Dooley Noted: 4/23/2015
After completing a barbell certification in March, I perceived hip pain in squatting for over a month.
I knew I had unilateral pain in a bilateral pattern of squatting. So, I restricted myself from bilateral squatting to figure out the problem.
I had some brilliant therapists give their expert opinions, and I took their advice to heart.
I was disconnected with my right side, from great toe to temple.
So, I regressed to one legged squatting.
On the beach yesterday, I saw this set of foot imprints.
On the left foot imprint, you see equal pressure on all foot parts for the pistol squat. (It’s perceived as simple and painless.)
On the right foot imprint, you see less arch formation, along with less foot contact with the outside toes.
This mimics the painful and more difficult phase of the pistol squat on that side.
I was having trouble moving my foot from a pronating phase (the way down) to a supinating phase (the way up).
It showed up in a tight external abdominal oblique that rotated my trunk to the left, making my foot believe my center of mass was more on the foot’s inside.
You can imagine how this torqued my anterior hip as it tried to help rotate me in the opposite direction.
As I slowly coached my foot and abdomen through the correct phases, I felt my hip discomfort disappear, squat after squat after squat.
I weeped with joy as I felt the discomfort disappear and watched as my foot imprint changed.
I have the deep ache this morning of tibialis posterior, a calf muscle that drives supination.
I wonder what would have happened, had I not sought advice from movement greats like Jason Ginsberg and Dr. Kento Kamiyama.
What if someone would have looked at my system and thrown an orthotic in my shoe, preventing me from ever pronating?
How would my hip feel?
How would my knee feel?
How would my trunk and opposite shoulder feel?
The foot is dynamic, so a static fix will just never do.
You can rob from the kinetic chain to pay a debt owed at the foot.
Or, you can begin to watch your imprint change as your body awareness alters.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley