Fix TURNED OUT Feet with Two Easy Exercises (duck feet)
Summary
TLDRThis video script delves into the common walking pattern known as 'duck feet,' where individuals walk with one or both feet turned out. It explains the biomechanics behind this gait, including the role of tibial rotation and the foot arch's function in propulsion. The script offers corrective exercises to restore proper tibial internal rotation and genuine foot pronation, emphasizing the importance of addressing both local foot issues and the broader kinetic chain for a comprehensive solution.
Takeaways
- 🚶♂️ Duck feet, or walking with one or both feet turned out, is a common gait pattern seen in many individuals.
- 🔄 The gait cycle involves a propulsion strategy that transitions from internal rotation and pronation to external rotation and supination of the foot for forward movement.
- 🦴 An externally rotated tibia can prevent proper internal rotation and pronation necessary for propulsion, leading to a compensatory gait with the feet turned out.
- 👣 The degree of duck feet can vary, with one foot often more turned out than the other, indicating an issue higher in the body's kinetic chain.
- 🌐 Lateral pelvic tilt, with one hip higher than the other, can lead to compensatory strategies in the lower limbs, affecting foot positioning.
- 🔄 The human body tends to favor the right side, which is why a turned out right foot is more commonly observed than the left.
- 🏋️♂️ Exercises can be performed to restore tibial internal rotation, which is essential for proper foot pronation and gait.
- 🤸♂️ A specific exercise is described to couple genuine foot pronation with tibial internal rotation, using a band for resistance and a bench for support.
- 🦶 Attention to form is critical during exercises to avoid compensating with the hips or knees, which can lead to incorrect movement patterns.
- 👟 Common mistakes in the exercises include pressing the toes into the ground, starting with the wrong shin angle, and leaning the torso forward instead of turning the hips.
- 👣 Addressing the root cause of duck feet involves not only local foot exercises but also considering the alignment and function of the hips and upper body.
Q & A
What is the common term for walking with one or both feet turned out?
-The common term for walking with one or both feet turned out is 'duck feet'.
Why do people walk with duck feet as a strategy?
-People walk with duck feet as a strategy to push themselves forward in space and propel themselves forward.
What is the key phase in the gait cycle where body weight is loaded onto one side?
-The key phase in the gait cycle where body weight is loaded onto one side is called the midstance phase.
What happens to the foot arch during the midstance phase of the gait cycle?
-During the midstance phase, the foot arch needs to drop to create a position where the bottom side of the foot can stretch out and spring back up as we move forward.
What is the issue with people who have an externally rotated tibia?
-The issue with people who have an externally rotated tibia is that it prevents proper internal rotation and necessary pronation for propulsion, leading to a compensatory strategy of duck feet.
How does the position of the tibia affect the foot during walking?
-If the tibia is turned out, it can cause the foot to follow suit, resulting in a compensatory strategy to find the inside arch of the foot for propulsion.
What are the two potential reasons for one side being more turned out than the other in duck feet presentation?
-The two potential reasons are that the more turned out side is either the side that the person is leaning on more (higher hip in a lateral pelvic tilt) or the side they are turned away from.
Why is it common to see more turned out right feet compared to left feet?
-It is common to see more turned out right feet compared to left feet because the human body is naturally biased towards the right side.
What exercise is recommended to restore tibial internal rotation?
-An exercise recommended to restore tibial internal rotation involves using a bench and a band around the tibia, starting with the whole foot flat and maintaining a 90° bend at the knees and hips.
How can one ensure proper alignment during the tibial internal rotation exercise?
-To ensure proper alignment during the tibial internal rotation exercise, one should keep the hips square, maintain a straight line from the hip to the knee and ankle, and avoid twisting the hip outside of the knee.
What is the purpose of the foot pronation drill and how is it performed?
-The purpose of the foot pronation drill is to couple genuine foot pronation with tibial internal rotation. It is performed with a staggered stance, starting with the shin in a plantar flexed position, and focusing on the transition of weight from the outside edge of the heel to the inside edge.
Outlines
🚶♂️ Understanding Duck Feet: Causes and Compensations
This paragraph delves into the common phenomenon of 'duck feet,' where individuals walk with their feet turned out. It explains that this gait is a strategy to propel oneself forward, involving a shift from a pronated and internally rotated stance to a supinated and externally rotated push-off. The speaker highlights the importance of the midstance phase, where the foot arch drops to absorb body weight and then springs back for propulsion. The issue arises when individuals have an externally rotated tibia, preventing proper internal rotation and necessary pronation for propulsion, leading to a compensatory gait. The paragraph also touches on the higher chain implications, suggesting that the degree of turned-out feet can indicate issues like lateral pelvic tilt or overall body asymmetry.
