doctors and trainers.
What are the Muscles of the Pronation Supination Cuff, which I also refer to as the landing muscles or the spring suspension system muscles?
We have to begin by learning the muscles we need to strengthen.
The muscles of the spring suspension system of the foot and ankle consist of the tibialis posterior, tibialis anterior, peroneus longus, and peroneus brevis.
Click here to open a page with the illustration of the cuff muscles so you can study them better while you read. here….
The Tibialis Posterior Muscle (below) (blue tendon)
This is the tibialis posterior (blue tendon) that supports the first metatarsal-cuneiform, second and third. You can also see the tibialis posterior (blue tendon) which attaches at the mid-arch at the first second and third metatarsal cuneiform joints where the spring action happens on impact.
If this joint area is stiff or locked then the tibialis posterior cannot contract maximally against this joint. It’s impossible if the joint is locked.I find this muscle to be the weakest of the cuff.
They even have a syndrome named for it:
Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction
Posterior tibial tendon dysfunction is the most common cause of acquired flatfoot deformity in adults. Although this term suggests pathology involving only the posterior tibial tendon, the disorder includes a spectrum of pathologic changes involving associated tendon, ligament, and joint structures of the ankle, hindfoot, and midfoot.
Early recognition and treatment is the key to prevention of the debilitating, long-termconsequences of this disorder. Conservative care is possible in the earliest stages, whereas surgical reconstruction and eventually arthrodeses become necessary in the latter stages. The purpose of this article is to review the symptoms, physical examination, radiological examination, classification, and treatment of posterior tibial tendon dysfunction. / Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2000;30:68- 77.
Tibialis Posterior Muscle
Spring Suspension System Muscles Bottom
The Peroneus Longus and Brevis
As you can see the peroneus longus (pink tendon) comes from the lateral aspect of the foot cross over to add some support to the first ray.
The Peronæus longus also everts the sole of the foot, and from the oblique direction of the tendon across the sole of the foot is an important agent in the maintenance of the arch.
The exercises to strengthen the spring suspension system must be performed barefoot
movement training
The focus of movements which they base these studies are usually plantar flexion and dorsi flexion. They do not focus on the movements that are vital to the strengthening of the suspension systems such as inversion, eversion, adduction and abduction.
We don’t only walk or run straight ahead but we also change our direction. We MUST do exercises such as side shuffles or Zig Zag runs as well as other movements besides walking straight ahead.
Watch Video Tutorial #133 Circle Walk, Jog, Run And Sprint and you will see Dr. Stoxen demonstrating and explaining how to execute a circle run, click here to view
Read Video Tutorial #179, 45 Degree Zig-Zag Hop, Jump Or Run, click here to view
Watch above as Dr. James Stoxen DC trains 2 time USA Taekwondo Champion Christian Medina Barefoot Running with Zig Zag Drills
What if I don’t want to train my spring suspension system muscles?
If the human spring suspension system muscles are not developed equal to the amount of force of impact that they’re required to load, then there will be an overload of the protective mechanism.
Where is the force of the impacts go when the spring loading mechanism os overloaded?
The overload force is loaded into the tissues as negative stress on tendons and muscles and/or compressive overload of compressive springs.
The compression springs are the meniscus of the knee, the vertebral discs and the cartilage of the hip.
The result could be herniated discs, degenerative discs, hip joint degeneration, meniscus tear or knee joint degeneration.
The overloaded stress on the other structures could manifest as
- plantar fasciitis
- heel spurs
- heel pain
- foot pain
- tibialis posterior tendon dysfunction
- ankle sprain
- shin splints
- TFL & illiotibial band syndrome
- gluteus medius pain
- lower back pain
- mid back pain
- neck pain syndromes
- headaches
If there is an overall breakdown of the entire mechanism this could manifest into:
- chronic pain syndrome – (inability to spring back from impacts)
- chronic fatigue syndrome (inability to recycle energy through the spring)
- misdiagnosed fibromyalgia (doctors did not understand the true cause of your suffering)
- diseases of aging related to chronic inflammation
- depression related to chronic inflammation
Essentially, the overloading of the spring mechanism and the inability of the spring suspension system to handle the impact forces of walking and running is what is getting in the way of the healing process.
