A personal trainer’s considerations when it comes to various foot injuries and problems
From the perspective of a personal trainer, the job is always going to be about allowing another person to entrust his fitness objectives and his own safety to you. This becomes even more delicate when the client has injuries. Selin Sakarcan, a personal trainer, who is also a podiatric physician, shares her own considerations when it comes to some of the most common foot injuries and problems.
Bunions
A bunion is a bony lump that grows on the joint at the base of the big toe. Sometimes, bones at the front part of the foot move out of place. As a result, this causes the tip of the big toe to get pulled towards the smaller toes, forcing the joint at the base of the toe to stick out. These become challenging in fitness training exercises that require a lot of lateral movement. Also, these tend to cause an awkward run, because the subject tends to land more on the midsection of the foot or the heel, says Selin Sakarcan.
Bone spurs
When bone spurs grow at the top of the foot, this is likely a case of osteoarthritis. In this condition, the cartilage between the bones degrades over time. As the body attempts to heal from the loss of cartilage, this triggers bone growth replacements, resulting in what we know as bone spurs. These tend to get in the way of how a foot normally moves, and they can cause quite a bit of discomfort during fitness exercises. Even running on the treadmill becomes very difficult to do because of the pain that big bone spurs bring with them.
Flat feet
Flat feet, or flat footedness, is a case wherein a person’s foot has no prominent arch, shares Selin Sakarcan. There could be a host of reasons for this to occur. In a normal foot, you should see a concave curvature on the underside of the midsection, which allows your foot to flex along the navicular and cuneiform bones. A flatfooted person does not have this flexibility. In exercise, this can also produce an awkward step while jogging or running. Also, people who have flat feet tend to land on their lower limbs more heavily.
Selin Sakarcan notes that for people have problems with their feet, exercise may be laden with challenges and limitations, but this is not impossible to do if you choose an exercise that does not complicate the existing foot problem. For a better fitness experience, it’s still better to seek the opinion of a medical specialist and have the problem fixed.