🏋️♂️ Restoring Proper Gait: Exercises for Tibial Internal Rotation
The second paragraph focuses on exercises to restore proper tibial internal rotation, which is essential for genuine foot pronation and avoiding compensatory strategies that lead to duck feet. The exercise involves using a bench and a resistance band to create a staggered stance and maintain hip alignment while performing the movement. The goal is to transition weight from the outside heel to the inside edge of the foot, promoting internal rotation of the tibia. Common mistakes are pointed out, such as twisting the hip instead of the knee or losing the heel reference during the exercise. Variations of the exercise are suggested, including a half-kneeling position, and the importance of addressing upper body and pelvic alignment for a comprehensive approach is emphasized.
🦶 Enhancing Foot Pronation with Tibial Internal Rotation
The final paragraph presents a method to ensure the internal rotation of the tibia works in conjunction with foot pronation. It describes a setup with staggered feet and a support for balance, emphasizing the importance of starting with a flat shin and external rotation to allow for the motion into internal rotation. The exercise aims to shift weight from the outside edge of the heel to the inside edge, maintaining heel contact throughout. Common mistakes such as pressing toes into the ground, not starting with enough external rotation, and leaning the torso forward are discussed. A technique using a rolled-up sock to enhance the sensation of weight transfer is suggested. The paragraph concludes with recommendations for the number of reps for both the tibial internal rotation and pronation drills.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Duck Feet
💡Gait Cycle
💡Propulsion
💡Pronation
💡Tibia
💡Internal Rotation
💡Midstance Phase
💡Lateral Pelvic Tilt
💡Compensatory Strategy
💡Tibial Internal Rotation Exercise
💡Foot Pronation Drill
Highlights
Duck feet, or walking with one or both feet turned out, is a common strategy for propulsion in the gait cycle.
Understanding the necessary key points of the gait cycle is crucial for addressing duck feet.
Propulsion in the gait cycle involves moving from pronation and internal rotation to a push-off with a higher arch and external rotation.
Midstance phase of the gait requires the foot arch to drop to create a springing mechanism for forward movement.
Externally rotated tibia can prevent proper internal rotation and necessary pronation for propulsion.
Compensatory strategies for those with an externally rotated tibia include turning the foot out to find the inside arch of the foot.
Asymmetry in duck feet presentation can indicate issues higher in the kinetic chain, such as lateral pelvic tilt.
The more turned out side may represent the side on which an individual leans more, affecting the entire lower limb.
The human body's natural bias towards the right side often results in more turned out right feet.
Addressing the issue at the hips can help correct the foot's turned out position.
Exercises for restoring tibial internal rotation are essential for correcting duck feet.
Using a band and bench for tibial internal rotation exercise can effectively restore movement.
Maintaining proper alignment during exercises is crucial for optimal restoration of movement.
Common mistakes in tibial internal rotation exercises include twisting the hip and knee instead of the tibia.
A half-kneeling position can be an alternative for tibial internal rotation exercises.
Coupling genuine foot pronation with tibial internal rotation is key for correcting duck feet.
Starting with a planar flex shin position allows for a better range of motion in pronation drills.
Using a rolled-up sock can help individuals feel the weight shift during pronation exercises.
Transcripts
today I'm going to talk about the root
cause as to why many people walk with
one or both feet turned out otherwise
commonly known as duck feet this is a
very common strategy and if you pay
close enough attention almost every
single person walks with one foot at
least turned out a little bit more than
the other the reason for this is that
people are trying to find a strategy to
push themselves forward in space and
Propel ourselves forward there's a
couple of necessary key points to the
gate cycle that are important to
understand so that way we can make
better sense of this duck foot
presentation now in order to move
through the world in the gate cycle we
have to create some strategy of
propulsion which means that we move from
a position of relative pronation and
internal rotation of our shin and lower
leg to a position of push off which is a
higher arched supered position of our
foot and more of an externally rotated
position of our shin and lower length
when we low it our body weight onto one
side we call this midstance phase of
gate the other leg is off of the ground
at this point now in order for us to
load our body weight onto one side
something needs to yield into the ground
which means our foot arch needs to drop
this creates a position of the foot
where stuff on the bottom side of the
foot is going to stretch out so that way
as we move over our foot it can spring
back up again and we can move forward
into late stance which is that position
where we are on our big toe and pushing
forward so essentially we move from a
position of internal rotation and
dropping of the foot arch to external
rotation and propulsion and raising of
the foot arch the issue is is that many
people are in a situation where they
have an externally rotated tibia meaning
that this tibia bone right here is
Twisted outward relative to this femur
this means that the tibia bone can't
properly internally rotate and twist
to allow for the necessary pronation to
occur for us to then create propulsion
so if you were to look at someone like
this it would look like this lower tibia
bone is pointed out here with this femur
pointed down or slightly inwards this