Is there any Science Physics to Your Human Spring Theory?
The human body and the earth are two objects that collide 10,000 times a day (steps), which is 3,650,000 collisions a year meaning these two objects collide around 100,000,000 before your thirtieth birthday. These objects are on the earth so they abide by the same laws of nature, physics and common sense that all other colliding objects do.
When I looked into the physics of a spring mechanism, I discovered the secrets to training the human body for maximum performance are revealed by the simple laws of physics, combined with the laws of nature, primarily those associated with adaptation. We can determine forces of mass and acceleration with simple math equations.
These, in turn, help us create more effective scientifically-based training programs because we will know how much force our spring can withstand without breaking down. Imagine having a fitness training approach that gives you the healthy stress almost perfectly matched to the strength of your healthy human spring! Well, if you use my approach, you’ll get the most out of exercise and reduce the chance for injury because you’ll be doing your workout according to the laws of physics.
The Human Spring Approach looks at the human body as a model like an engineer or physicist.
The engineer will look at the human body as seven floors all interlocking separated by springs on two springs. The seven floors of interlocking springs also have spring energy.
Currently, doctors do not look at the body in this way and many fitness trainers don’t either.
The first most important law of springs is Hookes Law
Force Of Impact/Energy Stored And Released
The Human Spring Model and Approach Abides by Hookes Law of Physics
Hooke’s law is named after the 17th century British physicist Robert Hooke. He first stated this law in 1660.
Hooke’s law of elasticity discovered by the English scientist, Robert Hooke in 1660, which states that, for relatively small deformations of an object, the displacement or size of the deformation is directly proportional to the deforming force or load. Under these conditions the object returns to its original shape and size upon removal of the load.
Elastic behavior of solids according to Hooke’s law can be explained by the fact that small displacements of their constituent molecules atoms, or ions from normal positions is also proportional to the force that causes the displacement. Encyclopedia Britanica reference
What it says is that the more force we can load into the human spring called spring displacement of the more counteracted or the full force will spring back called direct storage of force.
How can you test the maximum loading capacity of the human spring?
The only way to test if the spring suspension system is released is to do a gait study or a video of the body impacting the ground in various movements and at progressively increased speeds.
The forces or loads on the body are dependent on
- how the load is applied
- how quickly the load is applied.
KEY: To be more precise in our approach we need to test the suspension system under stress from these progressive loads to determine the estimated strength level.
KEY: After that we can determine what training load and forces the suspension system can handle to be able to select the best exercises to prescribe that will allow the suspension system tissues to adapt safely yet increase strength progressively.
Example: A 150 pound man:
- has 75 pounds of load on both feet during standing
- has 150 pounds on one foot when standing on one foot
- has 150 x 1.25 = 187.5 pounds on the landing foot (F = M x A)
- has 150 x 3 = 450 pounds on the landing foot (F = M x A)
Bodybuilders routinely tack on 20, 30, 40 and even up to 100 pounds of muscle mass onto their frame in their lifetime but they forget that during walking the impact forces are increased by 1.25 and during running the impact forces or three times the bodyweight.
Many gain that winter weight or just get caught up in work, family and our diets get way off track for a few and we gain 10, 20, 30 pounds until we decide we should start running for the cardio to burn off some of that fat. We don’t realize that for every 1 pound of bodyweight we gain it is 3 pounds increase impact force on our joints in the landing. Chances are the spring mechanism may already be dropped and locked because out spring was already in an overload state for several months and for some, several years.
What means the additional mass loaded onto the human spring mechanism creates 30, 60 and 90 pounds of additional impact force into the joints of the human spring mechanism.
Dont worry because even for those extremely overweight with little to no spring in your step you can implement this approach. Watch this video of a lady who had locked feet and was over 300 pounds. She set a goal to lose the weight and restore her spring mechanism. Watch her interview on WGN Channel 9 talk about it. Im very proud of her!
TV Special Medical Report: “When Exercise Accelerates Aging!” Dr. James Stoxen, DC on WGN, Channel 9
The Ultimate Study to Determine the Status of Your Human Spring
The most accurate way to determine the strength of your human spring mechanism is to see how it reacts to progressively greater force impacts. The way I test athletes and patients spring suspension system is to do a video taping of walking, running and the performance of sports such as sprinting or jumping barefoot.
