128: Dr. Emily Splichal on Foot Sensitivity, Vibration and Athletic Performance | Sponsored by SimpliFaster

Today’s episode features Dr. Emily Splichal, podiatrist and human movement specialist. When it comes to the foot, many coaches and athletes realize its’ importance, but due to its’ complexity, we often don’t dig much further than realizing it is important to spend less time in socks and shoes, and more time moving around bare footed. Dr. Emily Splichal’s background in fitness and training offers a 1-2 punch that makes her an extremely valuable resource to the sport and exercise community. She is also the creator of Naboso technology, which offers textured surfaces to train on, such as exercise mats and insoles. Getting the feet to work properly is more than simply going barefoot, however, it is about understanding how the feet pick up sensory information, and then how to use that in exposing athletes to training environments that maximize the sensory capability of the feet. Too many times we will label a foot as “weak” when it really wasn’t sensing something it needed to in order for the proper muscles to fire and tense up the fascia that spirals up to the legs and trunk. In today’s podcast, Dr. Splichal will cover the ways that the foot picks up sensations, and how to manipulate training surfaces (and shoes) to maximize these sensations and improve performance. She also goes into the role of vibration in foot sensation, as well as how athletes must pick up on this vibration to deliver a proper impulse to the ground through the body. Finally she’ll give us her take on balance based work and the feet, as well as talking about Naboso technology. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster.com, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more show notes at Just-fly-sports.com/podcast-128-emily-splichal