Feet Matter! Correct Over Pronation Now and Avoid Problems Later

Karen Goeller, CSCS

Pronation is the action of the foot as it roles inward upon foot contact with the ground. This action acts as a shock absorber for the foot and rest of the body. Over pronation occurs when a person’s foot rolls inward and their arch flattens while performing weight bearing tasks. The foot may appear normal while sitting, with a noticeable arch under the foot, but over pronation becomes evident when a person stands or walks. Even people with normal foot structure can develop over pronation as a result of excessive foot stress and improper arch support.  

There are many possible causes for over pronation including walking on hard surfaces for extended periods of time – either barefoot or with flat shoes, heredity, obesity, an imbalance between the posterior and anterior leg muscles, or tight gastrocnemius and soleus muscles among other causes.

Since over pronation causes the person to walk along the inner portion of the foot, this poor alignment may lead to injury in the foot and ankle among many other areas of the body. Problems such as heel spurs, plantar fasciitis, shin splints, knee pain, back pain, and other medical issues can be the result of over pronation.

Gymnasts are at risk of over pronation because they train barefoot and often do not use proper landing mechanics. The over pronation becomes more of a problem when gymnasts either tumble or land with their feet in the over pronated position. If a gymnast is accustomed to standing or walking in the over pronated position, she will land from dismounts with the same poor foot alignment. The gymnast lands from some skills with a force of up to 16 times her body weight. Landing with such an immense force in an over pronated position, especially when it is on a daily basis, may cause severe damage to the gymnast’s body, ending her career.

There are various methods used to identify over pronation. One method is to look at a person’s shoes. If the shoes are more worn on the inside of the sole, then over pronation may be a problem. Another indicator would be to make a footprint by wetting the foot and stepping onto a towel or any surface where a print can clearly be seen. If there is no dry spot to specify the arch there may be a need for special foot care. The footprint may also be performed in a gymnastics facility by using chalk on the foot and stepping onto a clean mat.

One recommended form of treatment for over pronation is to wear supportive shoes, but the alignment problem should still be corrected for long term foot health. Because a gymnast trains barefoot, corrective exercises may be the best treatment besides wearing supportive shoes while not in the gym. There are many exercises that can help strengthen the foot and improve lower body alignment. Here is one simple conditioning exercise for the feet that can be performed with a towel.

Towel Pull: Place a towel flat on the floor. Keep the heels on the floor and place the toes on the edge of the towel. Next, pull the towel towards the body with the toes so that the towel gathers under the feet. Make sure the foot remains on floor as the toes pull the towel. This exercise may also be performed while sitting in a chair, but gymnasts will be able to relate the standing exercise to landing technique faster than the seated version of this exercise. Once the gymnast is able to perform several repetitions of this exercise, a small weight such as one pound may be placed on the towel.

It is imperative that coaches assign safe and effective exercises and teach proper landing mechanics in an attempt to prevent some injuries. Coaches must watch their gymnast’s feet, knees, hips, and posture closely during each landing performed, whether the landing is from a simple jump on floor or a dismount from bars. It is important to encourage gymnasts to keep their knees in line with their middle toes (where the shoe laces would be if they were wearing shoes) and hips upon foot contact with the mat.

One simple drill for landing mechanics and alignment involves the use of a mirror. The gymnast should stand in front of a mirror with her feet parallel to one another. The gymnast should then slightly shift her weight towards the inner and then outer portions of the feet while watching her knees shift laterally. This should only be a slight shift, but it will be the difference between a safe landing and an injury. This mirror drill will show the gymnast how the foot alignment greatly affects the entire lower body. The gymnast will see and feel the difference between proper and poor alignment. The ankles, knees, and hips must be in line with one another.

Another method of teaching proper alignment is a common exercise used in the fitness world, the Squat Exercise. The gymnast should perform the squat exercise without weights to learn the proper form before she uses light dumbbells. This exercise will help bring awareness of proper landing mechanics and once weights are used it will help her with lower body strength.

And finally, after the Squat Exercise is mastered, gymnasts should perform the “Stick Drill.” This drill involves dropping down from a spotting block or mat stack and landing in the proper squat position. Start with a low stack until gymnasts master the proper position. For best results, gymnasts should practice ¼, ½, and parallel squats. A gymnast must be able to stop the force somewhere between the ¼ and the parallel squat positions.

