Rucking Foot and Ankle Injuries (And How to Prevent Them)

WEBVTT

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plantar fasciitis, tendonitis, stress fractures,

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metatarsalgia, and sprained ankles. These are

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some of the most common foot and ankle injuries

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ruckers experience. In this episode, I sit down

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with John Ritter, a physical therapist who works

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with hikers, runners, and ruckers to break down

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what causes each injury, how to recognize the

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early signs, and what you can do to build the

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strength and durability needed to keep them from

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slowing you down. If you want to ruck consistently

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and avoid setbacks, this episode will give you

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a clear understanding of how to strengthen your

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feet and legs to handle the load. You're listening

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to the Rucker's Edge podcast, a show all about

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rucking that is designed to help you improve

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your rucking routine, lose weight, and ultimately

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gain your strength and energy back. Each episode

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dives into the science, stories, and strategies

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behind rucking. You'll learn from top ruckers,

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coaches, health experts, and performance specialists

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who break down what it takes to train smarter.

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recover faster, and stay ready for the next challenge.

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So whether you're new to rucking or an experienced

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rucker that's already logged hundreds of miles,

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this is the show for you. I'm your host, Spencer.

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Thanks for listening in. Before we get going,

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if this show has helped you in any way, it'd

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be amazing if you could drop a quick review on

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whatever app you're using to listen to this podcast

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right now. It helps me bring new episodes every

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week, and more importantly, more people looking

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to improve their fitness will be able to discover

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the podcast so you can help someone else start

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or improve their rucking. Thanks so much. John

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Ritter, welcome to the Rucker's Edge podcast.

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It's really great to have you here. Thanks for

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taking the time. Thank you. It's great to be

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here. So you're a physical therapist that works

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with hikers, runners, and I learned recently,

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ruckers. And I'm really happy to have you on

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the show because I have a lot of questions about

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frequent injuries that ruckers will come down

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with after ruck or maybe not even preparing for

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their ruck. I kind of wanted to start out by

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asking, through your experience with dealing

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with hikers and ruckers, why does adding weight

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to something as simple as just like walking,

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not necessarily running, but walking and adding

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weight, what is it about that that changes how

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our body reacts or responds during that activity?

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Yeah, that's a great question. I think a lot

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of people underestimate the... amount of force

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and the impact that their body takes with each

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step, whether that's running or walking or anything,

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right? So with walking, generally, we're taking

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anywhere between two to five times our body weight

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per step, right? And that's going to be a little

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bit more going downhill and a little bit less

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going uphill. If we're running, it's going to

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be anywhere between five and eight times our

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body weight. with each impact that we're taking.

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So it can be pretty significant. Add on, even

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if you're adding in like 20 % of your body weight,

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20, 30 % of your body weight, that adds in additional

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times of impact per step that you're taking.

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Right. So if so, let's say you're rocking. Right.

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Generally, when people are are rocking, they're

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trying to go relatively heavy. Right. I feel

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like most people are are anywhere within that,

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like 20 to 50 pound range most of the time. Right.

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And so that's adding in a significant amount

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of impact. Per step. Right. And so if you're,

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if you're used to, and I, I, I like to use analogies

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with, with other exercises, just because I feel

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like it's, it's clear that way. But if you're

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used to deadlifting a hundred pounds, right.

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And you're, you know, deadlifting a hundred pounds

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all the time, you feel really comfortable with

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that. And then one day you go into the gym and

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you're like, you know what I'm going to do, I'm

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gonna do 150 pounds today, just for, just for

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fun. And you start doing 150 pounds. If that

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jump is too big. for your body to accommodate

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quickly, then injury will occur, right? So if

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we do smaller jumps, then normally we can accommodate,

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we can adapt, and we can be okay, right? But

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if we make jumps that are too big, too quickly,

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then our body falls into injury instead of adaptation.

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I feel like this is an issue that we run into,

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especially with rucking and backpacking and things

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like that. People are like, well, I can walk.

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Like I can walk eight miles, right? I enjoy going

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on an eight mile or a five mile hike or whatever.

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Let me just add on 30, 40 pounds and I can do

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that same walk, right? But you have to remember

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that that weight is compounding an increased

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amount of force with each step, right? And that

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force is usually, it's going to be most effective

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at the hip, knee, foot and ankle, right? Yeah.

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So did that answer your question? Absolutely

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did. Absolutely. And I talk about progression

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often. I have historical ankle issues. And so

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I knew starting a new activity like rucking,

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sure, it's not going to be as impactful as running,

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but there is still going to be impact. And so

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I started just walking and then adding weight

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incrementally. Curious to see what your opinion

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might be. So someone starting out rucking. What

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sort of progress would you recommend to them

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in terms of weight? Let's say they have an hour

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a week. They're going the same distance at the

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same speed. The only thing they're changing is

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weight. How much would you add and how frequently?

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This is a great question. And it kind of, it

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comes down to a principle called progressive

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overload. The principle of progressive overload

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is how much can I push past what I was doing

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before to create adaptation without creating

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injury. Or with reducing risk of injury. We can

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never eliminate risk of injury. Like injuries

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happen walking down the stairs or whatever. So

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we can never eliminate risk of injury, but we

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can significantly reduce it. Generally with...

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When we're adding in weight, if we're doing rucking

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or backpacking, if we're adding in weight to

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walking, I think because the duration of the

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activity is really long, I like to go a little

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bit more conservative than with traditional lifting,

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right? So the progressive overload principles

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generally have been applied to traditional lifting

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exercises, right? So like deadlifts, squats,

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things like that. So working out in the gym,

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lifting weights. The general idea is 10 % progression

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per week, right? So if you think, okay, I'm deadlifting

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100 pounds this week, I can go to 110 pounds

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next week, right? And then you can kind of progress

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in that manner. The problem with activities like

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rucking is there's a lot of different variables

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that are going on, right? So there's the distance

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that you're walking, there's the terrain you're

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walking on, and now you're adding in the addition

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of... the addition of weight, right? So first

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off, you have to make sure that you're able to

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walk the distance that you want to walk, right?

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So let's say I'm doing this trail circuit. It's

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going to be five miles. I build up to being able

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to be really comfortable walking that five miles

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without any additional weight. And then where

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do I start with additional weight? Like how much

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can I add on? I think generally a good place

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to start is probably between 10 and 15 pounds.

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That's not a lot of weight in most people's minds.

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They're like, ah, this is like 10, 15 pounds.

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So that's not going to make a big deal. But if

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you add in those 10, 15 pounds over the course

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of five miles, that makes a pretty significant

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impact, right? Once you can do that, then you

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can start to incorporate that 10 % per week progression

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rule, right? So maybe every couple of weeks,

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you're adding in a couple of pounds. Right. So

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I'm going to, I started with 10 pounds after

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a couple of weeks, I'm going to go up to 12 and

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a half or 13 pounds. Right. And the 10%, it doesn't

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have to be perfect. You can do a little bit more,

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you can do a little bit less. Right. But that

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idea is going to help keep you from progressing

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too quickly and allow your body time to adapt

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to the new stimulus. Right. So what you want

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to do is start conservative, find a weight that

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you think is going to be, you know, less than

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you can handle, right? So shoot under rather

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than shoot over, right? Shoot under to start,

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make sure you're comfortable with it, and then

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begin that progressive overload progression.

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Because what happens is what I see a lot of times

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is people say, okay, I wanted to get into rucking.

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I knew that I enjoyed hiking, I enjoyed walking,

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and that was really great. I wanted to make it

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a little bit more intense, get a better workout

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in. I'm going to add some weight. I'm going to

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add in 20, 30 pounds, and then I'm going to go.

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And what ends up happening is they get stuck

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at that weight for a really long time, or they

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end up falling into injury or something like

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that. So it's better to take a couple of months

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to build up to 30, 40, 50 pounds. Right. Rather

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than get stuck at a weight because you started

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too heavy. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Building

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up that ramp sort of sort of to say and you hit

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the nail on the head. I think a lot of Rutgers,

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you know, they might be former athletes that

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are used to. maybe throwing some weight around

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and when they get into rocking oh yeah like 20

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pounds no problem 25 pounds no problem just throwing

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it back and then go out for a long rock and they're

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like wait hold on what's going on what's going

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on with my ankle what's going on with my knee

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so yeah i appreciate your insight on that and

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and that tip for for progressing let's talk about

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some of the more common injuries that us ruckers

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come down with and the number one is is blisters.

