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Why do we need straight feet? And is it okay to have duck feet?
What do we get from Straight Feet?
1.) Athleticism 2.) Aesthetics 3.) Injury Prevention & Anatomical Security
Healthy feet are our first anatomical connection to the ground and arguably the most critical area of focus in health and wellness. Not only that, but healthy feet equate to a healthy lifestyle almost always. In contrast, poor feet set the skeletal and muscular system above the foot at risk. At G8way Max, we have assessed all different kinds of foot shapes. We’ve concluded and have the data to support that straight feet provide more security than any other foot shapes out there.
Here’s why…
The duck foot, or foot pointed outward away from the designed ankle complex, has a greater chance of getting stuck when stepping or moving through space. Because the foot is pointed outward away from the ankle, it becomes easier and more accessible for the human user to use the inner edge of the foot. So the duck foot stays collapsed throughout life, producing a flat foot without an arch. And over time, the duck foot will affect the kinetic chain above, causing knee pain and potential non-contact catastrophic injuries, loss of potential power, and an overall disempowered state of feeling. Duck feet arise through consistent repetition of poor habits like sitting in a chair for hours and hours throughout one’s lifetime and/or adding repeated stress from external stimuli on top of a duck foot shape. Duck feet could also arise earlier in children because kids tend to mirror their parents who have duck feet.
The straight foot (first or second toe straight and entirely perpendicular to the hips/pelvis) is the most efficient and durable way to absorb energy and release it safely. When one has a straight foot and lands on the ground, the ankle gyroscope can swivel externally and internally to absorb and release the pressure produced from the ground. If someone has a duck foot, then he or she would need extreme access to land with a duck foot. To further complicate things, that person would have to also externally and internally manipulate the ankle gyro, shin, and pelvis to absorb and release the energy freely. Most of the human population does not have that level of access within their ankles, let alone their hips. At G8way Max, we know that the human body requires enough external and internal rotation to keep energy from getting stuck in joints and anatomical places (knees, ankles, back). So, when someone lands with a straight foot, the ankle, shin, and hip can set the proper shapes more easily because it doesn’t require as much access in the ankle gyro and hip to load all the energy and release it. Thus, our G8way Max athletes have straight feet, and so do our elderly population.
Is it ever okay to have duck feet?
It depends on the time, place, situation, and whether or not duck feet are needed to fulfill an action. If someone was an actor in a role that required something funny, duck feet might be optimal. Or let’s say you are a dancer, and the choreography required duck feet to move through one movement to the next. I can even tell you after watching hours of slow-motion video on the indigenous population (people who never had any kind of coaching or outlying factors to affect their movement patterns), very rarely but still at times, the indigenous people will run with a duck foot. This will only occur when they run in a straight line, and even still only occasionally. This is because the indigenous have enough external and internal access and kinesthetic motor capability to externally absorb all the energy around the duck foot and release it internally without collapse. Again, most people do not have enough access within the ankle and hip gyroscopes, nor the high-level motor capability required to do something like that.
The key here is that the duck feet represented in these scenarios is never consistent. Indigenous people still walk with straight feet and stand with straight feet. They run, make cuts, and change directions with straight feet. As for the dancers and actors, they need to have straight feet when they walk through life. Otherwise, they will start to see and feel problems in their movement patterns.
Our training at G8way Max aims to give you the freedom to do what you need or want based off your body’s capabilities. I used to have duck feet and now I don’t. We have trained hundreds of people to fix their feet through corrective exercises, slant boards, and other movement techniques.
Your feet are essential!! Use them well!
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