Get Moving and Invest in Your Body’s IRA

Maria Mason Frazetta
Feb 3, 2017
8 min read

In our youth, we believe we are invincible, but time and gravity can be a rude awakening for those who have overlooked maintaining their mobility. What you do for a living and how you move daily will leave its physical mark on your structure. Desk jobs that require long hours of sitting will create postural dysfunctions that tighten hips and strain low backs. Service jobs that require long hours of standing will create stress in your feet, knees and back due to excessive load.

Add to this scenario, every day conveniences that also will create a negative impact on our bodies – driving cars instead of walking distances, riding elevators instead taking the stairs, watching TV to relax instead of stretching, playing the same sport exclusively instead of engaging in different movements and physical challenges. And lastly, finishing up this picture, we mustn’t forget that we live in an age where it is appropriate for some to wear clothing that binds, restricts or creates pressure (like high heels) instead of dressing for functionality. All of these situations sound minor until they start adding up. Your body can do all these repetitive motions for a period of time until it reaches an overload – visualize an image of your computer crashing.

The brain controls and protects the body, so if the nervous system (i.e. your nerves) sends a signal to the brain that something is out of alignment (“Houston, we have a problem!”), the brain will inhibit that area to avoid danger. These signals can take the form of pain, tightness, numbness or weakness.

Taking its cue from the brain, the nerve endings around your joints interact with the body’s locomotor/fascial slings, which are groups of muscles, tendons and fascia that interconnect and cross over your joints to control both posture and movement. If one of your joints is jammed or restricted, the muscles and fascia surrounding that joint will be either weakened or inhibited. By mobilizing a joint, you stimulate the nerve endings, which create a neural stimulus from the brain to rebalance your muscles and fascia. At Z Health we like to say that change happens at the speed of the nervous system and that change can be seen in your gait.

“Human anatomy is a consequence of function.” Dr. Serge Gracovetsky

As a triathlon coach, I am fortunate to work with a variety of athletes – from amateurs who are eager to train for their first triathlon to competitive and professional athletes who are looking to improve on their personal record. No matter what their strongest sport, what I find common among triathlon enthusiasts is a lack of mobility in their joints because of their work or lifestyle. What’s particularly interesting is that this weakness mainly lies in their feet and ankles…which is where my work typically begins.

Whenever I train someone looking for ways to improve their health or speed, the first thing I recommend the athlete does daily is ankle circles. Most are surprised at how hard it is to do, yet to them it doesn’t feel like they are really doing anything. Having good ankle joint mobility is like investing in your body’s IRA. Unfortunately, on their own, not many of my triathletes invest much time in improving their ankle mobility and are somewhat oblivious of the importance of the benefits or dividends gained with ankle mobility.

Walking should be an efficient movement that we do habitually and daily. Your foot is the first thing to contact the ground and how it interacts with the ground will determine how you move. If your ankle joint is restricted it will affect all the joints above it causing a chain reaction to your posture and body’s overall efficiency and its range of motion. When we walk, our joints react to ground’s force 2-3 times the weight of our body. The weight is distributed to our locomotor slings, and as this energy is absorbed it is transferred it in a loop that crosses at the SI joint or lower back. This loop is called the Back Force Transmission System, which goes thru the ankle joint with every step. With each step this force creates lines of chronic stress in your tissues and bones. If you increase load (i.e. with weight, volume or speed) on this this line repetitively, the bones and tissues will remodel and adapt over time in response to the stress in order to better meet the demands placed upon it.

Now imagine you have an immobile ankle and to compensate for this you walk by limping. You create a walk that doesn’t resemble the movement of how you used to walk. It’s not efficient and by changing the way you function, over time this compensation will strain other joints like your knee, hip or back and can even create problems with your shoulders. The lack of mobility in your ankle is creating imbalance in the movement of the above joints, which can eventually change the overall structure of your posture. This is an example of how bad function creates bad structure.

As a triathlete, one might be surprised to learn that your ankle can affect your shoulder in swimming, which is the first portion of a triathlon. Besides needing a good kick, which requires a mobile ankle, swimmers also require good shoulder stability. Ankle mobility is directly linked to a lack of glute activation (sitting all day) and the lack of glute activation will affect the way your lats fire. This in turn will inhibit your scapula (shoulder blade) and the muscles attached to it from stabilizing your shoulder. One of the most common injury to a swimmer’s shoulder stability is a torn rotator cuff.

Next the triathlete becomes a cyclist, where the ability to pedal on a bike with power requires flexion of the hip and knee, with ankle dorsiflexion. If the ankle doesn’t dorsiflex, then the knees and hips will find another path to function with the ankle in plantar flexion (pointed toes), developing over active and tight calf muscles, which can lead to plantar fasciitis.

