According to the definition found in most medical journals, Flat feet refers to a change in foot shape in which the foot does not have a normal arch when standing. The condition is normal in infants and toddlers and occurs because the tissues holding the joints (called tendons) in the foot together are loose.

The tissues typically tighten and form an arch as children grow older. This will take place by the time the child is 2 or 3 years old. Most people have normal arches by the time they are adults. However, the arch may never form in some people.

This can be hereditary or can come from aging, injuries, or an illness that harms the tendons and causes flat feet to develop in a person who has already formed arches.

So what? Does it matter? Do you NEED arches? The truth is that most people with flat feet live with no pain or other problems.

Some adults with flat feet may experience tired or achy feet after long periods of standing or playing sports. Some may also have pain on the outside of the ankle.

I’m one of those cases where my arches never formed. I’ve had flat feet as long as I can remember. My parents may recall otherwise, but I don’t recall even having any pain associated with my foot deformity.

I wore normal shoes as a kid – I had some Larry Bird Converse, Nikes, Kangaroos…you know, all the classics. But once I started running, I was told that because I had no arches, I would have to have running shoes with arch supports to prevent foot pain and injury. Not only that, but I would need inserts (orthotics) in my shoes to provide additional stability and balance, align my body and further prevent the pain that I wasn’t even experiencing.

For a while, I had over the counter (they make prescription ones) orthotics in my running shoes - like the ones pictured below. They were uncomfortable and actually caused me pain in my arches – the opposite of what they were supposed to do. I was told that I would get used to them and the pain would subside.

Being in my early 20’s, I was not the greatest advocate for myself and instead of doing some more research on my own, the foot pain forced me to just stop running. I thought maybe my feet were just not made for me to be a runner.

After several years of lifting weights on doing other things to stay in shape, I signed up for a triathlon and therefore needed to start running again. This time, I decided to forego the insoles, but still took the advice given to me at the shoe store and wore running shoes with a lot of support to offset my flat feet and overpronation.

As I started to train for longer distance races in the subsequent years, I developed plantar fasciitis, patellar tendonitis, and IT Band Syndrome. I have no idea if all or none of these were related to my flat feet, but I was frustrated and started on a quest to learn more about how to prevent running injures.

Around 2011, I read Christopher McDougall's book Born to Run. He believes that modern cushioned running shoes are a major cause of running injury, pointing to the thin sandals worn by Tarahumara runners in the Mexican Copper Canyons, and the explosion of running-related injuries since the introduction of modern running shoes in 1972. This book sent me down many rabbit holes into other barefoot running books and podcasts.

I then learned that it was possible to build, develop and then strengthen arches in flat feet. This was not something that anyone had ever told me I could do. The thought of being able to run injury free AND reduce muscle fatigue in my feet and legs was exciting to me, so I developed a plan!

It started with getting some running shoes with minimal cushion and minimal drop (The 'drop' of a running shoe is essentially the difference between the height/thickness of the midsole under the heel compared to the same measure under the ball of the foot). I would rotate these shoes in for shorter runs, still wearing my more “supportive” shoes on longer runs.

After 6-9 months of running in these more minimalist shoes, I started to incorporate barefoot running into my warmups. Yes, I would actually take off my shoes and socks and run barefoot on the grass. I would jog a mile barefoot on the grass inside the track before my speed workouts. This was once or twice a week.

Next step was to assess all of my footwear. I tossed out my dress shoes for those with no heel. The flat shoes forced my feet to adapt. The constant support of shoes with built-in arches and heels prevented those muscles and tendons from getting stronger. I bought some minimalist shoes to just wear out and about in the evenings and weekends.

I also made it a point to go barefoot around the house and even outside when possible. The more time I could spend without shoes, the better.

I even started doing my weightlifting sessions without shoes. I would just wear socks when lifting to not only improve foot and ankle strength, but my balance and stability.

While still doing all of these things, somewhere around 2017, I transitioned to a standing desk at work. I remove my shoes while standing at my desk and do lower leg strengthening exercises such as arch lifts, calf raises, towel curls, golf ball rolls and toe raises.

