Functionised Podcast

Fix Flat Feet and Crossfit


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Jim Goetz
Chantea Goetz
Dr. Michael Brandon
 
After our usual disclaimers, we discuss the wonderful services offered at Functionised Integrative Therapeutics (F.I.T.). To relieve pain and become healther from a genetic level, visit Functionised Integrative Therapeutics and make an appointment TODAY!!!
 
Biohacking Flat Feet
By Dr. Michael Brandon
 
In general, people love shoes, and it's evident by the number of pairs that we have in our closets and the price we pay for them. We make our choices of which shoe to buy based on the brand, features they may have, and even simply just how they look. Unfortunately the reasons why we pick out a specific pair, many times are also the exact reasons that we shouldn't be wearing them.
 
There has been a plethora of research out recently showing the benefits of slipping off the shoes and walking around barefoot, especially outside. Being barefoot regularly improves our gait and foot kinematics, and well as strengthens and prevents damage to all of our joints, not just in the lower extremity. Firstly, it's well known that flat hard surfaces aren't the best for us, and most of us can go all day without ever even touching the ground. We go from our home's floors, to the side walk, pavement, and then more hard floors at work. Let alone the fact that our shoes, are still just hard flat surfaces! The ground isn't flat, and it has a spongy give to it that makes us use the intrinsic muscle of the foot to stabilize as we move.
 
Then, when we are barefoot, our feet get to feel and be aware of the environment to help with balance and decrease the risk of injuries like ankle sprains; this is called proprioception. It's also been shown that as we age, our feet anatomically and functionally change shape compared to habitual barefooters. Shoes confide our feet into small areas and constrict the movement, especially laterally, of the tarsals and metatarsals.
 
Most running shoes brag about having a thick sole and heel for comfort, and this as well has been shown to create a negative impact. A big difference in running between barefooters and those who routinely wear shoes, is that when we run, shoe runners have a predominate heel strike, that is landing with their heels, where as barefooters tend to land with their forefoot. The issue here is that with heel striking, there is a 7x increase in the impact on the foot, and that is with the cushioned sole. The thick sole actually promotes heel strike, so though it may be more comfortable, its causing more damage of the lower extremity. Barefooters have a much lighter impact while running with forefoot strike because now the calf and lower leg is used as a shock absorber and uses that to propel us forward as opposed to taking the impact in the inch thick sole, ankle, and mid foot which can damage the medial longitudinal arch and promote a “flat foot” as well as increase the impact of the knee, hips, and low back.
 
Something interesting is that those who typical don't wear shoes, keep that decreased impact even on hard surfaces. So the myth that hard surfaces are bad, isn't as true as first thought; it all depends on the kinetics of your gait.
 
Though just walking and running around barefoot can help increase the strength of the foot, there's a quick 5 minute exercise protocal that can be done which has been shown to strengthen the feet, and help to both prevent and heal issues such as ankle sprains, shin splints, and flat feet. Below is a case study that was performed on these 6 foot drills.
 
Hello Biohacker Nation! Today is all about the foot. Roughly 1 out of 3 of us have at least 1 flat foot and it's believed that it can lower balance ability and increase the likelihood of various injuries like ankle sprains, knee, hip, and back pain.We ran into the lab to see if we could biohack a way to a less flat foot using a few simple drills that was taught to me by Dr. Russ Ebbets, D.C.
 
They were done every day for 1 month, bare foot in the grass and doing all 6 of them took roughly 4 minutes each day. They are meant to strengthen the foot to rebuild the fallen medial longintudinal arch which is characterisitc of flat feet (also known as Pes Planus).These foot drills consist of simply walking up to 80ft 6 times with slightly different foot positions on each pass.The foot positions are walking: 1) on your heels 2) on your toes 3) on the onside edge of the foot (Inverted) 4) on the inside edge (everted) 5) with toes pointing inward 6) toes pointing outwardHere is a quick sample of what they look like when done while marching in place:
 
