Leg alignment and Barefootedness

SI barefoot

Barefooters
Jul 15, 2014
157
274
63
47
Carbondale, Il
I'm facebook friends with Dr James Stoxen, one of the docs who are members and who participate in the "ask the docs" forum. He posted a photo of his lower legs and a 27 y/o patient's lower legs. Even in narrow toe boxed dress shoes his leg alignment was far better, but not perfect -- but hey, as he put it, not too bad for a 52 y/o. Just for fun I posted my lower legs in the thread and he commented that my alignment looked perfect! He said the key to great leg alignment is having balanced muscles in the calves and shins, and touted that running barefoot can help immensely. I thought it might be fun for folks to post photos of their lower legs and see how their alignment stacks up.

Untitled 21-05-55.jpg
 
OK, I'm in, but what is it we're looking for?

How do we know if the alignment is good or bad?

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1418860711.364099.jpg
 
I'm no expert, but you look for the straightness of the toes, the correct amount of pronation vs supination (inward roll of the ankle and foot vs outward roll), do the knees roll in or out, any bow leggedness, etc. Both you guys look pretty darn good! Just going barefoot does a lot of the correcting, but it is still good to do exercises to stretch the tendons and to strengthen the smaller muscles equally on both the front and back of the calves. A lot of us got of to a good start when we acclimated to running barefoot slowly and carefully. During that time, you're not just reawakening muscles in your feet, your also reawakening muscles in you legs! And creating a balanced system with the muscles in the front and back of the legs working together.Most shod runner are quad dominate and their hamstrings are weak and tight. They also tend to have unbalanced muscles chains working in their lower legs. Their feet are basically like two slabs of dead meat.
 
Most shod runner are quad dominate and their hamstrings are weak and tight. They also tend to have unbalanced muscles chains working in their lower legs. Their feet are basically like two slabs of dead meat.

Quite accurate comparison ;)