The final touch was to start wearing toe spreaders for an hour or so each night before bed. After a lifetime of wearing shoes that smashed my toes together, I needed to return the big toe to its normal anatomical position; that is, separated from the second toe and in line with its metatarsal bone instead of being turned in. Getting my toes splayed would provide the foundation to maintain a strong arch.

It is important to note that I didn’t incorporate all of these techniques and routines at once. In fact, I've been adding something new once a year or so for a long time. Jumping into all of these at once would have undoubtedly led to more injuries. Like anything else, the best way to make change is gradually.

While my ultimate goal was to be injury free – and I have been for a long time now despite doing some pretty intense races and events for the last 14 years – I also set out to grow my arches. While I hadn’t thought about that aspect of it in a long time, it has actually worked.

Just two weeks ago, I was spraying some dog vomit off of our deck (don’t act like you haven’t had to do that before) and was barefoot. After getting it all cleaned off, I was gathering up the hose and my feet got wet. As I walked back across the dry portion of the deck, I was making footprints with my wet feet. My wife Jessica looked down and said “hey…look at your footprint…there’s an arch!”. She was right; sure enough, my feet had been developing arches all this time and the proof was right there in my wet footprint.

Over time, I have been able to build a beautiful foot arch that functions the way nature intended. I’m looking forward to the benefits of having arches, such as improved balance, fewer back problems as I get older, improved posture and fewer leg and foot injuries as I continue to run into my late 40’s!

I’m a member of a peer group of local business leaders that meets monthly. Each month, we have a top-notch speaker come and talk. It’s usually around a business-related topic. However, once year, there is a speaker that comes to talk about health and wellness. While most people in the group dread this topic, I get very excited. This past month, we had a speaker that came to talk about fitness. The speaker was Luke Carlson (great first name) and the title of his presentations was “Sharpen The Saw: Evidence-Based Fitness For The High Performing Executive”.

Over the almost four hours of time he talked with us, he not only debunked several workout and training myths that most people believe, but he also presented a simple resistance workout that anyone can fit into their busy schedule. You can learn more about Luke and his training program at his website: https://www.discoverstrength.com/

One of the more interesting subjects he approached was how many reps and sets you should do when lifting weights.

I started lifting weights around age 13. My Dad knew the benefits of resistance training even back in the early 1990’s. There was some good information available thanks to Joe Weider’s books and magazines and the popularity of Arnold Schwarzenegger. My Dad encouraged my brothers and I to lift weights to not only get stronger for sports, but to feel better and have more energy. We had some old concrete dumbbells, bars and a bench in the basement and would lift several days a week after school.

Even way back then, everywhere you read told you to do 3 sets of 10. That’s 10 repetitions of the specified weight, followed by a rest period, 10 more reps, rest and then a final set of 10 reps. With the exception of a few periods of time off here and there, I’ve pretty consistently lifted weights for the last 30 years. Throughout that time, I’ve always fallen back to doing something close to 3 sets of 10 whenver I'm in the gym or lifting at home. I would adjust how heavy I lifted depending on my goals at the time but would always do multiple sets of 8-10 repetitions. But why? Where did this 3 sets of 10 come from? Why does everyone do it?

Where Did 3 Sets of 10 Originate?

What I learned during Luke’s discussion was that the thoughts around 3 sets of 10 in strength and conditioning was first coined in 1948 in a paper by T.L. Delorme and A.L. Watkins titled, “Techniques of Progressive Resistance”. The idea seems logical.  3 separate sets of 10 exercises allow muscles to gain strength and endurance. Moreover, in addition the rest period between each set, the first 2 sets ramp up muscles for an intensive third set. But is this the most effective or efficient way to lift weights?

Turns out exercise science has come a long way in the last 70 years, and we now know much more about the human body and the way it responds to training. Many studies over the last decade show that the 3 sets of 10 reps approach is far from the most effective program for several reasons.

