leg anatomy

raymond82

Here's a question that I should probably ask a physiotherapist but since I usually get good information here I'm asking here first. There might be physiotherapists on the forum anyway.

During longer rides the front part of the outside of my right foot starts hurting. When I look down i get the feeling I tilt my foot outwards, so instead of putting my foot straight down the outside is lower than the inside. In addition to this, I notice that in daily life I tend to point my toes outwards a lot when sitting standing and walking. It's more noticeable in my right foot compared to my my left foot. Today in the gym I looked down at my leg and noticed that if I try to pedal with my foot straight down my knee moves inwards, when my knee is straight my lower leg is now in line with my upper leg anymore.

What's going on here? All in all this is quite a description, I sure hope we can doctor-patient confidentiality!

raymond82

Thanks for that! I had purchased some articles from his website once but found them quite annoying as they were just a load of emails. But now in the article section I have found an article that I think perfectly describes my problem!

I'm gonna study it in a bit more detail tomorrow.

antfly

I am similar by the sound of it, if your foot points out try adjusting your cleat so that it is pointing in slightly, don't try and go against your natural pronation. Also, have a look at Specialized insoles, they have various levels of arch support which can make a big difference, and they also come with valgus wedges to alter alignment.

raymond82

I am similar by the sound of it, if your foot points out try adjusting your cleat so that it is pointing in slightly, don't try and go against your natural pronation. Also, have a look at Specialized insoles, they have various levels of arch support which can make a big difference, and they also come with valgus wedges to alter alignment.

I actually stopped at a bike shop today and bought the Specialized wedges, I like the Bikefit ones that are used with the cleats better but I couldn't easily order them here in Holland. Anyway, I forgot to ask them to measure me though so I'll drop by again tomorrow. I thought what I needed was the ones for varus but you're saying it's te valgus ones?

antfly

The Specialized insoles comes with varus and valgus wedges but you are right, from what you describe you would want the varus ones.

raymond82

That's what I thought, I also read valgus is quite uncommon. Tomorrow I'll have my feet measured, hopefully the wedges work to solve the problem. After reading a bit more about it today I'm quite convinced, I see complaints very similar to mine used as examples here and there.

cookiemonster

A slightly different perspective.

I had a similar problem as the OP a number of years ago and went down the bike fit route which helped for a while - a year or so - but then it all came back with a vengeance in the form of ITB and piriformis problems. I'm now of the opinion that bike fits with wedges, cleat adjustment, etc, can address the symptoms of underlying physical problems but at the expense of masking underlying issues.

If, for example, your knee tracks badly and/or you overpronate leading to your foot falling outwards then this can be masked by insoles and wedges. However, on the one hand you're moving the issue elsewhere - now your foot is at an angle so you're putting load through your leg in a new and somewhat unnatural way - and on the other, you are not addressing the more important question of why is your foot falling outward in the first place? There must be an underlying cause, whether a weakness, an instability, a tightness or suchlike; so can that can be addressed?

With cycling, especially when considering desk bound workers, the very common combination of crap glute activation, poor balance and stability, tight psoas and hams will lead to many of the knee tracking, foot rolling issues that arise. The most optimal approach is likely to be some combination of fitting and physical rehabilitation, but the idea of a single 2-3 hour session resolving all problems is much more attractive than the long, boring and frustrating journey to building up balance and strength.


jon

raymond82

cookiemonster wrote:

A slightly different perspective.

I had a similar problem as the OP a number of years ago and went down the bike fit route which helped for a while - a year or so - but then it all came back with a vengeance in the form of ITB and piriformis problems. I'm now of the opinion that bike fits with wedges, cleat adjustment, etc, can address the symptoms of underlying physical problems but at the expense of masking underlying issues.

If, for example, your knee tracks badly and/or you overpronate leading to your foot falling outwards then this can be masked by insoles and wedges. However, on the one hand you're moving the issue elsewhere - now your foot is at an angle so you're putting load through your leg in a new and somewhat unnatural way - and on the other, you are not addressing the more important question of why is your foot falling outward in the first place? There must be an underlying cause, whether a weakness, an instability, a tightness or suchlike; so can that can be addressed?

With cycling, especially when considering desk bound workers, the very common combination of crap glute activation, poor balance and stability, tight psoas and hams will lead to many of the knee tracking, foot rolling issues that arise. The most optimal approach is likely to be some combination of fitting and physical rehabilitation, but the idea of a single 2-3 hour session resolving all problems is much more attractive than the long, boring and frustrating journey to building up balance and strength.


jon

This word for word what I thought too and I definitely want to see a physiotherapist too. I had a look at my legs and when I point my feet straight ahead my right knee bends inward and I can correct this by tilting my right foot. However it's immediately visible that this is not a normal position for the foot so I realized I need to do more. I'm already doing stretches (still working on a routine) but I also want to see a physiotherapist because in daily life the pronation bothers me too, basically when I point my feet forward with bear feet I feel some sort of strain. I had planned to increase my flexibility and and core strength this winter so this is an interesting thing to work on too.