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Everyone has blisters, but having you on as physical

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therapist, let's, let's focus on musculoskeletal

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issues. So from doing my research and my understanding

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of these different injuries, I kind of grouped

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them into like different categories. One would

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be load and impact, perhaps causing some injuries.

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The other one would. would be soft tissue. And

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then the last one I have, my favorite, we'll

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save for last. But let's start with load and

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impact. I know a lot of records will come down

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with stretch fractures. And I always struggle

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with this word, metatarsalgia. Is that how you

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pronounce that? Metatarsalgia. Yep, you got it.

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So those sound like the more serious injuries.

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What's happening with the body when those injuries

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occur? Yeah, yeah. So these these kind of fall

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into the category of repetitive stress injury,

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right, where the body is unable to adapt quickly

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enough to the activity and the stress is placed

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in a place where it shouldn't be right. The the

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foot and ankle. is designed to absorb impact

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with each step right so that's that is the that

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is the purpose of of the foot and ankle it's

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it absorbs impact and then helps to store that

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impact store that energy and help propel you

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forward right and it does that through a couple

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of different mechanics i mean i guess if if we

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have the video on here i'm holding a little foot

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model here okay so if you can see it great if

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not that's okay so if you think of the arch of

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your foot the inside arch of your foot It goes

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through something called pronation and supination.

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Pronation is when the arch drops. Supination

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is when the arch lifts. So with every single

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step, that arch is dropping down. It's kind of

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stretching out and expanding. And then as you're

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stepping forward, it contracts, it supinates,

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it gets higher and stiffer, and it allows you

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to propel yourself forward, right? If you don't

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have the ability, the strength in the foot and

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the strength in the, it's called extrinsic muscles

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of the foot, the muscles that live within the

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calf and reach down into the foot. If you don't

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have the strength to control that pronation and

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supination motion as you're going through walking,

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especially with added load, what ends up happening

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is the muscles can't do their job to absorb impact.

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And that impact is transferred to. bony areas

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right so for the for instance with with metatarsalgia

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so that's pain in the ball of your foot super

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super common in loaded walking activities like

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rucking the problem there is there's there's

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a whole bunch of different problems and i'll

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try to keep it rather concise right a lot of

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times we're dealing with with stiffer or more

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restrictive shoes people are hiking in boots

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or something like that the the pinching in of

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the toes actually creates a restricted ability

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of the foot to maintain what's called the anterior

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arch. So the anterior arch is the arch across

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the ball of the foot, okay? You should have a

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little bit of an arch across the ball of the

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foot. As we pull the toes together, as we squeeze

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them together, that arch tends to drop, right?

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And so we're getting more pressure on the center

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part of the ball of the foot versus the big toe

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and the pinky toe side of the ball of the foot,

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which is where the pressure should be. And then

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on top of that, we add in overload. So we're

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adding in additional weight that is pressing

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down and the muscles in the foot are having a

00:12:46.870 --> 00:12:51.129
hard time controlling that impact, right? Now

00:12:51.129 --> 00:12:53.450
we add in on that, you know, different kinds

00:12:53.450 --> 00:12:56.110
of shoes with high heel drops. So your heels

00:12:56.110 --> 00:12:58.789
are propped up, right? I'm going to pull out

00:12:58.789 --> 00:13:01.029
my little model again. So your heels are propped

00:13:01.029 --> 00:13:02.970
up and then we have something called a toe spring

00:13:02.970 --> 00:13:05.409
in most shoes. So your toes are propped up. So

00:13:05.409 --> 00:13:07.830
all of that weight is going down into this V

00:13:07.830 --> 00:13:12.029
right at the ball of your foot, right? So there's

00:13:12.029 --> 00:13:14.590
all of these factors that contribute to the drop

00:13:14.590 --> 00:13:18.750
of the anterior arch, but the end factor, the

00:13:18.750 --> 00:13:20.629
factor that's most important is the strength

00:13:20.629 --> 00:13:23.830
of the foot to be able to create that anterior

00:13:23.830 --> 00:13:26.700
arch. And if we don't have that ability, we get

00:13:26.700 --> 00:13:28.740
that increased bony impact on they're called

00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:30.500
the metatarsal heads. That's where the ball of

00:13:30.500 --> 00:13:32.879
the foot is. And then we can start creating irritation

00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:35.519
in those, in those joints. And it feels like

00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:37.419
you're walking on a rock all the time. right

00:13:37.419 --> 00:13:40.440
it's a pretty similar principle with things like

00:13:40.440 --> 00:13:43.539
stress fractures in the foot so a lot of people

00:13:43.539 --> 00:13:45.779
will get stress fractures on the fifth metatarsal

00:13:45.779 --> 00:13:48.279
so the outside of the foot it's the same thing

00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:50.279
if your body isn't able to absorb that impact

00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:52.379
the foot isn't able to pronate and supinate you're

00:13:52.379 --> 00:13:54.360
going to lean to the outside of the foot because

00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:56.559
it's more structurally stable you're relying

00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:59.200
on the bony structure of the foot And then that

00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:01.399
bone is going to get overloaded and you can develop

00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:03.840
stress fractures. Same thing in the shin. If

00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:06.120
I don't have the ability to absorb impact in

00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:07.799
the foot, that impact is going to get transferred

00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:10.720
straight into the heel, up the shin, and then

00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:12.399
we can develop stress fractures in the shin,

00:14:12.500 --> 00:14:15.960
right? So it's all about those repeated impact

00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:19.000
injuries are all about the ability to control

00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:22.460
and absorb impact per step. And if you don't

00:14:22.460 --> 00:14:25.169
have that ability, that force is going to get

00:14:25.169 --> 00:14:27.750
transferred into the structural supportive tissue,

00:14:27.850 --> 00:14:30.450
the bony structures of the body. Cool. All right.

00:14:30.490 --> 00:14:32.289
Let's end the podcast there. That was an excellent

00:14:32.289 --> 00:14:35.190
explanation. That's all the value we need. That

00:14:35.190 --> 00:14:37.450
was really well explained. I appreciate you spending

00:14:37.450 --> 00:14:39.210
the time and explaining that. It was really,

00:14:39.330 --> 00:14:42.029
really easy to follow. And it makes a lot of

00:14:42.029 --> 00:14:45.730
sense based off of the history of my own injuries

00:14:45.730 --> 00:14:49.950
and the lack of strength and how it led to stress

00:14:49.950 --> 00:14:52.710
fractures and other issues like that. Are there

00:14:52.710 --> 00:14:55.460
any... What would the early warning signs be

00:14:55.460 --> 00:14:58.460
that, you know, someone might be coming down

00:14:58.460 --> 00:15:03.179
with a stress fracture or mental tarsalgia? When

00:15:03.179 --> 00:15:06.740
you go on a ruck, when you have that additional

00:15:06.740 --> 00:15:09.080
weight, when you're going on a long hike or a

00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:11.940
long walk or something like that. generally you're

00:15:11.940 --> 00:15:15.120
going to be uncomfortable at some points, right?

00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:18.039
And that's totally fine. You can have little

00:15:18.039 --> 00:15:21.340
bits of discomfort here and there. As long as

00:15:21.340 --> 00:15:24.220
they come and go, it's not a big deal, right?

00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:30.000
Persistent and escalating discomfort is a sign

00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:36.240
of injury or maladaptive tissue, right? So it's

00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:38.799
a tissue that is not able to adapt to the stressor.

00:15:39.569 --> 00:15:42.049
So, so let's say for instance, I'm developed,

00:15:42.070 --> 00:15:44.629
I'm starting to develop in like a, let's take

00:15:44.629 --> 00:15:46.330
a stress fracture in the fifth metatarsal. So

00:15:46.330 --> 00:15:48.129
on the outside of the foot, I'm starting to develop

00:15:48.129 --> 00:15:50.470
a stress fracture there. How do I know that that's

00:15:50.470 --> 00:15:52.690
happening? Well, I'm, I'm going on some rocks.

00:15:52.870 --> 00:15:55.049
I started to feel like a little bit of soreness

00:15:55.049 --> 00:15:56.490
on the outside of the foot, but it's not that

00:15:56.490 --> 00:15:58.509
big a deal. And it goes away relatively quickly

00:15:58.509 --> 00:16:01.190
after the rock. Right. And then I start to notice

00:16:01.190 --> 00:16:04.590
it more frequently and the intensity of the system

00:16:04.590 --> 00:16:08.029
of the symptoms start to increase. Right. And

00:16:08.029 --> 00:16:11.230
then I hit a point where I go on a ruck. It really

00:16:11.230 --> 00:16:13.970
bothers me during the ruck. And afterwards, that

00:16:13.970 --> 00:16:16.850
pain has just like plateaued. It's just staying

00:16:16.850 --> 00:16:20.350
there and it's not going away. That's generally

00:16:20.350 --> 00:16:23.350
the progression of a stress -related injury or

00:16:23.350 --> 00:16:26.950
a stress fracture. And if you can see early on,

00:16:26.990 --> 00:16:31.309
you can say, hey, look, I'm feeling this discomfort.