Despite this information, most mainstream fitness publications and websites continue to promote the 3 sets of 10 reps philosophy like it was not only the best way but the ONLY way to train. The 3 sets of 10 approach also does not allow for customization of volume (reps and sets) and intensity (amount of weight lifted).

If you have ever started a new training program, you know that your body adapts very quickly to the training stimuli and eventually you will stop responding to doing the same workout over and over. In order to continually progress you should consider breaking out of the 3 sets of 10 mindset.

What Should We Be Doing Instead?

When lifting weights, the goal for most people is to get strong. You may also lift to improve cardiovascular health, reduce blood pressure, increase bone density, improve cognitive and mental health, live longer or even just look better naked. Regardless of your personal why, you should maximize the amount of time your muscles are under tension. Accomplishing this is not possible if you limit yourself to a specific number of reps. If you can easily do 20 or more consecutive reps of the weight you are lifting, why would you only do 10? If you load up a weight that you can only do 6 times, is it too heavy since you can't get to 10 reps? Studies show that, regardless of the weight, it is best to do as many reps as possible until you physically can’t anymore. You’re trying to make your muscle tired. You’re trying to feel something by the end of it. Lifting until you can’t do another will accomplish this. Slowing the amount of time you take to lift and lower the weight can also increase your time under tension.

You should not even have to count the number of reps you do. Simply choose a weight and do as many reps as you can perform of the exercise until you fail. You can even just do one set. That’s right, just one set to failure of any given exercise while maintaining proper form and technique. Not counting is going to be hard for me to do as I often even find myself counting the number sips I take from the water fountain at the gym or counting the steps as I leave. Counting has always been part of my lifting routine, but maybe it shouldn’t be.

A study from the Journal of Sport and Health Science published in November of 2022 found that that a lower volume, higher effort approach should be encouraged. You can read the entire study here, but below are some of the quotes from the conclusion:

If your goal is to gain muscle mass, drop sets is a great way to efficiently lift weights. A drop set is when you perform the exercise until failure, then lower the weight and continue with no rest in between. Or if you have a partner, you can do “negatives” or “eccentric” lifts, where you have assistance lifting the weight and then do reps lowing the weight slowly until failure.

I tried this single-set to failure approach for the first time this morning at the gym. I plan on using it for the next few months to see how my body reacts. I’m excited to not only see the results, but to be able to do more with the 40-50 minutes I have to lift in the mornings.

Deadlift

• ​​Begin in a standing position with a bar, broomstick, or band in your hands in front of you
• Keep your back is straight for the entire exercises, suck in your stomach to engage your core, and stand with your feet hip distance apart.
• Bend forward at the hips, slowly pushing your butt back towards the wall behind you. Your knees should only partially bend which should generate tension in your hamstrings
• When your hips cannot go any further backwards, pause, and then slowly return to standing by extending the hips

Single Leg Box Squat

• ​Set up your box or bench so that it is around knee height
• Stand with your feet hip width apart, suck in your stomach to engage your core and keep your shoulders back
• Lift your right leg off the ground, keeping the above posture as you balance on the one leg
• Slowly start bending your left knee, pushing your butt back as if you are about to sit in a chair
• Get as low as you can, then slowly engage the muscles and start standing up straight again

Lateral Lunge

• ​Either with or without dumbbells.
• Step out to your right side, keeping both feet pointing ahead of you
• Lower your body until your right thigh is parallel to the ground, keeping your left leg straight
• Step back to the center and repeat on the other side
• Focus on keeping your stomach sucked in the entire time. As you have to balance to bring your leg back to standing position, it means that you abs have to do a lot of the work, and in turn they also get a workout!