means that the tibia can't properly
internally rotate to allow for this foot
arch to properly drop as we load our
body weight onto this side in midstance
and if my tibia is turned out that's
going to bring my foot out with it in
many cases and that is going to give me
a strategy so that way when I strike the
ground I can find the inside arch of my
foot and create a strategy of propulsion
now this is a compensatory way to find
the Inside Edge of the foot as opposed
to getting that genuine tibial internal
rotation which will allow the th to
genuinely drop with a pointing pretty
straight ahead now you may be wondering
well what if I have this on just one
side or I have it on both sides but one
side is more significantly turned out
than the other well that one side that
is turned out more is representative of
something that's going on higher in the
chain now everyone has a symmetry it
just depends on how significant it is in
this turned out duckfoot presentation
you have one of two potential options
going on the first is that that more
turned outside is on the side that you
are leaning on more so this would be the
higher hip in a lateral pelvic tilt
presentation again almost everyone has
some degree of this the question is just
how significant is it if I have a higher
hip that hip is going to be more
internally rotated and turned in which
means that the lower limb is going to be
seeking a compensatory strategy to find
external rotation now you're going to
see a tibia that's turning out relative
to a femur that's turning so far in now
the other common reason I see it is it's
on the side that they're turned away
from so let's say I'm turn to the right
side and my left side's really far
forward relatively speaking that is
going to turn my femur out into external
rotation and now you're going to have a
hip that's so forward and turned to the
other side that the whole hip is going
to be turned out into external rotation
and the foot's going to follow it the
reason why I'm using the right side as
the example here is because it is more
common the human body is naturally
biased towards the right side meaning
that we tend to see more turned out
right feet relative to the left and this
is something you can start to notice in
your day-to-day life start looking at
people's feet when they walk you'll
never unsee it for the rest of your life
how common a turned out right foot is
relative to the left if you want to
learn more about this pattern and also
variations of it you can check out my
video on it that I'll link down below
and also my lateral pelvic tilt video
and in these types of cases it is really
helpful to address what's going on at
your hips and how that's affecting
everything down the chain so those
videos will be very helpful ful for you
in that but what we need to do locally
at the foot and can give us some really
nice results is to couple genuine foot
pronation with tibial internal rotation
we need to couple these things together
as opposed to being stuck in that
externally rotated position forcing
ourselves to use a compensatory strategy
to find that inside Arch now the first
thing we need to do is make sure we have
that tibial internal rotation here is a
great exercise for restoring that
internal rotation what we're going to do
to set up for this for this first option
is get a bench or some object we can
keep our whole foot flat and we have a
90° Bend at both our knees and our hips
right here I wouldn't go higher than
that because this is about the right
amount of height here where we can
really get a good grip of our shin and
go through this effectively through the
full range of motion we also have a band
around the upper part of the tibia bone
so that is the bottom of the knee or the
top of the bottom of the knee so if we
have our kneecap right here we have this
bone right here under it we we have the
band just around the top portion of it
right here so that way we can get a good
grip on it and the band should be tight
enough to where you can get some good
tension and friction but not so tight to
where it's cutting off any blood supply
and then what we're going to do is get
the whole foot flat on that bench right
there and we have a staggered stance and
the important thing here throughout the
duration of this entire exercise is we
keep our hips square or as Square as we
possibly can so this looks good right
here foot's flat in the back and now
we're going to grab hold of that band
and wrap our fingers around our tiia get
a good grip here now we're going to
start always the whole foot's flat but
we're going to start in this negative
Shin angle position so this angle right
here should be like so and we have our
weight mostly on our outside heel now as
we slowly come forward pushing our knee
over our second toe we're gonna twist
pretty aggressively about a six or seven
out of 10 and progressively twist more
and more the more this knee goes over
the second toe what we're going to feel
is our weight transition from this point
right here that negative Shin angle
outside of the heel as we go forward
we're going to transition our weight
more onto the inner heel and first metat
tarsal head right here so that's
basically on my foot right here and
right here we're not rolling onto the
Inside Edge and losing the outside edge
we're just focus on that transition
right there from the outside side to the
inside and then we're just going to
untwist as we come out so untwist go on
the outside heel twist forward
progressively as you go more and more
into dorsal flexion and pronation of
your foot okay so from a side view we've
got this negative tibia angle to start
he's going to grab the band start on the
outside heel then as he comes forward
he's going to twist and he's going to go
transition more into the inside edge of
his foot the most common mistake on this
exercise is people are going to twist
their hip hip outside of their knee and
the knee is going to dive inside the