00:16:31.490 --> 00:16:33.750
It is increasing in frequency. It's increasing

00:16:33.750 --> 00:16:36.809
in intensity. It's not adapting. It's not getting

00:16:36.809 --> 00:16:39.129
better. I need to change something before it

00:16:39.129 --> 00:16:42.509
becomes an issue, right? So that's when you can

00:16:42.509 --> 00:16:44.950
decrease a little bit of weight or maybe decrease

00:16:44.950 --> 00:16:48.710
a little bit of distance, something like that,

00:16:48.769 --> 00:16:50.710
right? So decrease the intensity of the activity

00:16:50.710 --> 00:16:54.990
and then figure out if there are other things

00:16:54.990 --> 00:16:57.559
you can do to correct. Whatever compensation

00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:00.539
is leading to that excess stress, right? Maybe

00:17:00.539 --> 00:17:02.299
there's some weaknesses in the foot. Maybe there's

00:17:02.299 --> 00:17:04.000
some weaknesses in the calf. Maybe there's some

00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:05.740
weaknesses in the hip. Other things that you

00:17:05.740 --> 00:17:09.819
can work on to take that excess pressure off

00:17:09.819 --> 00:17:12.670
of where the body is unable to adapt. to that

00:17:12.670 --> 00:17:14.769
pressure, right? And that's where talking with

00:17:14.769 --> 00:17:17.029
like a physical therapist or an athletic trainer

00:17:17.029 --> 00:17:18.509
or something like that can be really helpful

00:17:18.509 --> 00:17:20.809
because they have the eyes to be able to say,

00:17:20.890 --> 00:17:22.789
hey, look, we're lacking a little bit of strength

00:17:22.789 --> 00:17:25.269
here in this department, which is shunting more

00:17:25.269 --> 00:17:27.390
of that force over here where we don't need it.

00:17:27.470 --> 00:17:29.150
So let's see if we can correct some of that.

00:17:29.250 --> 00:17:32.470
The most important thing is recognition of that

00:17:32.470 --> 00:17:37.230
progressing pain response and changing something

00:17:37.230 --> 00:17:39.549
so that it doesn't continue to progress to a

00:17:39.549 --> 00:17:42.759
significant injury. Yeah, that's an excellent

00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:44.940
idea you had about reaching out to a professional,

00:17:45.019 --> 00:17:47.460
a physical therapist and helping to identify

00:17:47.460 --> 00:17:49.240
what could be changed because, you know, you

00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:51.839
can cycle through hundreds of different changes

00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:53.619
that you can make through your rucking to figure

00:17:53.619 --> 00:17:55.500
out what's going on where someone that's been

00:17:55.500 --> 00:17:57.440
trained to identify it really quickly can just

00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:01.980
save you months, if not years, of trying to correct

00:18:01.980 --> 00:18:04.619
it on your own. So appreciate that. Let's move

00:18:04.619 --> 00:18:08.000
on to a few other. injuries that i think can

00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:10.200
be kind of grouped into the same category these

00:18:10.200 --> 00:18:13.460
are plantar fasciitis and tendonitis they also

00:18:13.460 --> 00:18:16.039
seem to be pretty common amongst ruckers so similar

00:18:16.039 --> 00:18:17.980
question to before like what what's going on

00:18:17.980 --> 00:18:20.720
in the body that's that's causing these yeah

00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:23.480
luckily the explanation is is pretty similar

00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:27.339
right it's it's about overloading specific tissue

00:18:27.339 --> 00:18:31.099
right so let's take plantar fasciitis for example

00:18:31.099 --> 00:18:34.519
i'd say probably like 80 % of the people that

00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:37.279
I work with are dealing with plantar fascia pain.

00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:40.619
And so that's just something that I see all the

00:18:40.619 --> 00:18:41.839
time. It's something that I work with all the

00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:44.440
time. The main issue with plantar fascia pain,

00:18:44.539 --> 00:18:47.000
I like to think, I like to describe it this way.

00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:49.779
And I feel like this gives a pretty clear picture

00:18:49.779 --> 00:18:52.099
of what's going on. I talked earlier about the

00:18:52.099 --> 00:18:54.180
pronation supination of the foot, right? How

00:18:54.180 --> 00:18:57.200
the pronation is where the arch drops down. It's

00:18:57.200 --> 00:18:59.809
where the... The foot is adapting to the surface

00:18:59.809 --> 00:19:01.589
that you're stepping on. You're absorbing impact.

00:19:01.910 --> 00:19:04.150
And then the supination is where the arch lifts.

00:19:04.250 --> 00:19:06.329
It becomes stiffer, stronger, and that's how

00:19:06.329 --> 00:19:08.470
you push off, right? You propel yourself forward.

00:19:09.609 --> 00:19:13.250
The mechanisms, the muscles that control that

00:19:13.250 --> 00:19:15.509
motion in the foot, you can think of them as

00:19:15.509 --> 00:19:18.089
like springs, right? So the springs stretch as

00:19:18.089 --> 00:19:20.910
the arch collapses. The springs contract as the

00:19:20.910 --> 00:19:23.349
arch lifts. And that's how we absorb impact with

00:19:23.349 --> 00:19:26.710
the foot. The plantar fascia is more like a rope.

00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:30.259
than a spring. So the plantar fascia is attached

00:19:30.259 --> 00:19:33.000
at the heel. So the front of the heel bone, and

00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:34.900
then reaches out and is attached into the feet

00:19:34.900 --> 00:19:38.180
or into the toes across the, across the arch

00:19:38.180 --> 00:19:40.700
of the foot. If the springs of the foot, if the

00:19:40.700 --> 00:19:43.160
muscles of the foot can't do their job or they

00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:46.079
fatigue too quickly, what happens is the arch

00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:50.619
drops faster or more uncontrolled. It can't absorb

00:19:50.619 --> 00:19:53.500
the impact very well. And so what ends up happening

00:19:53.500 --> 00:19:57.559
is that arch essentially drops and hangs on that

00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:01.180
rope of the plantar fascia, right? So that plantar

00:20:01.180 --> 00:20:04.400
fascia is taking on all of that extra force as

00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:07.180
we're stepping down and it's pulling at where

00:20:07.180 --> 00:20:10.460
it's attached to the heel bone. That constant

00:20:10.460 --> 00:20:15.220
pulling can create adaptations like a heel spur

00:20:15.220 --> 00:20:18.220
or things like that. That's not necessarily the

00:20:18.220 --> 00:20:19.700
cause of the pain. That's just an adaptation

00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:23.420
to the excess stress that the foot is experiencing.

00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:25.720
What ends up happening is that plantar fascia,

00:20:25.740 --> 00:20:28.700
because of that constant overload, the plantar

00:20:28.700 --> 00:20:31.200
fascia starts to degrade. The plantar fascia

00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.809
and connective tissue in general It's not it

00:20:33.809 --> 00:20:35.589
doesn't have a lot of blood flow. And so it has

00:20:35.589 --> 00:20:38.349
a hard time adapting and healing if it is overstressed.

00:20:38.430 --> 00:20:42.069
And so things to work on one is removing that

00:20:42.069 --> 00:20:44.150
excess stress by building up the strength in

00:20:44.150 --> 00:20:46.309
the feet and the calf. Right. So actually being

00:20:46.309 --> 00:20:48.369
able to absorb impact. And then the other thing

00:20:48.369 --> 00:20:50.829
is doing things like and this is going to sound

00:20:50.829 --> 00:20:54.950
silly, but it plays a huge role in any kind of

00:20:54.950 --> 00:20:58.390
foot rehab. But like. So consistent use of toe

00:20:58.390 --> 00:21:01.009
spacers, right? Making sure that we have good

00:21:01.009 --> 00:21:04.670
mobility in the foot, doing small, simple exercises

00:21:04.670 --> 00:21:07.170
throughout the day, like toe yoga or toe lifts,

00:21:07.190 --> 00:21:09.990
like alternating your lifting of your toes, scrunching

00:21:09.990 --> 00:21:12.450
your toes, working on arch lifts and things like

00:21:12.450 --> 00:21:15.190
that can help improve blood flow to the feet,

00:21:15.289 --> 00:21:17.150
which is going to improve healing times, right?