Dumbbell Single Leg Dead Lifts

• Stand straight with a dumbbell in each hand. Keep your stomach sucked in tight and your shoulders back
• Plant your left leg into the ground, this leg is going to be your support on this side
• Now send your right leg straight back behind you, while at the same time bring the front of you body forward until it is almost parallel to the ground. Without breaking the hips, slowly start leaning forward, allowing the weight to carry you down, while pushing the right leg back towards the wall behind you
• Now slowly bring yourself back up to standing. You should be feeling this in your core, your left hamstring and your right glute

Overhead Squat

• ​Hold a barbell, towel, band or broomstick above your head
• Stand straight with your feet at shoulder width apart and slightly angled at around 45 degrees
• Slowly squat down, keeping your chest and arms up and your core engaged
• When you get to your lowest point, engage your core and push yourself back up to standing keeping the band or bar above your head the entire time.

3 Common Weight-Lifting Mistakes

Keep in mind that a runner using weight training to improve your running is different than a weightlifter who also runs. Here are some shares some common weight-lifting mistakes to avoid according to Matt Fitzgerald:

• Going Too Heavy: The weight room is no place for ego, so check it at the door. “Not every lift has to be superheavy and superhard. Don’t risk injury trying to be a hero in the weight room.”
• Lifting Too Light: If you’re always lifting low weight for high reps, you’re building endurance in the weight room, but you shouldn’t be. “Runners work on endurance all the time with every run. The goal with weight training needs to be strength and power.”
• Focusing on Specific Body Parts: “Runners don’t need to lift that often, for as long, nor isolate individual muscles. You can lift full-body twice per week for 30 to 60 minutes, prioritizing strength and power.” You’ll get everything you need with that setup.

Part of the current Holistic Hundred Challenge is doing 100 body-weight exercises every day! This might sound simple to some of you, but I would challenge everyone to try this, even if you are not doing the Holistic Hundred Challenge.

This time of year, lots of people spend a lot of money going to the gym. They have been lead to believe that in order to get in shape and build muscle, they must be in a gym with machines or free weights. Stand in line at the grocery store and you will see magazines with men and women on them with weights in their hand. I'm even seeing lots of billboards now with people liftting weights or using machines. But to most people, getting “huge” is not the goal and is not even necessary for overall health.

With that in mind, I recommend you try to start doing body-weight exercises every day. Below are a list of my top 5. Start off with 10-20 of each and try to consistently do them to the point where you can increase the quantity or add in variations.

1. Burpees

The burpee may be the perfect body-weight exercise. It combines resistance training and cardiovascular conditioning in one exercise. I started doing them on a consistent basis when training for Spartan races last year and they kick my butt every time. No matter how many I’ve done.

2. Squats

Back when I had a gym membership, I would see people doing squats with a barbell or even on a machine. Most of them had excruciatingly bad form. To the point where they were going to hurt themselves. The body-weight squat is a great exercise to assess your strength, awareness and lower-body mobility. Squatting your body-weight may sound simple, but you’d be surprised how many people struggle with doing these correctly.

3. Push-Ups

Push-ups are a great alternative to the bench press because a slight change in hand or foot position can hit the chest completely differently. They also recruit your quads, glutes and abs, you’re stabilizing your body as you push your own weight.

4. Planks

The plank recruits different types of muscles in order to properly do the exercise. You might think that it just works the abs, but when done correctly, it also recruits the quads and glutes to help keep your body tight in an efficient position. Planks help with core stability and balance, but they can also help with posture and lower back pain. Much like push-ups, there are several plank variations that you can use to increase intensity.

5. Pull-Ups

Out of every exercise you can do for your upper-body, the pull-up is the most efficient. You can purchase your own pull-up bar to hang on a doorframe (this is what I have), or you can use a beam in your basement (or office) or a jungle gym at a park. To ensure you’re getting the maximum results it is crucial to perform pull-ups in a controlled manner. Crossfit has lots of benefits (I'm using their videos in this post to show proper form), but the pull-ups used in their workouts (called Kipping pull-ups) are made for speed and can lead to injury. Do pull-ups in a very controlled manner. Up slow and down slow, avoid swinging your body. You can start by having your feet on a chair under you to assist if you can't do a pull-up the proper way when starting out.

The best thing about body-weight exercises is that they usually require no equipment and can be done just about anywhere.