Here is another alternative if you have the money,
and the exercise I was talking about for free,
tibialis2.jpg about half way down,
http://ca.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=Tibialis+anterior&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t&b=21
Either one of these are more important then the calf raise; however, the calf raise should still be done.
I’ve got the money for that in the first link…but will it honestly help me out? I’m willing to spend the money only if we’re confident that it’ll help me out
Actually, I found a way to improvise instead of buying that machine…what do you think?
Basically you just sit in a chair or bench with your heels elevated on a bunch of wooden boards, put the back base of an adjustable bench on your toes, and then you perform the motion. I’ve figured out how to add weight too.
You’ll be a lot weaker.
I had a back injury that finally has gotten better. I hadn’t lifted for 4 months and my strength had gone done a bit. My repetitive strength didn’t go down as much as my absolute strength.
Not gonna lie…I actually did get stronger while not working out…and when I did some sprints I felt pretty fast…but I probably got pretty slow and weak in the past month
You know…I think I just made my shin problem worse because I attempted to “stretch” the muscle away from the bone. How did I do this you ask? Well, I literally grabbed my shin muscle and pulled it away from the bone(I can apply some serious force too …good grip )…and I also did this with my calf…so now yeah thats worse. And to think my shins were actually feelin good enough to probably begin rehab-grass jogs.
I have myself to congratulate for stupidest idea ever.
Might as well just stop messing around with these shins
You know…I think I’ve tried everything really. I’ll be honest, I just read a thread here, and these are the only things I haven’t tried:
I’m considering getting orthotics, and then somehow develop a routine where I do barefoot running, EMS on the feet, and shin/calf exercises. Opinions?
Bump… 
barefoot .
Do you think it’s a good idea to do barefoot running and the EMS/strength training exercises in conjunction with wearing orthotics in general?
no i believe orthodics are a cruthc taking over the role God placed on our muscles.
Do you think it’s possible to avoid orthotics then while eliminating and preventing injuries related to flat feet?
in general flat feet are a result of fallen arches and the arches are supported by the connective tissue and muscles of the foot. over stretching of the connective tissues places the role of arch support on the muscles, but this is where it should be in the first place becasue any extended stretching of connective tissue will lead to plastic deformation. strengthen the muscles in the proper way and they will support your arch as nature intended. all orthodics do is act as a crutch addressing the symptoms of a problem , not the problem itself. i train in puma h-streets, anyone who has seen these shoes know that they are nothing more than a flat piece of rubber with fabric to attach it to the foot. i either train in those or barefoot.
What if I naturally have flat feet?
Plus…isn’t it very unlikely to ever develop an arch ? If I have flat feet, I doubt any training I do will give me an arch.
your right people do have naturally flat feet but most everyone has an arch even if it is ever so slight. the arch in the foot is an extremly important feature of human development the lack of a pronounced one can be do to genetic factors ie. connective tissue length, but it is still importnat that the muscles are sound enough to maintain the arches of the foot (there are actually 2). this should be in place even if you have flat feet.
Hmm, I dunno though…don’t you think its possible to strengthen the arches and wear orthotics at the same time? I’m just sick of having pain, and need to find something to get rid of it. 7 months is way too damn long
ive given you what i believe to be the proper course of action. you need to look how you are training, training shouldnt promote injury it should prevent it. near everything in athletics or training starts with the feet, if your weak there you will be week everywhere else. i dont believe in orthodics period, i dont believe in crutches. if your back hurt would you wear a back brace at all times… actually dont answer that im afraid of the response but anyway look to the source of your problem dont just cover up the symptoms. its like if you had testicular pain from testicular cancer and you just took pain killers sure it would feel better, but do you want it to feel better or perform better?
I dunno…I did the barefoot running 3x this week and there’s no pain during these. I think I feel better without any shoes on???
Also, i dunno if im going paranoid here, but if I elevate my legs and breathe in really hard the blood vessels around my foot and shin feel like theres a moderate pressure going through them. I dunno if this is indicative of any condition I might have? lol probably just being paranoid here…
im not sure about your the foot shin thing but running barefoot is good if i didnt have flat soled shoes i would most likly train bare foot.
Think I should up the barefoot running to 4 or even 5x a week? Or just keep it at 3x?
It’s just really light running, 10 or 12 reps of 50 yards.
I removed the arch supports from my shoes…and my shins hurt a little more. Nothing much more…but the arch supports also gave me a good bit of impact support too.
I’m pretty much on the verge of saying “fuck it” and just wearing orthotics if they help. I feel fine when I don’t wear shoes, so why not just get orthotics and feel fine with shoes too?