00:21:17.210 --> 00:21:18.569
So if you're dealing with some sort of injury,

00:21:18.630 --> 00:21:20.410
adding those things into your routine is going

00:21:20.410 --> 00:21:24.059
to be super, super helpful. Great. So that's

00:21:24.059 --> 00:21:26.839
a little bit about plantar fascia, plantar fasciitis.

00:21:27.099 --> 00:21:29.819
And now when we're dealing with other kind of

00:21:29.819 --> 00:21:33.920
tendinopathies, right? So we'll talk about, you

00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:36.519
know, peroneal tendinopathy, which is that pain

00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:38.799
kind of along the outside of the ankle, behind

00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:41.619
the ankle or posterior tibial tendon dysfunction,

00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:44.140
right? Which is that inside of the ankle pain

00:21:44.140 --> 00:21:47.660
going down into the foot or even Achilles tendinopathies

00:21:47.660 --> 00:21:51.839
or Achilles tendonitis. These tendon irritations

00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:54.839
happen because of persistent, again, persistent

00:21:54.839 --> 00:21:58.000
overload, right? So either there is too much

00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:01.940
stress on one side of the ankle, right? There's

00:22:01.940 --> 00:22:04.359
too much stress on one set of the tendons, which

00:22:04.359 --> 00:22:07.319
is causing them to become irritated. Or there's

00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:12.660
just a general overload. issue, right? Where

00:22:12.660 --> 00:22:15.059
you're either doing too much or you've progressed

00:22:15.059 --> 00:22:17.920
too quickly and the body is not able to adapt

00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:21.579
to the situation, which creates persistent irritation

00:22:21.579 --> 00:22:25.099
of the tendon that isn't able to adapt, right?

00:22:25.180 --> 00:22:28.420
So changing activity level slightly and then

00:22:28.420 --> 00:22:32.440
getting in the right kind of exercise, the right

00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:34.799
kind of progressive loading to the tendon is

00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:37.059
what's going to help it to go through the healing

00:22:37.059 --> 00:22:39.480
process that it's trying to go through but can't

00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:43.000
because it keeps getting overstressed and once

00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:45.440
that tendon can go through the healing process

00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:47.920
it can get stronger and then it can adapt to

00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:50.279
the activity that you're doing right so it's

00:22:50.279 --> 00:22:52.279
all about it's all about load management and

00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:55.359
then understanding why this particular area is

00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:59.079
being overstressed. And I go into all kinds of

00:22:59.079 --> 00:23:00.839
different stuff. Usually issues at the feet are

00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:03.000
related to issues at the hip. Usually Achilles

00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:05.119
tendinopathies are related to hamstring weakness

00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:08.480
and hip extension weakness. So there's a whole

00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:12.160
bunch of different things at play here. I would

00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:14.619
say the biggest thing when you're dealing with

00:23:14.619 --> 00:23:18.640
any kind of stress -related injury, whether that's

00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:21.500
a bony stress -related injury or a tendon overload

00:23:21.500 --> 00:23:27.900
injury, is get working on it. As soon as possible,

00:23:28.059 --> 00:23:31.039
because it's probably just going to get worse.

00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:33.759
And the sooner you start working on it, the faster

00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:36.220
you'll be able to correct it and the less impact

00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:39.460
it will have on your activity long term. I'm

00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:42.400
curious with plantar fasciitis and tendinitis.

00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:46.539
Will those present during the activity or is

00:23:46.539 --> 00:23:48.119
that sort of like a delayed? You're going to

00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:50.140
see that tomorrow morning situation. That's a

00:23:50.140 --> 00:23:52.579
really good question. And this is a little bit

00:23:52.579 --> 00:23:58.799
different. per person, right? But generally connective

00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:01.359
tissue issues and tendon issues will follow a

00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:04.180
specific pattern, right? Usually these issues

00:24:04.180 --> 00:24:07.240
will be worse at the beginning of activity, right?

00:24:07.299 --> 00:24:08.960
So when you first start your rock, you're like,

00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:11.220
oh my gosh, my foot is killing me or my ankle's

00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:13.539
killing me. My Achilles is killing me. And then

00:24:13.539 --> 00:24:17.200
give it, you know, 15, 20 minutes or so into

00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:18.720
the activity, things are going to start to feel

00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:20.500
pretty good. You're like, oh, actually it's not

00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:22.259
that bad, right? Things are feeling pretty good.

00:24:22.500 --> 00:24:24.440
That's just because the tissue is warming up.

00:24:24.579 --> 00:24:26.559
It's heating up. It's becoming more pliable,

00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:28.460
more stretchy. And so it's not as sensitive,

00:24:28.519 --> 00:24:30.700
right? So then you can go through the rest of

00:24:30.700 --> 00:24:32.910
your activity feeling pretty good. unless you

00:24:32.910 --> 00:24:35.230
hit that specific threshold where the pain will

00:24:35.230 --> 00:24:37.250
start to ramp up again, right? So I'm sure you've

00:24:37.250 --> 00:24:39.430
experienced where you start out on the hike,

00:24:39.569 --> 00:24:41.269
you start out on the ruck, you're not feeling

00:24:41.269 --> 00:24:43.369
great. Like, ah, things are feeling tight. Things

00:24:43.369 --> 00:24:44.970
are feeling uncomfortable. Then things start

00:24:44.970 --> 00:24:46.990
to feel pretty good. You're like, okay, things

00:24:46.990 --> 00:24:48.789
are feeling all right. And then if you're doing

00:24:48.789 --> 00:24:51.609
a particularly big day or particularly heavy

00:24:51.609 --> 00:24:54.130
day, sometimes those symptoms can start to settle

00:24:54.130 --> 00:24:55.890
back in and you're going to start to feel it

00:24:55.890 --> 00:24:58.480
towards the end again. So sometimes you'll feel

00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:00.299
it towards the end, sometimes you won't. And

00:25:00.299 --> 00:25:04.079
then comes the post -activity irritation or pain.

00:25:04.220 --> 00:25:08.019
And this is pretty different person to person,

00:25:08.099 --> 00:25:10.579
usually because of the point that they're at

00:25:10.579 --> 00:25:13.319
in their healing process, right? If something

00:25:13.319 --> 00:25:16.039
is really chronic, you've been dealing with this

00:25:16.039 --> 00:25:19.519
issue for a super, super, super long time. usually

00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:22.160
that's going to mean it's more delayed, right?

00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:23.779
So you're going to be maybe feeling it the next

00:25:23.779 --> 00:25:26.720
morning or the next day, sometimes even 48 hours

00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:29.480
after is where it really, the extra pain really

00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:32.240
starts to set in. If it's a newer injury, it's

00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:34.519
usually going to settle in a few hours after

00:25:34.519 --> 00:25:37.099
the activity and it's going to be, you know,

00:25:37.099 --> 00:25:38.880
maybe a little bit more sharp, a little bit more

00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:41.740
present, right? And then still maybe take a couple

00:25:41.740 --> 00:25:44.819
of days to peter off, right? So the general pattern

00:25:44.819 --> 00:25:46.339
that you're going to see is pain at the beginning

00:25:46.339 --> 00:25:48.890
of activity, As it warms up, it feels better.

00:25:49.049 --> 00:25:51.789
And then as you cool down, it gets worse again.

00:25:51.910 --> 00:25:54.609
And then it maybe takes a day or two to feel

00:25:54.609 --> 00:25:57.490
better. If you're seeing that pattern and it's

00:25:57.490 --> 00:26:02.609
not muscle soreness, then you need to get it

00:26:02.609 --> 00:26:04.970
checked out and get working on it. Yeah. You

00:26:04.970 --> 00:26:07.549
mentioned something before about how you have

00:26:07.549 --> 00:26:10.589
observed Achilles tendonitis can be impacted

00:26:10.589 --> 00:26:16.279
by a weak hamstring. Yeah. Go ahead. No, I'm

00:26:16.279 --> 00:26:17.539
just curious about that. Can you explain that

00:26:17.539 --> 00:26:20.200
more? And can you talk about maybe, you know,

00:26:20.200 --> 00:26:23.880
any potential impact from a tendonitis? Was it

00:26:23.880 --> 00:26:27.359
like, do you call it peroneal tendonitis? Is

00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:29.480
that the one on the outside? Yeah, peroneal tendonitis

00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:32.460
on the outside. So what would that one be tied

00:26:32.460 --> 00:26:35.519
to if like ankles tied to a weak hamstring, I

00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:37.099
guess? I don't know if any of these questions

00:26:37.099 --> 00:26:39.559
make sense. Yeah, yeah, definitely makes sense.