Then I replay the video tape evaluating and reviewing with the patient, the movement pattern carefully in slow motion to see if the landings show the foot and ankle are springing and are rolling from supination to pronation within a safe range. You can learn more about this by looking at a variation of gait analysis called “The Toe Raise, Foot and Ankle Alignment Test.
How to do Video Evaluation of Your Walking (Gait)
Stand about 10 feet away and videotape and later observe motion of the ability of the foot and ankle to stay in the safe range during
- Two Leg Standing
- Normal Pace Walking
- Fast Walking
- Various Jogging Speeds
- Running
- Sprinting
- Plyometrics
Yield
What is the yield strength and the ultimate strength of your pronation supination cuff? When you know exactly what your strength is… then you can develop more precise training program to strengthen your cuff !
Im going to teach you some innovative self tests to determine:
- The static (standing) strength of the muscles that maintain your foot and ankle in the safe range while standing
- The dynamic lever strength of the muscles that maintain your foot and ankle in the safe range while doing lever actions such as simple food-ankle toe raises (calf raises)
- The dynamic impact spring-back strength of the muscles that maintain your foot and ankle in the safe range while walking, jogging, running, sprinting and plyometric exercises
These muscles have to be able to prevent unintended movement of the foot and ankle outside the safe range in many different challenges such as:
- Static strength – the ability to stand without fatigue of these muscles
- Static strength–endurance is the ability to stand for a long time without fatigue of these muscles
- Dynamic Strength – move against resistance by the action of these muscles
- Dynamic Strength Endurance – move against resistance with these muscles for longer distances (many toe raises)
- The Dynamic Impact Spring-Back Strength is the ability to safely spring the mass off the ground in multiple directions (plyometric drills)
- The Dynamic Impact Spring-Back Strength Endurance is the ability to safely spring the mass off the ground in multiple directions for endurance impact activities (5K, 10K, half marathons, marathons)
- The Dynamic Impact Speed-Strength – quick move against resistance like cutting in football
- The Dynamic Impact Speed-Strength Endurance – quick move against resistance for longer distances
Elastic Deformity vs Plastic Deformity depends on if you train with resistance or impact forces beyond the ultimate or failure strength forces.
We need to train between the yield strength and the ultimate strength and not train with impact forces in between the ultimate and failure strength levels and never surpass the failure strength loading forces.
Many of you are training beyond the ultimate strength levels.
For Example: You could run all year last year taking up the impacts safely up to October before the cold weather hit. Then after 4 months of sitting, your spring suspension system muscles atrophied. Also if you put on 1o pounds over the winter this adds 30 pounds of impact force to your already weakened spring suspension system muscles.
This imbalance of impact forces vs cuff strength is what causes your foot to roll out of the safe range as your impacts overloaded the ability of the tibialis posterior (over pronation) or the peroneus group (over supination) to maintain the foot in the safe range.
What if your arch connective tissue spring mechanism locked?
Oh, and I forgot the one day when you were standing too long talking to your friend… Your suspension system fatigued (tibialis posterior), the arch dropped and it locked at the metatarsal cuneiform joints (forefoot-mid foot / mid arch joint complex).
So, as you know, your muscles cannot pull against locked bones. So, your exercise program cannot even get started until you release all the muscle spasms from around this joint of the foot so your joint will move when the muscle contracts against it.
Phase I – Start with the spring release techniques before doing any strength training and especially before any impact training exercises!
Why not brace the dropped and locked arch?
Some doctors call it over pronation and treat it with a brace, a motion control shoe or the infamous orthotic.
What about the spring loading?
Doesn’t the orthotic effect loading if it is under the arch?
The orthotic cannot restore the spring. Also, the orthotic occupies space in the shoe and the your shoe compresses the arch from the top.
This is the key to designing an effective training program to restoring a strong spring suspension system so it can freely spring load and roll within the safe range at high impact forces for many impacts.
- What is the yield strength and the ultimate strength of your pronation supination cuff, the connective tissue and bony arch elastic recoil strength?
- When you know exactly what your strength is… then you can develop more precise training program that creates the exact adaptation to strengthen your cuff to the level we need to balance the impact forces!
