On the RIGHT FOOT

Let’s start the season on the right foot (pun Intended). Make sure that all of your athletes start the season with properly fitted footwear I can’t stress enough the importance of good footwear. Recently I listened to a podcast of Courtney Conley, DC who is an expert on the subject of footwear giving the following advice;

1-Dr. Conley states that a wide toe box is non-negotiable. We shouldn’t confuse a wide shoe with a large toe box. The best way to measure the toe box is to remove the factory installed insert and place your foot on the insert. The toes should have the ability to spread out and not be cramped on the insert the toe box is the correct width. With a toe box that is too small the digits of the foot will be inhibited during toeing off phase of running.
 

2-Ideally, the heal of the shoe should not be raised. In technical terms there should be a zero-foot drop. Using a raised heal will shorten the Achilles tendon and hamstring. Alert, don’t dramatically shift from a raised heal to a zero drop shoe because this can contribute to Achilles tendinopathy and plantar fasciitis.
 

3- Avoid shoes with too much cushioning. Too much cushioning will speed up pronation and we can lose the ability to land lightly on the heal. On the other hand, minimalist shoes could cause problems considering that we run on unnaturally hard surfaces such as cement, blacktop and Mondo as opposed grass and soil.
 

3-If you are running in super shoes with a carbon plate, be prepared to have a larger stride length. The shoes can improve performance by 4%. With this increase of stride length, one needs to increase the strength of one’s hip flexor, hamstring and calf’s.
 

4-Shoes need to be replaced every 300-500 miles. Orthotics cannot be inserted in old shoes to avoid injuries.

 

 

Dr. Leslie Dreifus 

Diplomate American Chiropractic Board of Sports Practitioners