We are just 3 weeks away from the first-ever Barefoot Training Summit this May 15 – 17 at Project MOVE in Littleton, CO.   I am very excited to introduce another one of our great presenters who will be sharing barefoot training drills and science at this unique three day event.

Meet Loren Landow the Director of Performance at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Denver, CO.   I first heard about Loren Landow when he was presenting barefoot science at the NSCA National Conference in Las Vegas.    As a barefoot educator I knew I had to meet this man!

Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions. We are very excited to have you as part of the first-ever Barefoot Training Summit presenter line-up. Can you tell readers a little bit about your background and how you currently use barefoot training in your practice?

My background has been learning applying practices to maximize efficiency. The foot is the most assumed and misunderstood structure in the body- highly neglected area but the area that if not provided attention will have a trickle down of issues to other joints.   My line of clientele are high performing athletes that must be armed with the most efficient strategies. How we load the foot in action in shoe wear and subsequently how we remove the shoes increases sensory feedback while making the structure more resilient to force.

Very well said and couldn’t agree more!  As a professional who currently integrates barefoot principles into their athletes programming what do you think are some of the biggest misconceptions around barefoot training for shod athletes? How would you answer a coach or trainer that says “my athlete competes in shoes why would he / she ever train barefoot”?

There is a lot of misconception of barefoot meaning just kicking off the shoes and going for a run.   Barefoot training must be micro progressed from activation patterns in open chain to integration in closed chain.  It must also include initial static loads and then increase amplitude to bilateral movements and multi plane changes with eccentric control being the backbone of rearfoot- midfoot- forefoot resilience.

What can attendees of the Barefoot Training Summit expect to learn from your sessions?

I use barefoot training as cool downs, low amplitude plyos and bilateral and unilateral strength work.   Attendees will learn how I integrate these concepts but most importantly how it all must be micro progressed!

To learn more about Loren Landow check out this great video of Loren talking about the mental component of training high performance athletes. 

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the hear his insightful lectures at the Barefoot Training Summit this May 15 – 17 in Littleton, CO please check out http://www.barefoottrainingsummit.com 

For a dancer, athlete, surgeon or pilot – precision of movement is crucial to the success of their career.   Even the slightest deviation in movement accuracy can have devastating ramifications – not just to themselves but also others.

Although the demands of the above movements may not apply to all of us, can we still take the concept of movement accuracy and apply it to our everyday lives?

Absolutely!

Movement Accuracy & Overuse Injuries

Everyday in my office I am presented with patients experiencing foot pain such as Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis and stress fractures – all injuries I associate with poor control of impact forces and an inaccuracy in movement patterns.

The inaccuracy in movement patterns I am referencing is in their gait, or walking.

As the second most common subconscious activity we do daily (besides breathing) the demands and movement accuracy needed for walking are often taken for granted.   All too often the interaction between foot and ground is not appreciated and is overlooked by patients.

Potential Energy & Impact Forces

Often referred to as a series of controlled falls, walking should require very little external energy.   With each step we take gravity is accelerating our swing leg forward into initial contact or heel strike.

Upon heel contact 1 – 1.5x our body weight in impact forces enter our body in less than 50 milliseconds.   This rapid input of impact forces is designed to be damped or absorbed by the body, stored as potential energy and released as elastic energy.

Due to the rapid acceleration of impact forces the only way the body can effectively load this potential energy is if the ground is anticipated. If we wait for the foot to strke the ground to react to the impact forces – it is already too late.

Delayed loading response can lead to movement inaccuracy, compensation patterns and injury.

Movement Anticipation

Movement accuracy is deeply linked to movement anticipation or pre-programmed motor responses set to known movement patterns.   Often referred to as feed forward or pre-activation responses these motor patterns are stored in the cerebellum and are based on past experiences.

Imagine if we were able to walk  and anticipate the ground and the impact forces before each heel strike?    How would this impact our injury risk?

If we begin to anticipate the ground we would be able to load impact forces faster and more effectively.   We would be able to improve the accuracy of our movement patterns and reduce our risk of overuse or impact-related injury.

Improving Movement Accuracy

When it comes to improving movement accuracy the biggest concept here is that our movement patterns are only as good as the information we bring into our nervous system.

Bad movement patterns create movement inaccuracy.

When it comes to walking and the loading of impact forces, one of the biggest contributors to movement inaccuracy is our shoes.

With the plantar foot containing of thousands of highly sensitive mechanoceptors any barrier between the ground and the skin on the bottom of the foot will alter the accuracy of information coming into the nervous system.

The accuracy of impact force rate and intensity will be altered.   The accuracy of foot placement and perception of surface compliancy will be altered.   Ultimately the risk of injury will be higher.

Enter Barefoot Training

Part of my prescription I give patients every day is to integrate barefoot stimulation into their daily routine.   This may be as simple as barefoot trigger point release first thing in the morning.   Or it may be 5 minutes of barefoot movement prep before a run.

Whatever the technique the benefit of getting out of the shoes and stimulating the nervous system from the ground up cannot be expressed enough.   Want to kick it up a notch – these are my favorite #barefootstrong tips:

1. Plantar foot stimulation – 5 minutes 2x a day and before working out
2. Short foot activation – 5 minutes 2x a day and before working out
3. Barefoot balance exercises – 5 minutes before working out and 30 minutes 2x a week

For videos demonstrating the above exerices please click HERE

To learn more about how to become #barefootstrong please check out my book Barefoot Strong: Unlock the Secrets to Movement Longevity available HERE