PHOTOS AND VIDEOS AVAILABLE AT BIOHACKHUMANS.COM
So what do these results mean?With my case study, both of my feet became slightly less pronated after the drills with the right one having a larger change. The 2 of them equalizing by the end of the study at 24 degrees. Good start, but the evidence on the importance of this mild at best, but there was a change noted. By week 3 I could feel while walking that the right foot was turned in more (less pronated and more supinated), so the measurement change was no large surprise.With the Navicular drop test, the avergae person has the bone drop by about 0.6cm and most literature on the topic agrees that 1cm or more of a drop declares a flat foot. My results show that both feet had a positive change by 0.3 cm and the left foot even dropped below the 1cm mark showing a significant change for both feet.Next, the foot pressure evaluation. What we are looking for is to have no areas of high pressure (dark red) showing that it is evenly distributed across the foot. With a “perfect” foot, weight should be evenly distributed from the heel, to the whole outside edge until it gets to the “knuckles” or balls of the toes with no high pressure areas seen. The post foot drill scan showed a change heavily into that desired weight pattern.So what does all of this mean? Did I fix my flat feet? Not completely, but all signs show that both of my feet noticeably improved, and again, this was only done for 1 month. What if this is done for 3 months straight? 6 months? A full year? If someone is trying to increase their bench press, they never stop after one month, but expect a strength change by then, and that is precisely what these drills have done for my feet.This appears to be a good way to strengthen the foot and rebuild the fallen arch, instead of just constantly wearing orthotics for the rest of one's life.​So final thoughts? These foot drills were fast, easy, free, and work! I liked them before and now that I began to see results in such a short period of time, I think they're a fantastic way to help one's foot health. I plan to continue these drills indefinetly and BioHack my feet literally 1 step at a time
“Flat Feet More Common Than You Might Think.” Cbslocal.com, 2013, baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/06/13/flat-feet-more-common-than-you-might-think/.What Are Fallen Arches? (n.d.). Retrieved August 23, 2017, from http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-are-fallen-arches#1 Winter, Gregor, and About Gregor WinterHi, I run ATG.Follow me on instagram @gregorwinter (and ATG @atginsta). “Russ Ebbets Foot Drills to Fix Flat Feet.” All Things Gym, 17 Feb. 2013, www.allthingsgym.com/russ-ebbets-foot-drills-to-fix-flat-feet/. Zhai, Jun Na, et al. “Effects of Orthotic Insoles on Adults with Flexible Flatfoot under Different Walking Conditions.” Journal of Physical Therapy Science, vol. 28, no. 11, 2016, pp. 3078–3083., doi:10.1589/jpts.28.3078. 
Biohacking Crossfit
By: Jim Goetz​Having the title, "Fittest on Earth" is straight up awesome!!! Being the best at anything on this planet is awesome! Being the fastest on earth is pretty cool. Being the strongest on earth is also cool. But cross fit is a sport that is a combination of the biggest, fastest and strongest all into one. Cross Fit is a sport that measures pure athletic ability. It is athletic ability at it's most raw state. To be the top baseball player in the world, you have to spend countless hours honing your talent and skills to be able to pick up a ball, react to it's movement and future location and move the bat swift and powerful through that path of the ball. It's a learned skill. Cross fit is simply pure and unadulterated athleticism.What does Cross Fit have to do with BioHacking? Everything!!! As seen in our article on exercise, it's now common knowledge that humans were meant to move. We were hunters and gatherers turned sedentary by our own technology and laze. In order to unlock the utmost in human performance, we must move. Cross fit is movement. Doing it properly will enhance long term ability of movement and health. Doing it improperly will assure injury and poor daily performance.Perhaps the greatest Cross Fit athlete to date has been Rich Froning. He won the Reebok Cross Fit games in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 and then retired from the open competition and won the team competition in 2015 and 2016. He could be considered the Babe Ruth of Cross Fit. He says that he does not adhere to any strict nutrition regimen and works out multiple times per day. On the surface, it makes him appear to be some alien or someone on insane amounts of HGH or steroids. While allegations in the sport are rampant, I do not think the latter is entirely the case. How then does he not burnout if he participates in multiple workouts daily?Cross Fit incorporates multiple elements of training from high intensity interval training (HIIT), Olympic lifting, plyometrics, powerlifting, gymnastics, girevoy, calisthenics, strongman elements, swimming, and middle distance runs. It literally incorporates the training elements of all sports