For safety and success, gymnasts must learn proper foot alignment and perform appropriate strength and sport specific conditioning exercises. And keep in mind that injuries are NOT necessarily part of the sport. Many aches, pains, and injuries may be prevented when the training program is carefully constructed and the athletes are carefully monitored.

One more important note: The gymnast should not perform these or any other drills, exercises, or skills if they feel pain, are ill or injured, or are being treated by a medical professional.

Karen Goeller, CSCS

More information on over-pronation at the below websites.

Education.Auburn.edu/news/2008/june/flipflop.html

Sportsinjuryclinic.net

PacificCollege.edu

Foot.com, DeerfieldFoot.com

Heel-that-pain.com

SportsMedicine.about.com

TheFreeLibrary.com

USAG Safety Manual Page 31

NSCA Performance Training Journal Volume 7, Issue 1 Landing Mechanics

Gymnastics Drills and Conditioning Exercises

Wikipedia.org Flip-flops, OurHealthNetwork.com Pronation

Can’t Get to the Gym? Try Legs Plus.

Can’t get to the gym? Try Legs Plus! Alternate the workouts in this book for amazing results.

http://www.LegsPlus.com

Legs Plus Workouts

Books are Nice Gifts

www.amazon.com/author/karengoeller

Books are nice gifts… Check out Karen Goeller’s sports, fitness, and children’s books. And be sure to check out the book on her life story after a cancer diagnosis.

Books by Karen Goeller

Titles include: Gymnastics Drills and Conditioning, Handstand Drills and Conditioning, Gymnastics Journal, Gymnastics Coloring Book, Fitness Journal, Strength Training Journal, Fitness on a Swing Set, Swing Set Workouts, Legs Plus Workouts, Lymphedema: Sentenced to Life in Bed, Missy’s Voice, and More.

From 6 Inches to Split, 10 Minutes

I can’t believe the progress I had with one 14 year old gymnast yesterday.

Gymnasts must be able to do complete splits, 180 degrees. That’s a straight line from ankle to ankle. This photo is one of my gymnasts performing a split leap. It is better than the required 180 degrees a gymnast needs.

 A gymnast came to me for help with flexibility and other injuries. I asked her “stretch” on her own before we started. She spent about ten minutes stretching. I then asked her to show me her split on her less flexible side. She was about six inches from the floor. Her hamstrings had decent flexibility, but her hip flexors were very tight. To me it was obvious because her front leg was nearly all the way down, but the gap was between her upper thigh on her back leg and the floor. She was tilted forward.  

We then spent ten to fifteen minutes doing many variations of a hip flexor stretch seen here. I had her do the stretch with varying foot positions, leaning forward as seen here and upright. She said her coaches never allow them to do the stretch with their back leg up, but she said she always felt it more this way.

After that I asked her to try her split again. Her expression was priceless because she was able to go all the way down, 180 degrees for the first time in her life!!!  Why did it only take fifteen minutes to reach this success when it usually takes gymnasts several months to accomplish the same thing? The answer is simple. Many gymnasts are not actually stretching properly or they are not stretching the muscles they really need to stretch. They think doing a split will help the split, when in fact, it often will not. Wait, what? She said her coaches make her do “over-splits” for two minutes and it’s been that way for a really long time. Guess what, over splits do not really work.

You read that correctly. First, you must identify which muscles are tight. In her case it was the hip flexors, mainly the psoas muscle. Then, you must stretch that muscle individually. Stretch it slowly, in various positions, and in small increments.

The athlete and their muscles must be completely relaxed in order for any progress. This gymnast was happy the entire time that we were stretching. She felt the stretches, but no pain. After about ten minutes in the gym, her dad said “your voice sounds so soothing.” I just smiled and said there is no reason to yell or be angry.

Stressing an athlete out and making them hold one position for two minutes will not really do much for flexibility. And manually pressing on them while they are stressed can also cause problems such as locking muscles, reduced flexibility, and emotional trauma. Stretching an athlete to the point of tears is not necessary and it’s really abusive.

Once an athlete’s muscles lock up you not only prevent progress, you could be reducing flexibility, and causing injury. A gymnast’s skill performance may also decline as a result. Coaches want results and they want them fast, but why aren’t they listening to sports science? Unfortunately, many are just repeating what they did as gymnasts instead of doing their homework, going to clinics, and consulting with CSCS’s and physical therapists.