00:26:39.640 --> 00:26:43.579
There's always, there are always localized stress

00:26:43.579 --> 00:26:47.390
responses and then like we call you know distal

00:26:47.390 --> 00:26:51.539
or or surrounding stress responses right so In

00:26:51.539 --> 00:26:53.720
order to propel yourself forward when you're

00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:57.640
rucking or to push uphill or do a big climb or

00:26:57.640 --> 00:26:59.319
something like that, there's a whole bunch of

00:26:59.319 --> 00:27:01.299
muscles that have to work together to help you

00:27:01.299 --> 00:27:04.339
do that. Your glute muscles are going to help

00:27:04.339 --> 00:27:07.099
with hip extension, which helps to push the leg

00:27:07.099 --> 00:27:09.380
back behind you and propel you forward. Your

00:27:09.380 --> 00:27:11.420
hamstrings are doing the same thing. They help

00:27:11.420 --> 00:27:14.319
a lot with hip extension where you're pressing

00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:16.180
the leg back. We think of hamstrings as doing

00:27:16.180 --> 00:27:19.319
just leg curls, but they do a lot more than that.

00:27:19.480 --> 00:27:21.849
Your hamstrings are propelling you forward and

00:27:21.849 --> 00:27:24.490
helping to propel you uphill. And then your calf

00:27:24.490 --> 00:27:26.769
is doing the same thing. So your calf going down

00:27:26.769 --> 00:27:29.210
into your Achilles tendon is helping to propel

00:27:29.210 --> 00:27:31.430
you forward. So all of these muscles are doing

00:27:31.430 --> 00:27:36.289
that straightforward propulsion, right? And we

00:27:36.289 --> 00:27:39.369
can think of that as like a percentage distribution

00:27:39.369 --> 00:27:42.569
almost, right? And we want it to be relatively

00:27:42.569 --> 00:27:45.130
equalized, right? We want the hip to be doing

00:27:45.130 --> 00:27:46.789
a lot of work. We want the hamstring to be doing

00:27:46.789 --> 00:27:48.269
a lot of work. We want the calf to be doing a

00:27:48.269 --> 00:27:52.220
lot of work. let's say my hamstrings are super,

00:27:52.279 --> 00:27:54.480
super weak. I just don't really train the hamstrings

00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:56.400
that much. And for whatever reason, my body has

00:27:56.400 --> 00:27:59.400
decided that it's more efficient and more effective

00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:02.819
to just over -utilize or over -recruit my calf

00:28:02.819 --> 00:28:05.940
muscles and not really use my hamstring too much,

00:28:05.980 --> 00:28:09.029
right? So the body's going to lean into that.

00:28:09.089 --> 00:28:11.670
It's going to use the calf muscles more, which

00:28:11.670 --> 00:28:13.849
means that there's more stress at the Achilles

00:28:13.849 --> 00:28:16.509
tendon because the hamstring or the glutes aren't

00:28:16.509 --> 00:28:18.609
doing their job. And so it makes it more likely

00:28:18.609 --> 00:28:23.049
for that Achilles to develop an overload issue.

00:28:23.170 --> 00:28:25.849
And it's the same thing with the hamstring tendinopathies.

00:28:26.009 --> 00:28:28.029
All of the time, I'll see people who are dealing

00:28:28.029 --> 00:28:29.569
with hamstring tendinopathies. It's like, all

00:28:29.569 --> 00:28:31.329
right, let's see how many single leg calf raises

00:28:31.329 --> 00:28:35.940
you can do. And they can do like 12. And so it's

00:28:35.940 --> 00:28:40.000
all about work distribution. And the better we

00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:43.240
can get everything working, the more we can distribute

00:28:43.240 --> 00:28:46.180
that force that's being applied while we're doing

00:28:46.180 --> 00:28:49.039
our rucking and the less likely we are to overload

00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:54.630
any specific tissue. Gotcha. Bet. That makes

00:28:54.630 --> 00:28:56.990
a lot of sense, strictly from my own background

00:28:56.990 --> 00:29:00.470
of having some tendonitis issues and just having

00:29:00.470 --> 00:29:02.230
weak legs in general. And that's something that

00:29:02.230 --> 00:29:04.170
I've been working on a lot in the past couple

00:29:04.170 --> 00:29:06.509
of months to strengthen my legs. Now, I wanted

00:29:06.509 --> 00:29:09.529
to talk about the last one, sprained ankles.

00:29:09.809 --> 00:29:12.309
I know a lot of people use boots to kind of help

00:29:12.309 --> 00:29:15.289
provide some stability or some structure there.

00:29:15.490 --> 00:29:18.910
But sprained ankles, are they related to bad

00:29:18.910 --> 00:29:21.690
luck? Or are there things that make someone more

00:29:21.690 --> 00:29:24.490
likely prone to rolling an ankle? Yeah, yeah.

00:29:24.670 --> 00:29:27.849
Sometimes it's bad luck, right? Any injury is

00:29:27.849 --> 00:29:31.650
going to have some sort of luck component to

00:29:31.650 --> 00:29:34.529
it, right? You can't always avoid injury forever.

00:29:34.809 --> 00:29:38.690
So at some point, if you're spending time on

00:29:38.690 --> 00:29:40.710
your feet, especially on uneven terrain, like

00:29:40.710 --> 00:29:42.990
on a trail or something like that, at some point,

00:29:43.009 --> 00:29:45.599
you're probably going to sprain your ankle. The

00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:48.440
problem with sprained ankles is that they generally

00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:51.980
lead to persistent spraining of ankles because

00:29:51.980 --> 00:29:55.279
most people don't rehab them correctly. So what

00:29:55.279 --> 00:29:57.839
ends up happening, there are a few things that

00:29:57.839 --> 00:30:01.440
will predispose someone to ankle sprains, weak

00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:04.200
feet and ankles in general. So like poor ability

00:30:04.200 --> 00:30:07.440
to absorb impact or poor control, poor balance.

00:30:07.480 --> 00:30:10.759
Those things are all contributing to the likelihood

00:30:10.759 --> 00:30:16.289
of an ankle sprain. are tend to be more likely

00:30:16.289 --> 00:30:18.269
to have an ankle sprain because with a higher

00:30:18.269 --> 00:30:20.390
arch, your weight tends to be towards the outside

00:30:20.390 --> 00:30:22.869
of your foot, which will make it easier for you

00:30:22.869 --> 00:30:25.609
to have an inversion ankle sprain weakness in

00:30:25.609 --> 00:30:27.710
the peroneal muscles. We talked about those peroneal

00:30:27.710 --> 00:30:29.309
muscles, the muscles that go down that outside

00:30:29.309 --> 00:30:31.789
of the leg and the outside of the ankle. Yeah.

00:30:31.890 --> 00:30:33.829
If for whatever reason, those muscles are weaker

00:30:33.829 --> 00:30:36.069
and they have a harder time controlling the ankle,

00:30:36.190 --> 00:30:38.609
more likely to have an ankle sprain. But what

00:30:38.609 --> 00:30:41.450
happens with the ankle sprain is post injury.

00:30:41.990 --> 00:30:44.859
A lot of things happen. Right. And I'll try to

00:30:44.859 --> 00:30:47.420
go through these briefly. You end up with limited

00:30:47.420 --> 00:30:50.759
ankle range of motion. Right. So the ankle stiffens

00:30:50.759 --> 00:30:54.519
post injury. Right. Which leads to it makes it

00:30:54.519 --> 00:30:57.480
harder to strengthen the ankle. And then on top

00:30:57.480 --> 00:30:59.920
of that, we have some sort of damage or injury

00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:02.180
to tendons around the ankle post ankle sprain,

00:31:02.259 --> 00:31:05.369
which will. create what's called an inhibition

00:31:05.369 --> 00:31:07.410
effect right so if the body knows that there's

00:31:07.410 --> 00:31:09.210
an injury to a specific tendon it will try to

00:31:09.210 --> 00:31:12.509
not use it as much which will lead to more weakness

00:31:12.509 --> 00:31:15.569
down the road and then the other thing is a lack

00:31:15.569 --> 00:31:18.089
of proprioception now proprioception is the ability

00:31:18.089 --> 00:31:20.670
to know where you are in space and understand

00:31:20.670 --> 00:31:22.710
where your joints are right like if i close my

00:31:22.710 --> 00:31:24.789
eyes and extend my arm i know where my hand is

00:31:24.789 --> 00:31:27.829
because of proprioception and it's just signals

00:31:27.829 --> 00:31:29.950
coming in from different tissues that tell me

00:31:29.950 --> 00:31:33.119
where where that is What happens with ankle sprains

00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:36.740
is the ligaments of our ankle get overstretched.

