barefoot training

The big toe is a very underestimated joint in providing us with the stability and strength for movement. I would be the first to tell you that I was ignorant to this for a very long time, even considering I know exactly what happens if you injure your big toe as I have broken mine before. It left me on crutches for several weeks and unable to walk or run correctly for months. It was not this however that led me to appreciate foot stability a lot more, it was more to do with my frustration at not being able to help some people with walking difficulty. Back in 2015 I started working with several tricky cases of people who had severe walking impairments from car accidents, disease, and spinal injury. Working closely with these clients several times per week our typical training was helping a lot but not providing the improvement I really wanted. I knew I was missing something and I could see that in every case there was huge problems at the feet, even though none of these people had pain at the feet. I have covered the role of Foot Stability before but today I want to share more insight into the big toe specifically for as you will soon see there is a correlation between big toe dysfunction and injury elsewhere in the body

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