Bang and Twist Walking VS Spring Roll Walking
Inflammation Patterns / External Forces
Watch Above, Spring Strengthening Through The BAPS Board Ankle Training System which trains the foot and ankle in multiple directions but again only as a lever and only at a maximum of 50% of bodyweight forces. In order to walk without injury your body needs to have the strength of 1.25x bodyweight in each foot. F = M x A
So why don’t we train the suspension system muscles of the foot and ankle?
We don’t know how to train them.
Training of the Muscles of the Pronation Supination Cuff AKA The Spring Suspension System AKA The Landing Muscles
There are two training methods that must be employed to develop these muscle groups.We’re going to talk about developing the muscles of the spring suspension system as lever systems first in this article.
- The first one is training the suspension system muscles as a lever mechanism, with resistance exercises.
- The second phase of exercises with impacts involves training the body as a spring mechanism with impact exercises.
Phase II – Training the suspension system muscles as a lever mechanism, with resistance exercises.
First of all these exercises must be done barefoot or in socks. Any binding device such as a shoe and even those minimalist shoes will inhibit the movement of adduction, abduction, inversion, eversion, pronation and supination.
When doctors and scientists claim that footwear doesn’t inhibit the movement, they are defending footwear. They quickly ask for research that claims that it inhibits movement. Certainly, anyone can do a study that determines what range of motion a healthy human being can get without footwear or barefoot. As well as a study with certain types of footwear that are wrapped around the foot and tied around the foot.
One might think that’s its impossible to train the feet just like we do our upper body because we can not grab a weight with our foot like we can with our hands.
It did take some ingenuity to be able to develop a way of strengthening the foot and ankle muscles like we do muscles of our arms etc.
Currently, to my knowledge there are no machines specifically designed for this purpose.
Resistance Band Training – Of course you can attach rubber bands to the feet and exercise them that way. I have never found this to be so exciting as the band tension changes the further we stretch it.
I prefer to use the cuff with the low pulley mechanism to do these exercises.
I have some other really effective ways to train this area listed in this article you may like.
I developed a novel way to strap the weights to the foot, ankle and other body parts with cuffs made from Velcro or with belt buckle types of connections to the foot.
The number one priority is to exercise the muscles which support and strengthen the human spring first.
You will find from reading this post that even if we are exercising according to the current guidelines set by accredited fitness organizations and professionals that these programs are incomplete.
I have researched the top 20 books published on fitness training and found that not one of them adequately addresses the spring suspension system or the spring support system of the remaining 7 floors.
We can strap the cuff to our feet and ankles and train eversion, inversion, abduction, adduction, pronation and supination movements of the foot and ankle.
You must do these exercises barefoot!
I really can’t understand how people think that they can put a binding device on their foot and tie it tight and then think they’re going to be able to get full range of motion in the foot during motions outside of just running straight ahead. It’s ridiculous to think that it’s possible because it absolutely is not possible to get full development of these muscles with a shoe on.
For those of you who are required to wear workout shoes at your fitness center, I suggest that you bring this blog post or send this blog to post to the manager of your fitness center then ask them if they can have an area specifically for training the feet bare feet or with socks.
This builds floors 1 – 3 however many train with their shoes on and the exercises are not as effective as the ones we teach in the Human Spring Approach. We don’t see this as part of the core routine yet. That is something that definitely needs to change.
Also over reliance on ergogenic devices such as lifting belts, hand grips bandages for the joints special shoe inserts wedges for squatting, elastic training shirts can modify the neuromuscular system to such an extent that efficient or safe training without them becomes difficult. Professor Yuri Verhkoshansky
Book: Supertraining, Dr Mel Siff & Professor Yuri Verhkoshansky
For those of you who do yoga, Pilates or just decide that you’re going to train in your living room or backyard with these exercises because it’s important, I have news for you.
You are doing the right thing for your future.
You can get a cuff from from any fitness store that will wrap around your foot and has a hook for attaching low pulleys, resistance bands or just a rope.
Cuff With Rope and Weight Method
You can attach the cuff around your foot and then tie a rope to the couch and at the other end of the rope tie a free weight, a gallon of milk in a plastic container full of sand under one fourth of the way full, one half full or full of sand, or anything that provides various resistance.