Finally the triathlete finishes the race as a runner. Having an immobile ankle that can’t dorsiflex (the deceleration part of landing) will force your knees to take on shearing forces at unstable angles that could potentially cause IT Band, ACL and patella issues. Who knew one could experience so many pains and problems from just one immobile joint! The Z Health catchphrase “jammed joints create weak muscles” really sums it up.

To prove my ankle mobility point to my triathletes or any client for that matter, I’ll have them check in with how they feel when they walk or do a squat or range of motion with their shoulder. I’ll teach them how to do the ankle circles I want them to do daily and then have them walk again. Most will feel an improvement in the ease of walking or the speed. Some might need to reassess with their squat or movement with their shoulder. Ultimately there is a quick improvement in how they function, which in turn allows them to move better. The more efficient and better movement my clients achieve (especially with walking), the better they will create positive structural changes that will benefit them and their health in the long run.

It is amazing to see how athletes functions in their sport, and this is clearly seen in their body structure. I was recently watching the IAAF Junior World Championship in Track and Field, and was riveted by the different body types per the movement required for each event. The runners had a balanced muscular build that featured strong glutes, quads, abs, chiseled calves and upper body definition that allowed them to move their legs and arms quickly and effortlessly. The high jumpers were lanky and tall with springy and bendable skeletons. The discus throwers had powerful legs and hips, particularly in the glutes, hamstrings and adductors, as well as their backs, which they rotated to create power. The shot putters had enormous chest and arms that looked like sling shots. If you take a look at competitive elite triathlete, you’ll see a lean body with a defined torso and sculpted arms and legs – moving with graceful and fluid movements like a swimmer, cyclist and marathoner. This is a good example of how what you do creates your structure. It is critical to pay attention to how you function. Hold onto your mobility – it’s a foundation to your structure and health and is worth the investment.

References

Wadsworth, David (Winter 2007), Locomotor Slings: A new total body approach to treating chronic pain, Journal of the Australian Association of Massage Therapists, 17-21 http://membership.aamt.com.au/lib/Journals/Winter07/Win07-Locomotor.pdf

Relationship Between Tightness of the Posterior Muscles of Lower Limb and Plantar Fasciitis

Foot & Ankle International 34(1) 42-48 Jan 2013. BOLIVAR, YOLANDA ARANDA; MUNUERA, PEDRO V.; PADILLO, JUAN POLO

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to determine whether tightness of the posterior muscles of the lower extremity was associated with plantar fasciitis.

Methods: A total of 100 lower limbs of 100 subjects, 50 with plantar fasciitis and 50 matching controls were recruited. Hamstring and calf muscles were evaluated through the straight leg elevation test, popliteal angle test, and ankle dorsiflexion (knee extended and with the knee flexed). All variables were compared between the 2 groups. In addition, ROC curves, sensitivity, and specificity of the muscle contraction tests were also calculated to determine their potential predictive powers.

Results: Differences between the 2 groups for the tests used to assess muscular shortening were significant (P < .001) in all cases. The straight leg elevation test and ankle dorsiflexion with the knee extended presented respective sensitivities of 94% and 100% and specificities of 82% and 96% as diagnostic tests for the participants in this study.

Conclusion: Tightness of the posterior muscles of the lower limb was present in the plantar fasciitis patients, but not in the unaffected participants.

Clinical Relevance: The results of this study suggest that therapists who are going to employ a stretching protocol for treatment of plantar fasciitis should look for both hamstring as well as triceps surae tightness. Stretching exercise programs could be recommended for treatment of plantar fasciitis, focusing on stretching the triceps surae and hamstrings, apart from an adequate tissue-specific plantar fascia-stretching protocol.

Effect of Positive Heel Inclination on Posture

Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 1995, Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Pages: 94-99 FRANKLIN, MARY ELLEN, EdD, PT,1 CHENIRE, THOMAS C., PhD2, Laura BRAUNINGER, LAURA, PT3, Heather COOK, HEATHER, PT4, Sheri HARRIS, SHERI, PT5 Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether positive heel inclination changed the postural alignment of the head, spine, pelvis, and knees.

Methods: Fifteen female college students ((x age – 22.7, SD = 3.7 years) had sagittal plane angles measured for the cervical spine, thoracic spine, lumbar spine, sacral spine, and knee joints in addition to anterior/posterior displacements of the head and pelvis. All variables were assessed by a Metrecom Skeletal Analysis System, a three-dimensional electrogoniometer. Six randomized trials, three at zero heel inclination and three at 5 cm positive heel inclination, were measured.

Results: Analysis of variance results indicated positive heel inclination of subjects brought about significantly lower anterior pelvic tilt, lumbar lordosis, and sacral base angles when compared with zero heel inclination (p < .01).

Conclusion: A 5.lcm positive heel inclination (high heels) alters the biomechanics of the lumbar spine and pelvis by posteriorly tilting the pelvis. Clinically, patients with low back pain may be affected by high heel usage because

of the reduction in the normal lordosis.

http://www.jospt.org/doi/abs/10.2519/jospt.1995.21.2.94