foot so for optimal restoration of
movement of the tibia and the femur and
the foot we need to make sure that
everything stays in line so we should
have a perfectly straight line here as
much as we can so if Trevor you grab and
then you try to keep everything in line
as you come forward beautiful just like
that if your hip ever starts to dip
outside then you're probably moving too
much through your hip and you're
probably also going to put too much
stress on the inside of your knee right
there as you progress through this you
can do a couple more sets but roll the
band down a little bit further on your
tibia right there so maybe a couple
inches further down you can do the same
exact thing for some people this is very
helpful and then you could progressively
work it down to the point where you are
even lower than that maybe right about
here but different people have different
bone structur so it will depend on what
works best for you ideally at least do
up here and maybe a little further down
if you if you want you can go even lower
if that position on the bench isn't
comfortable for you what you could do is
get in this half kneeling position with
your back knee directly underneath your
back hip and you also have right here
this foot out in front a little bit more
than a 90° angle so that way you can
start in again that negative tibia angle
grab it and then just do the same exact
thing again making sure that everything
stays in line the knees going over the
second toe outside heel to Inside Edge
now we're working locally at the foot
here but as this video is suggested it's
massively important we don't forget
about what's happening up top within the
pelvis and even potentially the upper
body as well because these things are
ultimately connected and your foot being
turned out is representative of what's
Happening yes at the foot but also the
hip so if you want a comprehensive
approach to this that addresses many
common movement limitations including
this you can check out my lower limb
foundations program but also in my
beginner body restoration program I will
link those down below in the description
now we need to couple that with Gen
genuine foot pronation and there is a
specific way I like to do this to make
sure you're getting that internal
rotation of the tibia working with it
and here's how you can do that to set up
for this activity you're going to have
your feet staggered apart and something
to hold on to if you need that rack
support the Stagger is going to be about
1 foot length between his rear toe and
his heel to start out we want Connor
Shin to be planner Flex where he has
this greater angle between his foot and
his tibia that's going to allow him to
move from a place of external rotation
into a place of internal rotation as he
goes through this pronation drill what
we want to focus on feeling starting out
is the outside edge of that heel his
knuckle the big toe and knuckle the
pinky toe we don't want his toes to be
changing color like he's gripping the
ground or he has a lot of weight in that
4 foot to start out we want to be really
be back on that heel so to initiate this
what Conor is going to do is he's going
to turn his hip of the leg that is
forward forward with him and what that's
going to do is it's going to drive the
knee forward it's going to move his his
weight from the outside edge of this
foot towards the Inside Edge of that
heel or his calcaneus and onto the
inside ball of that forfoot and we still
want to make sure you can sense his heel
throughout this motion the goal isn't to
lose that heel reference or have that
heel pop off the ground if this is my
heel right here we want to see pronation
of the foot coming down the chain from
initiating with that hip the most common
mistake on this drill is people are
going to want to press their toes into
the ground not that knuckle of the big
toe but the toes themselves so something
I might do is when Connor's in this
starting position I might Cee him to
lift all his toes off the ground feel
those Knuckles of the toes with weight
and then gently put his toes back down
to feel what it's like to have them
unweighted for reference the other most
common mistake is people aren't going to
start with this planner Flex shin and
with their weight more on the outside
edge of that heel which is more symbolic
of what we're going to see in something
like heel strike so that way they're
going to start with this Shin that is
more forward if you go forward for me
Connor they going to start already
indoors of flection with that more
negative angle and it's going to
give them less space to be able to move
through for this motion and I would say
the last most common mistake is they're
going to lean their whole torso forward
and what that's going to do is it's
going to shift most of his weight onto
that midfoot for foot which isn't what
we want we want that to happen as a
result of him turning his hips when he's
going through this motion fluidly if
someone's having trouble being able to
feel that transition of their weight
from their rear foot midfoot onto their
midfoot for foot and that Inside Edge of
their heel what we can use is a sock
that is rolled up to the thickness of a
couple fingers underneath their medial
Arch so that's going to be underneath
and behind the knuckle of the big toe
and right in front of that Inside Edge
of the heel and what this is going to
let Connor do is as he goes down into
this pronation drill it's going to let
him feel his weight shift from that
outside edge of his heel or his calanus
onto the Inside Edge as he compresses
that sock into the ground and then as he
goes back out of this motion he should
feel that sock decompress kind of rise
up and his arch move away from it I
would recommend doing about 15 to 25
very slow and controlled reps on the
tibial internal rotation drill and as
for the pronation drill I'd recommend
sets of about 25 slow controlled
[Music]
reps
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