From the Ground Up Athletic Performance Podcast James Earls Episode 58 "Understanding the Human foot and its role in movement, Form and function"
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On this weeks episode I sat down with Author James Earls to discuss many of the talking points presented within his new text Understanding the Human Foot. James does an incredible job in his book of painting how the foot has evolved overtime to a certain form that fits its function. We discuss some of the basic concepts that help influence the foots function, James defines the terms stress and strain. As we move throughout the conversation we begin to see how different stresses place certain strains on the surrounding tissues based upon the ability of given joint actions and the integrity of certain structures. Our repeated patterns or differing experiences of stress and strain helps to design our bone structure and shape.
When discussing different modes of locomotion, intensity and thus energy expenditure appear to be a few of the main factors which differentiate the modes of walking verses jogging and sprinting. I believe to some extent we aim for proficiency in our modes of expression of these differing movement patterns; however, proficiency in our daily modes means lower energy consumption. High output modes of jogging and sprinting the chief concern is power production, this leads towards a model where we are driving in a many where power production as now become the chief concern, with this realization we can begin to see how the tissues have to deal with vastly different stresses and strains within the different modes of locomotion. Over time our body conforms to the repeated stresses/ strains that it becomes accustomed to, the tissues will optimize their form to control for more optimal and efficient movement options.
The gait process and the foots as well as other units functions throughout the gait cycle are in the center of this conversation as we move along. We begin by discussing the concept of the tripod foot and James raises a great point, its not that the tripod concept is faulty, but rather that it is a static model. James shares that the concept of a static phase of control transitioning to more dynamic means of locomotion is troubling. We don’t have stability because we have three points of contact, we have stability as the result of a dynamic and intelligent foot. As we move into the later portions of the conversation James shares the arrangement of the half dome and how it seems to be a more visual/ functional representation of the foot structure. James also discusses some of the common issues that one may encounter while working in some capacity as a movement professional. James shares some of the methods to access the foot for different compensations/ issues. Check the links below for James's socials, book, webpage.
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