Hey RMA Crew!
Apologies for missing you guys last week, kind of got the renovating bug up here so I‘ve been hibernating. Will had fun catching up with you guys in Melbourne. It looked awesome! Thought I would go through a little bit about foot pain today. I see so many runners with plantar fasciitis and people are always asking me how to get rid of it because it’s such a pig of an injury! There’s a lot of little ways to ease symptoms with plantar fasciitis but the real key is not to get it in the first place, so this post is for everyone!
One of the big key is to be aware of calf tightness. Research tells us that calf tightness and plantar fasciitis go hand in hand so it’s important to know how to free up your calves. You can do your contract and relax stuff but you also want to be able to approximate your fascial releases as well as getting into your trigger points.
Second key is to do a little bit of pro-active release work through the bottom of your foot, it’s amazing how releasing that tissue leading into calf can increase your ankle range very quickly, it’s all connected guys!
Also, look at your technique. Always try to be aware if you’re starting to get symptoms under the foot. Just go back to exactly what you’re doing. Sometimes with a tight calf you might find you’re actually not being able to roll through the foot fully while keeping it relaxed. Instead you might be reaching off with your toes, that is, the toes are lifting off towards your head slightly too early in the support phase. When you do that it puts pressure through the plantar fascia underneath the foot and can lead to some really ugly problems. We want to ultimately keep toes relaxed at all times!
So check out those couple of things for this week guys. Another side note is just be aware of simple things like floor cleaners with your feet. I’ve had some subtle plantar fascia issues a few years ago and one of the little things I noticed was after the floors were clean that the symptoms were worse. If you’re getting some sensitivity under your feet maybe pop some slippers on when you’re at home just in case. Pretty strange one that one but kind of nice to leave no stone unturned. Have fun with that guys! Remember keep your feet good, they’re pretty important! Happy running this week guys. If you have any questions that you want me to cover, just drop me a line at RifRev.com or on facebook.
See you next week!
Paul Trevethan
Physio
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