Let me know how I can help your team… Or check out www.GymnasticsDrills.com

Karen Goeller, CSCS
Gymnastics Coach 40+ years and CSCS
www.BestSportsConditioning.com
www.KarenGoeller.com

Your Gymnast’s Life is in Her Hands, Literally

Your Gymnast’s Life is In Her Hands. Your Gymnast Will Peel Off the Bar if She is Not Prepared.

I think we will have more gymnasts peeling off the bars in the first month back than ever before. Why? Because many gymnasts have not done any strength for their grip-hands and forearms.

They will likely have only done shaping and core conditioning. How many have actually done conditioning for grip strength? I’d guess almost none of them. It is not something that is stressed once a gymnast has been doing giants on bars for a long time. Hanging on the bar daily builds that strength, but most gymnasts do not have a bar to hang from at home.

Please keep in mind that a gymnast’s life is literally in their hands when swinging on the bars. If they peel off during a giant, or any skill for that matter, they can cause serious injury or even death. The tensile force on the hands, forearms, and the rest of the body during giants could be several times their body weight. Will they come back prepared to withstand that force? If they cannot hold heavy dumbbells without dropping them or hang on the bar for 30 seconds to one minute and have not been doing grip strength exercises or hanging conditioning they should not be doing giants the first week back in the gym.

And be extremely careful in the straps too. Swinging in the straps creates even more tensile force because of the speed of the giants and circle skills. Gymnasts can cause tears in the soft tissue of their shoulders and the rest of their upper body.

Please keep your gymnast’s safety in mind when asking them to perform giants or any of their old skills for the first time in several months. Coaches must take the time to rebuild strength, power, flexibility, and confidence before asking gymnasts to perform familiar skills or learn new skills.

Each gymnast is an individual. Some will take longer to regain what they may have lost and others will come back well-conditioned and ready to perform skills more quickly. Ask your gymnasts what they did at home to stay in shape, watch their energy levels, and evaluate their strength the first week so they progress at a steady and safe pace.

Many will try to do too much too soon and we will see overuse injuries, more than in previous years, if we are not careful with the training.

Good luck with your return to the gym. Stay safe and let me know how I can help you.

Grip Strength Ideas…

• hang 30-60 seconds
• pull-ups in varying hand grips and other bar conditioning without coming off bar for 30-60 seconds
• squeeze tennis or other balls
• ring towel
• bicep curl in over and under grip
• dumbbell wrist twist
• dumbbell writs curls in every direction
• grip / squeezing devices
• fingertip or fist pushups
• farmers walk or just holding heavy dumbbells for 30-60 seconds

Always keep safety in mind when training. Your safety is your personal responsibility.

Karen Goeller, CSCS, Consultant
www.BestSportsConditioning.com
Gymnastics Drills Book
Handstand Book

 

Karen Goeller on Tweed Talk

Karen Goeller on Tweed Talks…
Karen and Pedro Tweed go way back. Pedro, Crystal, and Karen talk about Karen’s books, the quarantine, bullying, and other subjects. Karen and Pedro have known each other for over 30 years through the gymnastics world. Goeller and the Tweeds all work in the film industry too. Listen to this relaxing and fun interview. And check out Karen Goeller’s books on Amazon.

Karen Goeller’s Latest Interview

In this interview with Mindy Sheier of Gamut Management, Karen and Mindy discuss how working in the film industry with a disability is very challenging,  books, health, sports coaching, and other topics.

Karen is a signed Actor/Model with Gamut Management. She is available for film, tv, photo-shoots, book signings, consulting, and more.  Here’s the interview,  https://youtu.be/oVitWpxhmN8

Contact Mindy at Gamut for film, tv, and modeling projects. www.gamutmanagement.com. Click on the Contact tab.
Contact Karen for book signings and consulting work.

 

Karen Goeller Books

How many have you seen? There are about 20 books available through bookstores by Karen Goeller, CSCS. Check them out here, www.amazon.com/author/karengoeller.

Gymnastics Coach, Haney, 8 Year Suspension

Gymnastics Coach Maggie Haney was suspended for 8 years.

I had a handful of parents reach out to me after the news to say thanks for doing my part. I reported her to USA Gymnastics and SafeSport after I heard the sixth complaint in 2019. (USAG SafeSport Policy: Any adult under the jurisdiction of USA Gymnastics who becomes aware of an incident of child abuse or sexual misconduct involving a minor must immediately report the incident to law enforcement and the U.S Center for SafeSport.) When multiple families tell you the same story on different occasions, you know there is truth in it. I wish more coaches would help rid the sport of the abusive coaches that remain in gyms. We are now required to report abusive behavior. I expect more abusive coaches will be flushed out in the near future.

