Fix Your Stride (Plantar Fasciitis Part 2)

In THIS PREVIOUS ARTICLE I talked about how walking with too long of a stride can set you up for knee pain and/or plantar fasciitis.

I came across a similar but slightly different issue recently and wanted to share it. 

If you've ever had plantar fasciitis, you know you want it to go away as soon as possible and never come back!

The video above is of someone who has plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

The root of the problem is a limited ability to bend forward at the ankle (dorsiflexion) which causes him to push off from the ball of his right foot much earlier than normal, creating almost constant tension in the plantar fascia. That's not good! 

He's also learned to compensate for the lack of ankle mobility by turning his right foot out so that when he moves over it during his stride, the arch of the foot collapses inward and down to create "extra" mobility in the foot that doesn't exist in the ankle. That extra mobility in the foot puts even more stress on the plantar fascia - and that's even worse!

There are 2 ways to address this problem:

1. Work on getting as much ankle mobility as the joint will allow. There are a few different ways to do that, but the stretch shown below will improve mobility in both the ankle and the calf muscles (the stretch shown is for the left leg). 

2. Practice walking with "sticky heels" and feet pointed forward. It helps to have a bit more ankle mobility at this point, but the idea is to practice walking while leaving the heel down a little longer as the leg extends out behind you. The longer the heel stays down with the foot pointed forward, the less stress in the plantar fascia and calf muscles. Every step will feel like ankle mobility work (and it will feel awkward and unnatural at first), but it's the best way to repattern how you walk.



Doug Barsanti
ReInvention Fitness


P.S. If you need help with your own walking pattern, contact me and let's figure out how to solve your problem.