and combines them into one. But training for Cross Fit competitions must be done in a manner that allows the competitor to be at their strongest and not fatigued or broken down in any way. ​A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research entitled "Crossfit-based high intensity power training improves maximal aerobic fitness and body composition" followed 54 participants for 10 weeks of CrossFit training. The study said that "...a notable percentage of our subjects (16%) did not complete the training program and return for follow-up testing." The authors said "This may call into question the risk-benefit ratio for such extreme training programs..." This study resulted in a lawsuit by Cross Fit against the NSCA, to which this article and company will not touch with a ten foot pole. The purpose of mentioning this is the idea of overtraining as could easily occur in Cross Fit's WOD (workout of the day) without any variation would appear that burnout could easily happen. Even worse, the disease of rhabdomylosis is present within the sport. This is the breakdown of muscle tissue due to exercise exertion. Remember that most studies show positive benefits of exercise are achieved through moderate exercise. Cross Fit is a tad bit more than moderate. On the positive side, Cross Fit has been proven to lead to dramatic gains in fitness in a very short period of time. So let's take a BioHacker's perspective to this sport to be the fittest you can be and perhaps for one of the few of you, the Fittest on Earth. First, we must avoid injury. Second we must perform to the highest of our ability while training the body to adapt to changes in exercises while simultaneously experiencing gains whereas the result is an increase in athletic strength and conditioning. In order to achieve this we must ensure adequate rest, recovery and proper adaptation to the program we participate in. The human body is extremely resilient in how it adapts. The body will adapt to the stresses put upon it. Repetitive and reasonably intense stimulation strengthens the nerve impulse to the muscles involved, creating greater muscular strength and endurance. However, I did say, "reasonably intense". If the stress is too much and too fast, the body will break down resulting in injury. Another concept to become successful in Cross Fit is practice. Movements such as Olympic lifting, muscle ups, kip up pull ups, rope climbs and the such take coordination and skill. The Hebbian theory is a neuroscience theory that is best summarized by Siegrid Löwel's phrase: "Cells that fire together, wire together." Yes, perfect practice makes perfect.
In order to continue to progress while as the same time rest, it's best to follow a technique called, Periodization, as written about by Tudor Bompa. This technique "mixes it up" while allowing an athlete to peak at the right time. As with Cross Fit one may have to peak over the course of a few days; proper implementation of this will allow for success. As there are multiple types of periodization (linear, daily undulating and block), using the right one  or a combination thereof is crucial. This will allow for increases in performance while allowing the body to rest and recover. Working with a highly trained strength and conditioning coach who is fluent in this is suggested. Nutrition is key to recovery as well. Without the right ratio of nutrients, the body cannot properly recover and improve. I will get more into this in what will most likely be future BioHacker Talk entries. If done right, Cross Fit can be a fun and enjoyable way to challenge yourself and achieve new heights of fitness. If done wrong, it can be a miserable way to the hospital.
BioHacking is more than simply taking a pill for a specific purpose and hoping for a biophysiological change. BioHacking is habits and ways of doing things differently than you have done before. Following the proper principles and progressing properly along with adequate rest and nutrition are key to your biohacking success. Who knows, perhaps you may be the next one to be recognized as, "Fittest on Earth". ​​#BioHackHumans #BioHacker #edtech #BioHackthePlanet #crossfit #sixpack #fitness #training #playground
 
References1. Muscle & Fitness magazine Live Chat with CrossFit Games Champ Rich Froning2.  Dehority, Sam. "The Fittest Man on Earth". Men's Fitness. Retrieved 21 April 20173. Smith, MM, Sommer, AJ, Starkoff, BE, and Devor, ST. Crossfit-based high-intensity power training improves maximal aerobic fitness and body composition. J Strength Cond Res 27(11): 3159 –3172, 20134. Robertson, Eric (2013-09-20). "CrossFit's Dirty Little Secret: Everyone has an uncle they'd rather you not meet., A Tale of Rhabdomyolysis, Rhabdomyolysis: As Told By CrossFit?, The Impact of Rhabdomyolysis". Medium. 5. The disease attacking super fit athletes. Stuff6. CrossFit: Can the Popular Extreme Workout Be Dangerous?. ABC News.7. Hebb, D.O. (1949). The Organization of Behavior. New York: Wiley & Sons8. Löwel, S. and Singer, W. (1992) Science 255 
 
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Functionised PodcastBy Dr. Chantea PhD