00:31:36.920 --> 00:31:41.799
Okay. And so that signal that we get from like

00:31:41.799 --> 00:31:45.880
where our ankle is changes post ankle sprain.

00:31:46.299 --> 00:31:49.559
So you have to move your ankle farther now before

00:31:49.559 --> 00:31:52.039
you're receiving that input that your ankle is

00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:54.240
being stretched because those tissues have been

00:31:54.240 --> 00:31:57.200
overstretched, which means you're more likely

00:31:57.200 --> 00:32:00.220
to overstretch and get into a position that's

00:32:00.220 --> 00:32:02.960
going to cause a sprain than you were previously

00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:07.400
if you don't retrain that proprioception. So

00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:09.000
there's a whole bunch of different things that

00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:11.579
lead into ankle sprains. And most of the time,

00:32:11.579 --> 00:32:13.480
if you have an ankle sprain, it will lead to

00:32:13.480 --> 00:32:17.880
repeated ankle sprains. If you don't rehab the

00:32:17.880 --> 00:32:20.599
ankle well, and just because you've had a ton

00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:22.299
of ankle sprains in the past doesn't mean you

00:32:22.299 --> 00:32:25.839
can't rehab that ankle and get it feeling better

00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:28.160
and stronger and improve the proprioception and

00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:30.660
reduce your risk of ankle sprains down the line.

00:32:31.519 --> 00:32:33.680
More with John in just a moment, including the

00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:36.079
top three workouts he recommends Rutgers do to

00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:38.259
prevent these injuries from occurring. But first,

00:32:38.279 --> 00:32:40.299
I want to take a quick break and say thanks for

00:32:40.299 --> 00:32:42.440
listening to the podcast. If you know someone

00:32:42.440 --> 00:32:43.920
that is suffering from one of these injuries

00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:46.160
or someone that is new to rucking, please text

00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:48.579
this episode to them. It could help them avoid

00:32:48.579 --> 00:32:52.079
injury or recover a little faster. Also, sharing

00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:53.900
this episode would help the show grow and help

00:32:53.900 --> 00:32:56.299
more people improve their health and lives. Okay,

00:32:56.400 --> 00:33:01.400
back to it. It sounds like the recurring theme

00:33:01.400 --> 00:33:04.119
here for these multiple injuries is weakness

00:33:04.119 --> 00:33:08.589
in your foot or your legs. In your opinion, I

00:33:08.589 --> 00:33:11.410
mean, and I realize each situation, each person,

00:33:11.490 --> 00:33:13.690
you know, it's kind of specific on what they

00:33:13.690 --> 00:33:16.509
can do to minimize these injuries. But if you

00:33:16.509 --> 00:33:19.349
could list out like three most beneficial workouts

00:33:19.349 --> 00:33:22.230
that you can do to strengthen your foot as a

00:33:22.230 --> 00:33:26.650
rucker, what would you suggest? There are so

00:33:26.650 --> 00:33:29.490
many things to dive into with this. I mean, this

00:33:29.490 --> 00:33:32.089
is my job. I love throwing out these exercises

00:33:32.089 --> 00:33:35.670
and things, but I do have... A couple of guiding

00:33:35.670 --> 00:33:37.609
principles that I think are really important

00:33:37.609 --> 00:33:40.809
and then also specific exercises that I think

00:33:40.809 --> 00:33:42.829
are really helpful. The main thing that you want

00:33:42.829 --> 00:33:47.029
to think about when it comes to rucking is something

00:33:47.029 --> 00:33:51.230
called single leg stability. The ability of the

00:33:51.230 --> 00:33:55.769
hip and the foot to control rotation in the leg

00:33:55.769 --> 00:33:59.359
and absorb impact. So there's a great test that

00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:00.900
you can do for this. It's called a single leg

00:34:00.900 --> 00:34:03.700
step down. So if you stand on one leg, and you

00:34:03.700 --> 00:34:05.480
can either do this on a box or just like on the

00:34:05.480 --> 00:34:08.260
ground or something like that, and you do a single

00:34:08.260 --> 00:34:13.260
leg quarter squat, if you can keep your knee

00:34:13.260 --> 00:34:16.599
forward and keep it from hugging into the other

00:34:16.599 --> 00:34:20.440
knee, and you can keep your arch lifted and keep

00:34:20.440 --> 00:34:23.500
your arch from collapsing down, then that's a

00:34:23.500 --> 00:34:27.659
good test for single leg stability. Now, what

00:34:27.659 --> 00:34:29.659
happens if you do that test and your knees are

00:34:29.659 --> 00:34:32.139
hugging in together and you feel like you can't

00:34:32.139 --> 00:34:34.460
separate your knees and you keep falling over,

00:34:34.679 --> 00:34:38.539
right? What can you do to help improve that single

00:34:38.539 --> 00:34:40.679
leg stability? And there's a couple of things.

00:34:40.860 --> 00:34:44.840
One, you have to get crazy strong feet and calves.

00:34:44.980 --> 00:34:46.199
Now, there's a whole bunch of different ways

00:34:46.199 --> 00:34:49.000
to do this, but barefoot calf raises are a great

00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:51.780
place to start. right so the reason why you want

00:34:51.780 --> 00:34:54.000
to be barefoot is if you're in shoes shoes have

00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:56.320
what's called a rocker in them i talked about

00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:58.739
that toe spring earlier shoes have a rocker which

00:34:58.739 --> 00:35:01.199
and some arch support which kind of takes away

00:35:01.199 --> 00:35:03.340
a lot of the work that needs to be done from

00:35:03.340 --> 00:35:06.559
the foot and so doing the barefoot you incorporate

00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:09.420
the foot a little bit more so barefoot calf raises

00:35:09.420 --> 00:35:12.960
this is going to sound crazy i promise this is

00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:17.239
true if you are an active adult you should be

00:35:17.239 --> 00:35:22.519
able to do at least 25 to 30 single leg calf

00:35:22.519 --> 00:35:27.159
raises in one go, right? At least, right? And

00:35:27.159 --> 00:35:30.239
if you're sitting around at like 12 or 15, that

00:35:30.239 --> 00:35:32.559
is something you need to work on because that

00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:34.960
is going to lead to stress injuries later on,

00:35:35.039 --> 00:35:37.960
right? So getting super strong calves, crazy

00:35:37.960 --> 00:35:41.599
important. The other thing that I would suggest

00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:45.719
is like back squats, things like that. Those

00:35:45.719 --> 00:35:47.679
are awesome. Those are great exercises to do.

00:35:48.559 --> 00:35:51.360
But if you're going to be doing a single leg

00:35:51.360 --> 00:35:55.059
activity like rucking, you're strengthening.

00:35:55.139 --> 00:35:59.000
First off, strengthening is it's it's not a good

00:35:59.000 --> 00:36:01.219
thing. It is a necessary thing. If you do not

00:36:01.219 --> 00:36:04.239
strength train, you will not be rucking for very

00:36:04.239 --> 00:36:07.760
long. Right. Like you have to do strength training.

00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:10.579
And what you should do is bias your strength

00:36:10.579 --> 00:36:13.719
training towards single leg. exercises, right?

00:36:13.820 --> 00:36:16.380
So like a Bulgarian split squat, it's where you

00:36:16.380 --> 00:36:18.559
have your back leg up on a bench or a chair and

00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:21.139
you're doing a lunge, right? Incredible exercise

00:36:21.139 --> 00:36:24.059
to help build up, strengthen the glutes, help

00:36:24.059 --> 00:36:27.159
to strengthen the quads and the hamstrings. Excellent

00:36:27.159 --> 00:36:31.579
exercise. Any kind of single leg step down. So

00:36:31.579 --> 00:36:33.980
you put your foot on a box, right? And you're

00:36:33.980 --> 00:36:36.420
just trying to drop down and touch your other

00:36:36.420 --> 00:36:38.199
foot to the floor and then come back up, right?