What you do next is either drag this object across the ground either in the sand, in the grass, on your carpet, on the street, or through the snow by isolating the pulley through your foot and ankle in the motions of inversion, eversion, abduction, adduction, plantar flexion, dorsiflexion, and combined movements of pronation and supination.
examples of this are below:
Video Tutorial #105 Foot Eversion Exercise, click here to view
Video Tutorial #106 Foot Inversion Exercise, click here to view
Cuff With Resistance Bands Method
There are many companies that will sell you resistance bands of variable resistance. These are popular with hard-core trainers who know the value of training these body parts that are not considered the Hollywood beauty muscles but more for function.
What I like about these bands is that they’re portable so you can put them in your suitcase or your bag and bring them with you anywhere in the world. What I don’t like about them is that the resistance increases as the band is stretched further rather than a constant resistance of dragging weight or lifting a weight.
I still think this method is a fantastic approach to develop the muscles of the feet and worth every minute of time in this method for long-term goals.
You train the exact same way as other resistance exercises doing either sets of 15, 12, 10, eight, six, four’s, threes or triples depending on if you want to build strength or power or both.
You train this area 3 days a week for fitness or 2 days a week with a light day and a heavy day for power and speed.
Video Tutorial #148 Bosu Ball Foot Training, click here to view
Video Tutorial #76 Bosu Ball Lateral Step, click here to view
Video Tutorial #177 Side Lunge With Cable, click here to view
Video Tutorial #105 Foot Eversion Exercise, click here to view
Video Tutorial #106 Foot Inversion Exercise, click here to view
Video Tutorial #107 Ankle Exercise Training, click here to view
Video Tutorial # 108 Cable Hip Adduction And Foot Inversion, click here to view
Video Tutorial #109 A Great Hip Adduction Exercise Demonstrated by WBC Pro Boxing Champion Miguel Macho Hernandez at Team Doctors, click here to view
Video Tutorial #109 A Great Hip Abduction Exercise Demonstrated by WBC Pro Boxing Champion Miguel Macho Hernandez at Team Doctors, click here to view
Video Tutorial #110 Dr. James Stoxen DC loses An abdominal Exercise Competition By One Rep. Watch And see, click here to view
Video Tutorial #111 Rectus Abdominal Cable Crunch Pull Downs, click here to view
Video Tutorial #112 Abdominal Oblique Exercise Demonstrated by WBC Pro Boxing Champion Miguel Macho Hernandez And Fighter Adrian Grenados at Team Doctors, click here to view
Video Tutorial #176 Improve Your Balance With Half Foam Roll Exercises, click here to view
See the Spring Suspension System Strength Training Illustration Up Close by Clicking Here
Phase III Training the body as a spring mechanism with impact exercises.
Barefoot Running Drills and Impact Drills
I run barefoot but it is really training to supplement the exercises i’m not getting in my daily routine. I know that building the spring suspension system muscles will help protect me from the impacts of the landings of the 4 million steps I’m taking each year. Remember that I’m standing on my feet all day treating patients for 10-12 hrs. That puts me at high risk for foot lock!
Foot Lock! What You Get From Standing Too Long And How To Prevent It, click here to view
The foot and ankle are three-dimensional objects which requires them to have balance and strength in all ranges of motion for the structure to work according to way we were designed.
Many Doctors and scientists think the body moves only in four directions claim that the body uses a stiff lever system to push off.
This is simply not possible when the mechanism is functioning the way it was intended. Doctors admit that during impact, the foot rolls from supination to pronation as and at the same time, it loads energy from the top to the bottom of the arch mechanism.
This combination of movements; rolling in and loading, makes it impossible for the foot to go into a stiff lever position at any given time. This is because it is a dynamic structure that is moving with what we call it elastic deformity, storing energy within the deformation of the foot shape as well as deformation of the tendons making them longer then snapping back to their original length. Dr James Stoxen DC
When impact involves a changing of length of the tendon as it stretches to load the arch then snaps back to unload the arch we have to say that this is not a lever system as is normally described in current literature.
As the foot, ankle and its tendons returns back to their exact original shape they are releasing FREE energy by recycling energy within the spring mechanism.
