I walk like a duck

[Lost Dog]

I always have. But, since I've started to wear flatter soled shoes on deadlift day, I've noticed it more.

I always do it, but the flat soled shoes make it worse. It's almost as if the lack of a heal allows my duck feet more time to splay out into duck position before the duck heals strike.

I stand like a duck, too. When I relax and just look down, my feet are at a 90 degree angle from one another. Perpen-duck-ular, I'll call it.

So, what if anything, should I do about this?

[UConnJulie]

I have heard you comment in other threads that you have tight hips (and I did watch the Dan John squat instruction FitCast video!) ... but honestly some of it can just be structure ... there is a differing amount of torsion between the hip and knee along the femur that is normally variant in people ... some have more torsion than "normal" and therefore are referred to as having retroverted hips ... and others have less and are referred to as having anteverted hips. Without examining you in person, there is no way to know if you are truly retroverted or just tight ...

[RobLL]

Might be interesting to see how your legs hang, with no tension, when you hang from a bar, as in a chin up.

[Lost Dog]

might be...

[Lost Dog]

Might be the particular shoes, themselves. Walking barefoot doesn't have the same effect.

[Lost Dog]

I know I have a lot of tightness in my hips. I sumo deadlift. I squat with my feet angles out. Tend to squat wide, too. Even running and walking with a long stride produces a noticable outward pointing of the feet.

If this is common, and not an issue by itself, no biggie. Bottom line. If all of these things are related and should be taken care of, I'm willing...

[repoman]

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

I always have. But, since I've started to wear flatter soled shoes on deadlift day, I've noticed it more.

I always do it, but the flat soled shoes make it worse. It's almost as if the lack of a heal allows my duck feet more time to splay out into duck position before the duck heals strike.

I stand like a duck, too. When I relax and just look down, my feet are at a 90 degree angle from one another. Perpen-duck-ular, I'll call it.

So, what if anything, should I do about this?

I bet you thought this thread was dead in the water?
Just browsing through the injuries looking for hip related stuff and I spotted your thread.
One of my nicknames in high school(30 years ago) was duckers because of the way I walked and stood. I could never "sit like an Indian" ( or should I have said Native American), cross my legs at the knees, pull my knees up to my chest or run particularily fast. I played football(line) and baseball(catcher) as a schoolboy but nothing organized after that. Most of my adult life I have been very active, lifting, tennis, golf , but I slowed way down once I hit my forties.
I had major hip problems as I got older due to , probably, a birth defect that was never really detected. My hips would grind and ache to the point where I could barely walk without pain.
Finally last summer I took the plunge and had them both replaced.
I'm happy to report the pain is gone and I'm almost back to my pre-arthritic days of activity.
Long story short- have you ever had any x-rays taken of your hips? I'm willing to bet they're not exactly lined up where they ought to be.
I'm not trying to scare you about some future problem your heading for, but you're walking like a duck for some physiological (right word?) reason.
I believe it would be, at the very least, interesting to find out what those rascals look like inside, and at the very most might point to an arthopedic problem.
My hip x-rays (pre-operations) looked like a frisbee and a hammer rather then a ball and socket.
Just my thoughts, "duckers".

repo

[theleip]

It would be great if you could take some pictures and post them of your stance from multi angles. Sounds like right off hand though that you have some lower extremity postural distortions from weak and tight muscles.
If you have flatten and externally rotated feet then likely you have tightness in your Gastrocnemius,Soleus,Adductors and weak in your Tibialis,Iliotibial band,Hip rotators.

You can work on correcting this with really focusing on weight and form in your resistance training and then a solid flexibility program with SMR work and Static Stretches. I would also suggest dynamic movements for pre-workout warm up as well.

Some other things to notice in movements would be..

-resting on your calves in squats or lunges
-more shin sensitivity in running
-over activation of the wrong muscles during exercise there fore leading to lagging body part strength

I personally while training work in correlation with the clients goals and correcting these distortions at the same time to help create a better overall look and being less prone to ache, injuries and discomforts.

[Lost Dog]

Repoman, thanks for the comments/warning. I guess I'm lucky that I can do all that, including sitting "Indigenous American" style. As a child, I got x-rays and probed up and down, looking for the cause to some issues in my legs. I've got zero pain, luckily. My mother's side of the family is filled with men who walk like me. Fortunately, the walk like me well into old age. They don't do any lifting, so I wanted to ask in relation to that, in particular.



Leigh, what static stretches would you recommend? I do SMR and use my MM DVD stuff for warmups.

-resting on your calves in squats or lunges
-more shin sensitivity in running
-over activation of the wrong muscles during exercise there fore leading to lagging body part strength

I don't rest on my calves. I have to concentrate to keep my heels down. I'm a toe-walker, unfortunately. A toe-stander, too.

No shin sensativity.

Lagging body part strength? Yes, but they're evenly spread throughout my body.

[repoman]

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

Repoman, thanks for the comments/warning. I guess I'm lucky that I can do all that, including sitting "Indigenous American" style. As a child, I got x-rays and probed up and down, looking for the cause to some issues in my legs. I've got zero pain, luckily. My mother's side of the family is filled with men who walk like me. Fortunately, the walk like me well into old age. They don't do any lifting, so I wanted to ask in relation to that, in particular.

Glad to hear you don't have any "real" issues with your hips like I did. I wouldn't wish that on anyone (well, actually, I can think of a couple guys I would wish it on, but that's another story).
Hopefully you can work through this with stretches and such.
Good Luck,

repo

[K Manley]

Hi Lost Dog,

I have a similar issue (I seem to be saying that to everyone who posts in the injury forum - its nice to be part of a group). I was a huge duck walker as a kid and eventually turned into a toe walker.

I'm sure you've seen this vid (not in a dirty way but I get the impression you've ‘been around the block a few times’): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxr9-IB0Rr4

When I tried out these movements I was stunned to how little ankle flexibility I really have. I mean I always knew it was crap but not that it was that bad. I have no real active plantar flexion and it seems that my foot will constantly put itself in positions where it will not have to bend in that direction ie. sumo squats, sumo deadlifts, toe/duck walking. When I've tried to force parallel stances in the gym my body compensates for the lack of bending in the ankle with bending elsewhere… hmmm… I wonder where my history of back problems comes from. I think my foot position is a result of my tight calves, which has over the years traveled up the kinetic chain to my hips' external rotators (I also think it has contributed to my lordosis- but that theory takes a long time to tell).

By doing the stuff Hartman recommends in the video everyday I've been noticing improvement. When I started I couldn't get my knee and toe touching a wall at the same time, less than a month later I can get almost an inch away. I'm hoping that this release work will get rid of the gordian knot in my calves so I can take more traditional posture remedies (mindfulness, tib. Ant. Strengthening, etc..).

I’d be very curious to see if your problem lines up with mine, I’d love to be able to compare notes on what treatment works for you. I’ve heard EC making a lot of fuss about ankle flexibility lately, and to me it would be so awesome if I actually have stumbled upon one of my huge performance limiters.

If you do have the same issue as me there are some obvious good points: I’ve never had to work calves in my life and they grow like weeds, sprints are a piece of cake and I have the turnout of a prima ballerina (Prima I say!).


One day I will write a post without babbling. But not today it seems.

[K Manley]

sorry, I meant I haave no active dorsiflexion not plantar flexion.