00:36:38.280 --> 00:36:42.590
So any kind of single leg exercise where you

00:36:42.590 --> 00:36:45.309
have to incorporate a little bit of balance right

00:36:45.309 --> 00:36:49.090
and you're focusing on on that that one leg at

00:36:49.090 --> 00:36:52.650
a time is going to be hugely beneficial to helping

00:36:52.650 --> 00:36:55.090
to strengthen all of the things that will usually

00:36:55.090 --> 00:36:58.409
lead to injury down the line right there's something

00:36:58.409 --> 00:37:02.809
called a kickstand deadlift right so if you think

00:37:02.809 --> 00:37:04.590
i don't know really how to explain that if you're

00:37:04.590 --> 00:37:06.929
standing on one leg but you put your toes down

00:37:06.929 --> 00:37:09.880
with the back leg You hold a really heavy weight

00:37:09.880 --> 00:37:12.260
in one or both hands. You touch the weight to

00:37:12.260 --> 00:37:13.699
the ground and you come back up. It's called

00:37:13.699 --> 00:37:15.699
a kickstand deadlift. So I'm not fully on one

00:37:15.699 --> 00:37:17.420
leg. I've got a little bit of balance assist

00:37:17.420 --> 00:37:20.559
with the back leg. That is an excellent exercise.

00:37:21.159 --> 00:37:24.559
Single leg deadlifts, also huge, super, super

00:37:24.559 --> 00:37:25.880
helpful, but they're a little bit more advanced,

00:37:25.960 --> 00:37:27.460
a little bit more challenging, right? So that's

00:37:27.460 --> 00:37:28.860
where you're just standing on one leg, holding

00:37:28.860 --> 00:37:30.860
some weight, bending forward, touching that weight

00:37:30.860 --> 00:37:34.579
to the ground and coming back up. So if I had

00:37:34.579 --> 00:37:39.679
to choose like three exercises, I would say barefoot

00:37:39.679 --> 00:37:43.599
calf raises, Bulgarian split squats for just

00:37:43.599 --> 00:37:46.300
quads and glutes, just getting super heavy. And

00:37:46.300 --> 00:37:50.039
then a single leg deadlift for balance work and

00:37:50.039 --> 00:37:53.460
glute med or like that outside the side glute

00:37:53.460 --> 00:37:55.980
muscles, right? Development. I would say that

00:37:55.980 --> 00:37:59.480
those, those would be like my three go -to exercises

00:37:59.480 --> 00:38:02.760
that I'm just going to get crazy strong in that

00:38:02.760 --> 00:38:05.099
will help to prevent injury and also just make

00:38:05.099 --> 00:38:08.679
me a beast in rocking. Awesome. Yeah. Thanks

00:38:08.679 --> 00:38:11.260
so much for sharing that. I'm going to start

00:38:11.260 --> 00:38:13.559
adding a few of those into what I'm currently

00:38:13.559 --> 00:38:16.539
doing. I've been doing a lot of towel scrunches

00:38:16.539 --> 00:38:18.639
recently. That's been helping me out. I feel

00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:20.079
like I'm definitely getting some strength there.

00:38:20.539 --> 00:38:23.500
You mentioned the word barefoot. I've mentioned

00:38:23.500 --> 00:38:28.619
to you previously that I embarrassingly. OK,

00:38:28.699 --> 00:38:30.380
so when I get back from a rock, man, my feet

00:38:30.380 --> 00:38:33.599
are screaming. So I immediately just jump into

00:38:33.599 --> 00:38:38.829
my. UFOs recovery slides. And then I'll wear

00:38:38.829 --> 00:38:41.409
them the next day and the next day. I wear them

00:38:41.409 --> 00:38:43.750
just all the time at the house. And I have a

00:38:43.750 --> 00:38:45.889
feeling that you don't like hearing people say

00:38:45.889 --> 00:38:50.070
that. Maybe you don't like it, but you have a

00:38:50.070 --> 00:38:51.949
preference for people to walk around barefoot,

00:38:51.989 --> 00:38:54.690
it seems. Am I wrong with that? I definitely

00:38:54.690 --> 00:38:57.449
have a preference. I'm very biased. I've worn

00:38:57.449 --> 00:38:59.969
exclusively minimalist shoes for over a decade

00:38:59.969 --> 00:39:02.250
now, right? I'm not saying that everybody needs

00:39:02.250 --> 00:39:04.769
to do that, right? You definitely don't. But

00:39:04.769 --> 00:39:07.480
I like to use this analogy because I feel like

00:39:07.480 --> 00:39:09.599
it makes it a little bit clearer imagine that

00:39:09.599 --> 00:39:11.780
you're training for deadlifts right so you're

00:39:11.780 --> 00:39:13.780
training deadlifts and you're you're trying to

00:39:13.780 --> 00:39:16.199
build up your ability to lift heavier and heavier

00:39:16.199 --> 00:39:20.159
and heavier and always and forever and never

00:39:20.159 --> 00:39:22.780
without you are exercising with wrist straps

00:39:22.780 --> 00:39:25.199
on right which means you've got you've got straps

00:39:25.199 --> 00:39:27.360
on your wrist they're going around the bar most

00:39:27.360 --> 00:39:29.039
of the that means that most of the weight is

00:39:29.039 --> 00:39:31.079
taken off your hands but your hands don't have

00:39:31.079 --> 00:39:34.099
to do very much work and that is the only way

00:39:34.099 --> 00:39:36.909
that you train forever and then you get to a

00:39:36.909 --> 00:39:39.489
competition and they're like they're like hey

00:39:39.489 --> 00:39:41.329
what what like what weight are you going for

00:39:41.329 --> 00:39:44.190
to lift and you're like oh i've built up my my

00:39:44.190 --> 00:39:46.570
strength my legs are super strong now i'm gonna

00:39:46.570 --> 00:39:49.090
go for like 400 pounds four or five hundred pounds

00:39:49.090 --> 00:39:51.289
for this deadlift and they say oh by the way

00:39:51.289 --> 00:39:55.269
you can't use wrist straps like how much weight

00:39:55.269 --> 00:39:57.799
do you think you're gonna be able to lift Because

00:39:57.799 --> 00:39:59.719
you've never trained your hands. You've never

00:39:59.719 --> 00:40:02.039
trained that grip strength, right? Now, sure,

00:40:02.199 --> 00:40:04.420
you will have developed some strength even with

00:40:04.420 --> 00:40:06.599
using the wrist straps, right? But it is not

00:40:06.599 --> 00:40:09.800
going to be enough to do what the rest of your

00:40:09.800 --> 00:40:13.099
body can do, right? Yeah. We have to look at

00:40:13.099 --> 00:40:15.719
footwear the same as we look at any other kind

00:40:15.719 --> 00:40:18.760
of assistive device, right? If you're going to

00:40:18.760 --> 00:40:22.519
do a huge hike or a huge rock, then getting some

00:40:22.519 --> 00:40:24.940
supportive shoes that are going to help to protect

00:40:24.940 --> 00:40:26.980
your feet, take off a little bit of weight from

00:40:26.980 --> 00:40:29.260
your feet. That's great. That's not a bad thing,

00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:33.139
right? But if you exclusively train in highly

00:40:33.139 --> 00:40:37.320
supportive footwear, and you never go anywhere

00:40:37.320 --> 00:40:39.619
without orthotics, and you've got your custom

00:40:39.619 --> 00:40:41.519
orthotics that you wear in every pair of shoes,

00:40:41.619 --> 00:40:45.519
your feet will become dependent on those assistive

00:40:45.519 --> 00:40:48.139
devices. They will get weaker and weaker and

00:40:48.139 --> 00:40:51.099
weaker. And this has been shown in endless research

00:40:51.099 --> 00:40:53.840
studies where the persistent use of orthotics

00:40:53.840 --> 00:40:56.539
leads to weakness in the foot and weakness in

00:40:56.539 --> 00:40:59.019
the foot. contributes to all of these issues

00:40:59.019 --> 00:41:01.179
that we've been talking about right so i'm not

00:41:01.179 --> 00:41:03.119
saying that you can't use those things but you

00:41:03.119 --> 00:41:06.619
have to have some part of your training that

00:41:06.619 --> 00:41:10.239
is either in less supportive shoes or in no shoes

00:41:10.239 --> 00:41:12.860
right doing specifically doing strength training

00:41:12.860 --> 00:41:15.440
in like flatter shoes or even barefoot if you

00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:18.739
can is going to be huge in helping to prevent

00:41:19.710 --> 00:41:22.969
injuries and issues. Again, you don't have to

00:41:22.969 --> 00:41:25.389
ruck in minimal issues. You don't have to ruck

00:41:25.389 --> 00:41:27.409
barefoot or anything like that, but you have

00:41:27.409 --> 00:41:30.110
to train your feet like you train everything

00:41:30.110 --> 00:41:32.469
else or your feet are a hundred percent going

00:41:32.469 --> 00:41:34.469
to be your limiting factor and what are going

00:41:34.469 --> 00:41:37.250
to be what stops you from being able to ruck

00:41:37.250 --> 00:41:41.289
at some point. That's fantastic. Wow. And I feel

00:41:41.289 --> 00:41:43.170
like we should probably maybe warn the listener

00:41:43.170 --> 00:41:45.769
if they do plan to start working out barefoot,

00:41:45.789 --> 00:41:48.289
maybe transition into that. Don't go, don't go.