Do you need a shoe when performing impact drills?
Then doctors who claim the body as a lever system and defend footwear is binding as non-consequential to the health of the human foot quickly contradict themselves by saying that shoes are required to support the foot during impacts.
If something is claimed to be supporting the structures of the foot then it has to apply a force against it to maintain it in the position of support.
So claiming that a shoe cannot be inhibiting motion and at the same time claiming that it inhibits motion by supporting it is a contradictory statement.
Individually, each person who reads this has different fears or concerns regarding doing impact drills without support. Gymnasts certainly impact the ground in multiple directions when doing tumbling exercises.
In my opinion, if we can do impact drills without supports interfering with normal adaptation then we should do these multi directional impact drills without external supports.
Do I do zig-zag runs, circle runs, shuffle runs, ricochet and cariocca drills barefoot? Of course I do!
Anyone that tells you this has not thought this out carefully both theoretically and considering simple common sense.
Can you get hurt doing these drills barefoot?
Of course you can:
- if you have a preload compressive force in the spring mechanism prohibiting the maximum force of impact to load safely into the spring
- If your running form and technique does not provide for a safe loading the forced of the landing into the spring
- If you do not run in a safe environment.
I train my spring suspension system 100% of the time when running barefoot by running in multiple angles.
I do my barefoot running as a training exercise by running the entire 5 to 6 miles in zigzag patterns of approximately 2 to 3 feet on either side of the imaginary straight line, highway divider line or line in the sidewalk or street.
Dr. James Stoxen DC Control Fall
I’m always leaning forward (see picture above) in a controlled fall, with my head like a snake my body has maximum loading always with the center of gravity (at my bladder) ahead of the spring impact point to ensure that I’m never loading the force of the impact into my springless heel but on my springy forefoot.
For my video tutorial on the controlled fall go to
Video Tutorial #169 How To Land Your Foot When Walking, Running And Barefoot Running here…
Also, gravity is always pulling me forward allowing me to get free energy for my run.
There is very little spring in the heel landing because there is no place for the force of the impact to be loaded into the heel as it is pretty much bone to bone to bone.
If I had to wear shoes during this training approach aimed at getting my foot in positions that created the necessity for the muscles that support the suspension system to engage and go through full adaptation with footwear I would lose my mind thinking that this is impossible.
Impact Drills Strengthen Spring Mechanisms which are MAINLY the Tendons and Connective Tissue Structures which means they do not involve as much muscle contractions as lever mechanism training.
That means they will improve your walking, running and sports performance efficiency more than resistance exercises.
When we are training with impact drills we are primarily strengthening the tendons and connective tissue structures that increase true spring strength.
For example it has been found that much of the most selective in running is associated with tensioning of the tendons, which thereby store energy for successful cycles of movement (Cavagna 1977).
This tensioning or rewinding of the tendon fibers burned largely isometric muscle contractions is achieved with very little change in the length of the muscle fibers themselves.
The fact that the forces involved are derived mainly from isometric contractions means a decreased energy expenditure because isometric and attractions are mode dynamically are considerably less expensive than dynamic contractions. Supertraining Yuri Verkhoshansky Mel C. Siff
What it suggests is that the body resists impacts by a loading of the impact force into a elastic stretching of the tendons and a releasing of the tendons.
Levers work with muscle contractions against bones which is not elastic, it is contractile.
Hooke’s law which states that strain, the relative change in dimension, is proportional to stress. If the stress applied to a body goes beyond a certain value known as the elastic limit, the body does not return to its original state once the stress is removed. Hooke’s law applies only in the region below the elastic limit.
Tendons are elastic which means they work with bones to develop spring energy.
Muscles contract which means they push bones to develop lever energy
Develop your spring suspension system muscles and spring suspension system with impacts. It is best for your long term health if you would like to lead an anti-aging lifestyle!
and
“Champions will do what others don’t want or can’t do and that’s why they are champions!”
Dr James Stoxen DC
The lecture video was taken from the presentation:
Run For Life, Barefoot by Dr James Stoxen DC
At The 2nd Annual Bangkok Congress On Anti-Aging And Regenerative Medicine
Bangkok, Thailand, September 4th, 2010
