“Flat feet”

[Maties Hofstede]

ive got somewhat flat feet. Not 100% flat but the inside arch is less then normal. Been wearing orthotics for years for this.

Recently had a check up and the man told me I should stop actively trying to walk on the outside of my feet. That little internal rotation I have wasnt a problem he said. Apparently over the years thats how i “created” the arch by externally rotating the ankle.
Apparently puts a lot af strain the muscles responsible for doing so.

So thats what ive been trying , but now comes squats. I realized I have no real feel for “midfoot” because I always externally rotated the ankle, so that the tibia and knee were better aligned with the feet, but that very much blurss the feel. Ive been trying to do as the mand told, even with squats. I get the feel of midfoot now, feels more stable since the feet are actually supported in the shoe instead me trying to balance on the edge, but im unsure as how this affects the knees, internal rotation of the ankle kinda affects knee travel right?

Ill ask the sir next time, maybe i can get a pair with bigger arches just for lifting if thats appropriate. Just to bad these people dont lift.

Its kinda a weird question, but just wanted your guys 2c.

Thanks!!

[Tom Campitelli]

It is unlikely to be a problem. You don't want to be way out on the outside of your foot, unless that is normal for you. What you will find is that there is a fair amount of variability in what is "normal." If you are flat footed, that is a normal position for you and absent pain or irritation, I would not worry about any further.

[tfranc]

For what it’s worth, I used to squat with the weight unnaturally placed on the outside of my feet in an attempt to get my knees out farther. It was subtle, but it lead to a lot of hip pain as the weight went up. I have terribly high arches

[Maties Hofstede]

For what it’s worth, I used to squat with the weight unnaturally placed on the outside of my feet in an attempt to get my knees out farther. It was subtle, but it lead to a lot of hip pain as the weight went up. I have terribly high arches

Interesting. Have some hip aches to, although I even have that without squats. How did you go about it?

[tfranc]

Interesting. Have some hip aches to, although I even have that without squats. How did you go about it?

It was definitely chronic for me as well. Other than while I was squatting, the pain would get bad when simply standing up or laying down on either side.

I had been squatting with the weight on the outsides of my feet for so long that I was doing it subconsciously, so by the time I started having bad pain, I didn’t even think about how my form might be incorrect. I did some research and discovered the pain was coming from irritated tensor fasciae latae on both hips, so I found a stretch which helped, but didn’t solve anything. Finally I re-read the chapter in SS about the squat and realized my error. I tried to clean up my form by deloading, but it was only after being forced to take two months off of training that the inflammation subsided completely. I’m sure if I had kept stretching for pain management and corrected my form it would have gotten better anyway though.

If I had just followed the master cue I would be squatting a lot more right now. Since then, no pain at all.

[CJ Gotcher]

For what it’s worth, I used to squat with the weight unnaturally placed on the outside of my feet in an attempt to get my knees out farther. It was subtle, but it lead to a lot of hip pain as the weight went up. I have terribly high arches

This is one important thing to note. Tom mentioned that flat or high arches are rarely a problem for lifting... but efforts to compensate for them often are.

Stick to the basic metrics first: knees tracking the toes, weight balanced on the midfoot (laterally and forwards/backwards), bent over appropriately for your bar position and anthropometry, keeping the back in rigid extension, executing a quality squat. You might be surprised how quickly the body adapts to accomplish the task.

[tfranc]

This is one important thing to note. Tom mentioned that flat or high arches are rarely a problem for lifting... but efforts to compensate for them often are.

Stick to the basic metrics first: knees tracking the toes, weight balanced on the midfoot (laterally and forwards/backwards), et al

Indeed. Simply making sure the weight is kept over the middle of the foot prevents so many problems. The reason I was making it track to the outside in the first place to get my knees out was because I was getting onto my toes too much. Turns out the more on your toes you are, the harder it is to keep your knees out. I let my ego take over and cared more about the weight on the bar, so I let little things like that slip. Lesson learned

[Maties Hofstede]

This is one important thing to note. Tom mentioned that flat or high arches are rarely a problem for lifting... but efforts to compensate for them often are.

Stick to the basic metrics first: knees tracking the toes, weight balanced on the midfoot (laterally and forwards/backwards), bent over appropriately for your bar position and anthropometry, keeping the back in rigid extension, executing a quality squat. You might be surprised how quickly the body adapts to accomplish the task.

Thnx defenitly makes sense. I did the outside lean even before i started ss so, part of the problem.
Kinda figured though, that flat feet make for valgus knees right? Internal rotation, that goed up the kinetic chain. And in that sense makes it hard for the knees to track the feet.

I saw another thread with Ms brickford and Mr capitelli about it, where tom stated a neutral knee mighthave the femur at a different angle than the feet, how would one find out if thats the case?

When I shove my knees out, atm im not sure whether I externally rotate the ankle or actuall shove em out, if you get what I mean.

Thnx guys, apprciatie your time, learning lot.