00:41:48.489 --> 00:41:51.829
Yes. Yeah, for sure. For sure. If you're interested

00:41:51.829 --> 00:41:54.690
in transitioning to footwear that is a little

00:41:54.690 --> 00:41:56.550
bit more minimalist or something like that, reach

00:41:56.550 --> 00:41:58.690
out. I can give you some pointers or something

00:41:58.690 --> 00:42:00.710
like that, but making sure that you, it's the

00:42:00.710 --> 00:42:02.750
same principle that I, that I talked about earlier,

00:42:02.889 --> 00:42:04.809
right? You can't go from a hundred pound deadlift

00:42:04.809 --> 00:42:08.349
to 150 or 200 pound deadlift in, in a day. It

00:42:08.349 --> 00:42:11.650
has to be a progressive overload principle, same

00:42:11.650 --> 00:42:15.949
as everything else. Good deal. So we talked about

00:42:15.949 --> 00:42:19.110
strengthening. What about stretching? Any particular

00:42:19.110 --> 00:42:21.989
stretches that you recommend, Rutgers? Yeah,

00:42:22.010 --> 00:42:25.469
mobility in general is, I think, super important.

00:42:25.769 --> 00:42:28.449
You'll talk to some strength trainers and things

00:42:28.449 --> 00:42:31.889
that have very low opinions on mobility. I think

00:42:31.889 --> 00:42:33.829
that mobility in general is super important.

00:42:33.929 --> 00:42:37.590
I would focus on the mobility of the hips. So

00:42:37.590 --> 00:42:39.650
internal, external rotation of the hips, doing

00:42:39.650 --> 00:42:42.690
some seated 90 -90s where you're dropping your

00:42:42.690 --> 00:42:46.590
knees down to each side. Getting your hips super

00:42:46.590 --> 00:42:51.150
mobile is going to be huge in the long term for

00:42:51.150 --> 00:42:55.469
helping reduce injury and reduce pain in the

00:42:55.469 --> 00:42:58.309
future, helping to prevent the offloading of

00:42:58.309 --> 00:43:00.869
stress to places like your low back and things

00:43:00.869 --> 00:43:03.769
like that. So hip mobility, I would say, is the

00:43:03.769 --> 00:43:06.489
biggest thing to focus on. And then the other

00:43:06.489 --> 00:43:09.730
one that people don't think about very much is

00:43:09.730 --> 00:43:13.769
going to be toe mobility, right? Specifically

00:43:13.769 --> 00:43:16.989
at the big toe. The big toe often gets really,

00:43:17.050 --> 00:43:20.929
really stiff. But the ability to extend the big

00:43:20.929 --> 00:43:24.170
toe for the big toe to come up is essential for

00:43:24.170 --> 00:43:27.269
normal gait. Like you just have to be able to

00:43:27.269 --> 00:43:30.070
do that in order to walk normally. And especially

00:43:30.070 --> 00:43:33.179
if you're going up or down. steep inclines so

00:43:33.179 --> 00:43:37.019
being able to do a being able to sit on your

00:43:37.019 --> 00:43:39.860
heels with your toes extended right so have the

00:43:39.860 --> 00:43:41.739
balls of your feet on the ground and be like

00:43:41.739 --> 00:43:43.860
in a kneeling position and being able to sit

00:43:43.860 --> 00:43:46.400
back on your heels great stretch for the foot

00:43:46.400 --> 00:43:49.440
great stretch for the calves and then in general

00:43:49.440 --> 00:43:51.780
working on hip mobility i think is is really

00:43:51.780 --> 00:43:54.739
important awesome good deal john appreciate that

00:43:55.320 --> 00:43:57.699
I want to ask you about your services. You primarily

00:43:57.699 --> 00:44:01.159
are focused on helping people with foot and ankle

00:44:01.159 --> 00:44:03.280
issues. So do I have that correct? No, you're

00:44:03.280 --> 00:44:07.119
right. So my my my niche, right, my main focus

00:44:07.119 --> 00:44:09.500
is generally foot and ankle. The communities

00:44:09.500 --> 00:44:12.039
that I work with are generally trail athletes,

00:44:12.219 --> 00:44:14.460
right? So trail runners, hikers, backpackers,

00:44:14.539 --> 00:44:17.059
ruckers, people who like to spend time outdoors.

00:44:17.789 --> 00:44:19.449
generally those people are dealing with foot

00:44:19.449 --> 00:44:21.909
and ankle issues. So that's kind of the, that's

00:44:21.909 --> 00:44:25.690
my main focus, but I treat everything. I like

00:44:25.690 --> 00:44:27.889
to help people stay outdoors. I like to help

00:44:27.889 --> 00:44:30.630
people stay active. I'm primarily a virtual,

00:44:30.809 --> 00:44:33.190
right? So wherever you are in the world, I can

00:44:33.190 --> 00:44:35.869
help out if you need. And yeah, the best place

00:44:35.869 --> 00:44:38.349
to get in contact with me is Instagram. That's

00:44:38.349 --> 00:44:41.550
the easiest place. So it's John Ritter, DPT.

00:44:41.980 --> 00:44:44.400
on Instagram, just reach out to me. I'm happy

00:44:44.400 --> 00:44:46.320
to help. Even if you just have a quick question,

00:44:46.539 --> 00:44:49.679
I'm happy to provide a little bit of help. The

00:44:49.679 --> 00:44:51.820
way that my services work is I always offer a

00:44:51.820 --> 00:44:53.760
free consultation, a free initial consultation.

00:44:54.000 --> 00:44:56.099
So we hop on, we talk about what's going on,

00:44:56.159 --> 00:44:58.480
what you need. And then I help develop a plan

00:44:58.480 --> 00:45:01.260
for you going forward on whatever you need to

00:45:01.260 --> 00:45:03.679
get you back to whatever specific activity you're

00:45:03.679 --> 00:45:06.340
trying to get back to. Good deal. And I'll post

00:45:06.340 --> 00:45:08.260
a link in the show notes for people interested

00:45:08.260 --> 00:45:10.039
in reaching out to you on Instagram so they can

00:45:10.039 --> 00:45:13.159
easily find it. But John, that's all the questions

00:45:13.159 --> 00:45:15.739
I have for you. I'm super appreciative of you

00:45:15.739 --> 00:45:18.760
jumping on here and sharing your wealth of knowledge

00:45:18.760 --> 00:45:20.559
and being so generous with your time. Thanks,

00:45:20.579 --> 00:45:23.679
man. Yeah, it's been great. I always love an

00:45:23.679 --> 00:45:26.219
opportunity to ramble about things I'm passionate

00:45:26.219 --> 00:45:28.199
about. So I appreciate you sticking in there

00:45:28.199 --> 00:45:30.780
with me. Thanks again, John. Yeah, absolutely.

00:45:30.960 --> 00:45:33.900
Thank you. All right, that wraps up my conversation

00:45:33.900 --> 00:45:36.440
with John Ritter. If you are interested in the

00:45:36.440 --> 00:45:38.539
services John offers or just want to reach out

00:45:38.539 --> 00:45:41.019
to him on social media, you can find him on Instagram

00:45:41.019 --> 00:45:44.320
at JohnRitterDPT. If you want to reach out to

00:45:44.320 --> 00:45:46.519
me, head on over to TheRutgersEdge .com or on

00:45:46.519 --> 00:45:49.099
Instagram at TheRutgersEdgePod. If you enjoyed

00:45:49.099 --> 00:45:51.119
today's episode, make sure to follow or subscribe

00:45:51.119 --> 00:45:53.400
to the show in your favorite podcast app so you're

00:45:53.400 --> 00:45:56.139
notified of new episodes. Okay, that's it for

00:45:56.139 --> 00:45:58.280
today. Thanks again for listening to this episode

00:45:58.280 --> 00:45:59.380
of The Rutgers Edge.