Please understand that not all gymnastics coaches are abusive. There are so many great coaches here in the tri-state area and throughout the USA. Be sure to visit a few gymnastics clubs before you sign your child up for training anywhere. Make sure you are very comfortable in the atmosphere, talk to the other parents, observe the team kids and learn whether they are happy, goal-oriented, injured, sad, or otherwise. Allow your child to be part of the decision on which gym you commit to.

Your child must be comfortable with the coaches, atmosphere, and equipment. If there is ever a day your child does not want to go to the gym find out why. There is always a reason and it is usually a very good reason. And believe your child if they say they are being abused, but also know that gymnastics coaches must be demanding, while respectful, because of the safety factor involved.

When your young child is on that balance beam or swinging on the uneven bars, their safety is literally in their hands. They must be clear-minded, able to focus, strong, agile, and able to follow directions to remain safe, progress, and be successful. So talk to your child, allow them to be coached, encourage them to try their best, but pull them out if there is any sign of misconduct or abuse, and report any abusive coach to the proper authorities.

Please remember, asking a child to perform to the best of their ability and focus is not abuse. Lack of focus causes accidents. Hard work is not abuse. Yelling at a child for unsafe behavior (such as horseplay) after they have been told nicely several times not to do something dangerous is not abuse because their safety is in jeopardy. Asking a child to take a break after several repetitions is not abuse, it is a safety measure to be sure your child can refocus. Yelling at a child for a mistake, putting a child down, screaming in their face, going overboard-punishing kids for mistakes, cursing, forcing them to remove medical devices, improper touching are all abuse. You’ll know it’s abuse if you see it.

Don’t be afraid of a good work ethic, but do remove your child from abusive situations. Just follow your gut instinct when it comes to your child’s training.

Advice for Athletes during COVID Pandemic

I hope that you and your family are remaining healthy. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if there is anything I can do for you. I’m still offering zoom calls at no charge for any athletes who have worked with me within the past year and at a very low cost for everyone else. Some advice for our athletes… Try to make strength and flexibility goals for yourself now – for your return to the gym. Do activities that build strength (bike riding, stair climbing, swing set fitness, swimming, etc) Do activities that improve speed (sprints, sprints downhill, mountain climbers, flutters in pike and hollow shape) Try to keep up with body tightness and rebounding (bouncing, jump rope, hopping type drills, push up shape hops) Keep up with agility (do your pre-workout warm-up daily, playing tag with siblings) Try to have fun outdoors. Set a goal for the first week you return to the gym. Set a goal for two months after you return to the gym. Set a goal for the next state meet you compete in which would be next year. Always keep safety in mind when exercising at home and in the gym. You and your parents are responsible for your personal safety at home. Swing Set Fitness is good conditioning for gymnasts. www.SwingWorkouts.com. Legs Plus Workouts are great conditioning for gymnasts. www.LegsPlus.com Gymnastics Drills Book www.GymnasticsDrills.com Handstand Book  www.HandstandBook.com Conditioning List, perform each exercise for 45-60 seconds non-stop or 25 repetitions non-stop. This is very little work compared to a four-hour workout. 1/2 Hollow Up Hollow Rocks Arch Ups Arch Rock Hip-Thrusts/Baby Candlestick Reverse Leg-Lifts, Single Leg-Lower-Lift Alternating Superman Arch-Legs Only Pike-Sit Leg-Lifts (Both legs straight and together) Pike-Sit-Flutters Straddle-Sit-Leg-Lifts (Both legs at the same time.) Straddle-Sit Leg Circles (Both legs at the same time.) V-Ups Alternating V-Ups Side Lifts Side Rocks Hollow-Arch (Both Sides) Hollow-Tilt Side to Side Arch Tilt Side to Side Plank Plank-Leg Extension (Lower-Lift Knees) Plank-Low Back Kicks Plank-Shrugs (Flat back-round back) Plank-Forward-Back (Planche-Back) Side Plank Side Plank-Lower-Lift Hips Side Plank-Small Side Kicks Plank-Side-Plank Walking or In-Place Lunges (Keep knees in line with middle toes!) Gymnastics Drills Book www.GymnasticsDrills.com Handstand Book  www.HandstandBook.com