Runners are generally known to have stiff feet, hence their inability to swim (You can read more about foot flexibility and swimming here).

I used to run in full on motion control Adidas throughout school, until I eventually developed chronic compartment syndrome. I them had the operation, known as a bilateral subcutaneous fasciotomy which releases the overdeveloped muscles by cutting the fascia/sheath which encases them. Part of the reason for this is a muscle imbalance due to the raised heel on the common running shoe most of us know. Since my operation I have run in shoes with nothing more than a 4mm heel-forefoot drop; the Saucony racing flats and more recently the Saucony Kinvara.

The Development of Engineered Running

Standard running shoes have around a 12mm drop from heel to forefoot. Yet this style of shoe encourages us to heel strike, and land on a squishy marshmallow. Try stand on your heel and only your heels and then put a squishy marshmallow under that. You see how this developed?

Shoe manufacturers made squishy heels for “protection”, which led to instability and hence an uneven progression though the gait. This led to the introduction of “motion control” in the form of heel cups, arch support, pronation blocks and torsion bars. And so engineered running was born.

There are about 20 muscles within our foot and 12 muscles from our leg that attach to our foot. While wearing cushioned, “motion control” shoes only a couple of these different muscles are needed to facilitate human locomotion. That means that certain muscles aren’t working. The body then lets them shrink to maximize efficiency. This, coupled with the elevated heels, cause your calves will shorten too.

Arch Support

You may now wonder about arch support. Just ask any engineer what happens when you exert upward forces on an arch. It weakens the structure and can longer bear weight from above, which it was originally designed for. Basically if you want to destroy an arch, push up on it from below. An arch is designed to withstand forces from above, compressing it (and in the case of our feet) allowing it collapse and rise thereby not only providing natural shock absorption but also assisting in propulsion.

Shoes with arch supports prop you up and lead to weak, atrophied foot musculature. Your feet aren’t grasping, pulling, pushing, and flexing inside a pair of athletic trainers

The Argument against Barefoot Running

The argument against barefoot running is born out of making the transition too quickly. Remember the foot no longer has a cage of support and protection around it, and is forced to act as the interface between your body and the ground. The torque generated from pushing around all of your weight at speed and high repetition is a lot to ask of your newly awakened feet.

Many people make the transition too quickly, without allowing their smaller, weakened muscles to develop and function as they used to, or were originally designed to. All of the argument against barefoot running comes as a result of the increased injury risk with making the transition too quickly.

You will be using those calves much more now, go slow or you’ll risk developing antagonistic shin splints, calf strain and even Achilles problems.

We have been Barefoot running ever since we started walking upright. Since when did barefoot running become a bad idea? Perhaps since tarmac become the only surface humans could run on.

The barefoot running debate will continue and athletic footwear manufacturers will continue to make unnatural shoes. People may tell you how bad it is for you. Just get into it slowly and you will see how much your running will improve and how much more you will enjoy your running.

Companies like Saucony for example are decreasing the heel-forefoot drop and with good reason. If you are looking at making the transition to barefoot running, let’s talk and get you into a pair of shoes that will allow you to make the transition painlessly.

I will be testing the new Saucony Hattori soon and I will certainly keep you updated.

Intro

During physical activity our neuromuscular pathways play a major role in alignment, movement, postural support and also responsiveness or “muscular awareness”.

Certain patterns are impressed on the motor coordination centre as a result of stimuli, be it physical trauma and injury, emotional trauma, or new and desirable learning through training or simply as part of natural progression as we favourably adapt to our environments.

Post injury, dysfunctional movement patterns impressed on the neuromuscular pathways during the time of injury results in definite dysfunction and pain. This is known as sub-clinical injury and although there is no longer any physical tissue damage, pain and inefficiencies still exist. These ergonomically inefficient use patterns inherently affect our energy levels and general state of well-being.

The unexpected benefits of Muscle Activation extend beyond the improvement of neuromuscular efficiency. By reducing the energy demand for the support and movement system, muscular definition is increased through the attainment of normal activity levels, tissue metabolism is normalized, and the availability of freed-up energy boosts brain function.

How it Works

Muscle Activation engages kinaesthetic conversation with the motor control centre. It bypasses the usual reflex spinal root circuits thereby over-riding the current natural reflex state of that specific pathway and facilitates new learning.

Initially testing is done by asking the muscle to resist an application of pressure. This reveals the responsiveness (muscular awareness) of the specific neuromuscular connection and a rating out of ten is given.

The antagonistic muscle (opposing muscle) is then tested in the same way. Imbalances in the *cooperative muscle group are thereby detected and are rectified by stimulating the neuromuscular pathway along specific pressure points.

This reawakens the malfunctioning neuromuscular pathway and immediately improves muscular awareness.

The same tests are then repeated and the results are astonishing.

Conclusion

Muscle Activation significantly improved my muscular awareness, quickening my response time to the applied pressure during post therapy testing.

Greater strength and greater flexibility is something that any athlete can put to good use. Muscle Activation really is that dam good.

Footnotes:

*Cooperative Muscle Groups consist of the following sets of muscles:

Agonists – They create the normal range of movement in a joint by contracting. They are primarily responsible for generating the movement.

Antagonists – These muscles act in opposition to the movement generated by the agonists and are responsible for returning a limb to its initial position.

Synergists – These muscles perform, or assist in performing, the same set of joint motion as the agonists. They neutralize extra motion from the agonists to make sure that the force generated works within the desired plane of motion.

Fixators – These muscles provide the necessary support to assist in holding the rest of the body in place while the movement occurs.