Hey Gooders,
I get a lot of DMs and comments on my IG about why I wear only one shoe or why I wear a different shoe on each foot. The truth is, my hips are very uneven.
How did this happen? Well, it didn't happen overnight. I have scoliosis but ever so slight that I didn't have to worry about it. But with each pregnancy, my hips became more uneven and I experienced excruciating back pain. I'm sure holding my babies on one hip didn't help, either. But with time, my back felt better and I continued on with life.
I trained really hard in my late 30's to 40's and the nagging back pain crept up again. Through a lot of PT, I was able to continue my activities. It wasn't until I turned 50 and I experienced knee pain that I stopped to take a real look. I had never had knee pain before so I wanted to get to the bottom of this.
Turns out my uneven hips created so much imbalance in my body that the constant movements like squats, walking, etc. was making one side of my body work harder than the other. Major muscle imbalance. Added with my age, MRI showed arthritis as well.
My leg length discrepancy at this point was so large that the only solution was to wear one shoe (it's a flat shoe but much higher than what I can get from an orthotic). Also, the orthotic I would need right now would make it very hard for me to wear shoes as my heel would slip out of the shoe. I have to shoutout my friend and podcast partner, Jason Hamera, who was the first to recommend that I wear one shoe. Thank you, Jason! His in-depth knowledge of the human body enabled him to look past just the knees and/or the hips and saw my body move as a whole and was able to pinpoint what needed to be addressed. A true Gray Institute functional movement moment.
So this is why I am wearing one only one shoe. Happy to report that my hips are evening out. I am working with a great PT and a doctor to get myself even again. I will have to wear some kind of orthotics for the rest of my life but at least now I know how to manage my imbalance and pain.
This brings me to the importance of unilateral training. By working one leg at a time, I am able to train both sides of my body equally without letting my dominant side compensate. Unilateral training is very important and your programming should include it.
I am using a single leg deadlift progression in this video as an example but unilateral training can be done with your upper body as well. I thought the progression of the deadlift was important to show because not everyone can start out with just lifting the back leg (exercise 3). However, a great way to start is the staggered hinge or kickstand hinge.
Add unilateral work into your training. It will help to isolate and correct muscle imbalances which can aid in injury prevention and rehabilitation. Start with just bodyweight and then add weight when you have your technique down.
That's it for now. Until next time...
Xx, Essie