Your body’s stability and efficient movement aren’t an accident. They are instead the result of your body’s ability to integrate a number of factors that work together to produce a stable and efficient whole. Barefoot training focuses on three main factors that integrate to result in that whole. They are:
- Co-activation patterns
- Joint coupling
- Myofascial highways
Co-Activation Patterns
Co-activation patterns refer to the cascade of muscle activation that occurs when you stabilize your core through barefoot training. In our previous post on Your Body and Stability, we outlined how your feet drive stability into your lumbopelvic hip complex, or LPH, which serves as the stable foundation of all your body movements.
Your LPH complex is made up of your hip joints, pelvis, spine and ribcage, all of which are supported by a 29 pairs of muscles. The cascade of muscle activation involves those 29 pairs of muscles that go into a chain reaction of sorts, with the activation of one contributing to the activation of another until the entire muscle group is ready for action.
To be more specific, the cascade of muscle activation begins with the foot, which activates the deep hip stabilizers. The deep hip stabilizers then kick off the cascade that includes the:
- Pelvic floor
- Diaphragm
- Psoas major
- Internal obliques
- Transvers abdominals
- External obliques
- Rectus abdominis
- Gluteal muscles
Joint Coupling
Joint coupling is a mechanism essential for your body’s proper alignment and efficiency of movement. It focus is your foot’s subtalar joint, or STJ, which is formed by your talus and calcaneus, or your ankle bone and heel bone. Movements of the STJ are coupled with the rest of your lower leg, and improper STJ movements can affect the alignment and efficiency of other movements.
The STJ controls two types of frontal plane movements: inversion and eversion. While your feet constantly invert and evert as you walk on any given surface, it’s your feet’s excessive inversion or eversion that can lead to problems with alignment and overall motion.
- Inverted foot types typically have inverters that are too tight. This results in an extremely rigid foot that doesn’t allow your body to effectively absorb shock. That means you won’t be able to bring in the impact forces you need to move efficiently.
- Everted foot types usually stem from inverters that are weak or under-active, thereby unable to offset the action from the everters. Excessively everted feet usually result in instability.
Strengthening the necessary muscles can help balance the inversion and eversion of your foot, thereby ensuring your STJ forms a strong foundation that results in alignment and efficiency throughout the rest of your body.
Myofascial Highways
Myofascial highways refer to the system of fascia, or connective tissue, which holds your body together. The tissue forms highways, or lines of connectivity throughout your body, linking muscles, organs and other bodily elements.
The highway known as the deep frontal line is associated with core stability and foot-to-core sequencing. Similar to the co-activation pattern of your core muscles, the deep frontal line goes through its own cascade that contributes to stability.
It includes a series of muscles and connective tissue that begins at the foot and eventually makes its way up through the leg to the pelvic floor, to the diaphragm, psoas and quadratus lumborum muscle of the lower back.
Optimum stability and efficiency can only occur if your body’s co-activation patterns, joint coupling and myofascial highways are working together as they should be to create it. Barefoot training kicks off the entire process that helps to ensure they most certainly do.
REFERENCES:
- Splichal E. Application of Barefoot Science in a Rehab Setting An Evidence-Based Approach. Presented as a seminar topic by Evidence Based Fitness Academy; April 26, 2014.