Today I had a Physical Therapy appointment with Travis, and when he did the test for strength on the gluteus medius, I was able to resist quite successfully! This is a far cry from how I did on the test in February. Then, he and I got to talking about how it would have been great if we had had actual measurements in February rather than just pictures.

So, we decided to do the measurements today since I am not done, yet. There is more work to be done and more success to be had 🙂

Travis drew a line on the inside of my foot just above the arch, and he explains it below:

“The test where I drew a line on the inside of your foot is called the Feiss Line and with it I check the degree at which your navicular [the bone basically at the top of your arch] changed from a non-weightbearing to a weightbearing position.  Ideally the navicular should stay very close to this line and if it falls closer to the floor it indicates varying degrees of flat feet.  The distance on your R [right] foot was unchanged and on the left it was 5 mm (virtually unchanged).”

Right Feiss Line

Left Feiss Line

Woohoo! Did you read that?! My left foot arch was virtually unchanged! I’ll bet that in February it would have been quite different. I cannot help but smile at this 🙂

Next, I had to lay down with my feet hanging off the table so Travis could find subtalar neutral on my feet. He then drew a line on the heel of my foot. This is called measuring the “degree of eversion”, and he explains this below:

“Then I also measured the degree of eversion noted at your subtalar joint while weighbearing and it looked great.  There was a minimal amount of eversion noted on the left foot and essentially none on the right foot.”

Right Eversion

Left Eversion

OMG – Are you reading what I’m reading? He just said that my right foot is basically “normal” when I am standing! I am standing in a virtually subtalar neutral stance on the right foot, which is as good as it gets. The left is only off by a tiny amount (2 degrees or something).
Now, this does not take into account when I am running, which still has some falling of the arches. So, more work to be done with strengthening the foot. However, standing still with almost normal stance is AWESOME!!

So, today he gave me 6 exercises with the caveat that I may stop the other exercises unless I have symptoms that the exercises correct. Hooray! Less exercises! Oh, wait, these new exercises are not easy….

First, I isolate the gluteus maximus by laying on my stomach and bending one leg at a 90 degree angle at the knee (where else would it bend at a 90 degree angle – duh!). Then, I lift the leg using the glute 10 times for 3 sets.

Next, I do what he calls the “stork”. I stand on one leg leaning against a workout ball. Then, I do one-legged squats (essentially) keeping my hips aligned (not letting one fall). It is harder than it sounds.

Then, he told me that I would be doing a side plank, and I told him that would be too easy. So, he told me to balance my arm on a Bosuâ„¢, then do the side plank. Once in a side plank, I lift up the top leg for 10 reps and 3 sessions. Yeah, that’ll teach me to talk smack.

Another exercise is an oldie, but goodie. I stand on a step on one foot with that foot angled in. I then lift to standing on the toe and lower to slightly below the top of the step and repeat for 10-15 with 3 sets.

Finally, I balance on a very squishy circle with my eyes open for 30 seconds. Try this at home – it is harder than it sounds. When that becomes easy, I close my eyes and when that is easy I close my eyes and then tilt my head. I’m going to look really hot in the gym when I start tilting my head 🙂

Anyway, a very awesome visit, and I hope to document even more cool changes!