GOATA (Protect your joints for life)

[Spartan300]

You may want to simply try incorporate the 'horse stance' in your daily routine. A static hold in the squat position, bodyweight only, trying not to have a wide stance and trying to have your toes pointing forward. You would likely have to work your way to accomplishing that, but it works wonders for many people to reduce joint pain, and increase flexibility, strength and endurance.

Thanks Adam, I'll give it a whirl

 

[Dave_Fit]

So for me getting into some of these GOATA positions, I have noticed my left leg doesn't want to bow (knee out) with ankle bone high as much as my right, but my right doesn't want to corner (knee in) with ankle bone high. I also notice when getting into child rocker (on knees on floor, but on heels, toes pointed in, heels out), my heels do not turn out very far at all, there is definitely a lack of mobility in the ankle/feet. I have been consciously been walking on the outside edge of my feet, with toes straight for days and it's becoming more natural. I am also consciously keeping my hips back behind my midline ever so slightly (staying back chain) maybe an inch or two back from where they want to naturally sit.

my heels are not as far out to the sides as either of these, even when I physically try to bend my ankle out more with my hand there is little movement. Definitely frozen in a bad pattern, need to keep working on this.

From what I gather so far, top things to do daily.

1. minimal shoes. I ordered these Barefoot Minimalist Shoe I don't have them yet, should be here Sunday.
2. walk with toes straight ahead, hips slightly back, walking on outside edge of feet rather than heel toe
3. Child rockers a couple times a day. On knees, long back, rocking butt toward heels and from side to side
4. corner hinge (butt on wall at quarter squat position, 1st and 2nd toe straight ahead, weight on outside of foot and up on ball, hands on chest, knees pointed in without allowing ankle to collapse, and hinge at the hip leaning over multiple times.
5. bow hinge is same as above but knees pointed out
6. GOATA drop in

7. GOATA resting postures
GOATA resting squat

cross leg sit

on one knee sit

I have no real idea as to how often to do some of these but I have been going with daily as they are supposed to be natural movements.

 

[Dave_Fit]

So I am super WOATA, (Worst of All Time Actions), because my right knee is so tight I can not get my but down onto my heels in child rocker, I could a year ago before I injured my knee. My heels do not go out in this position, its actually worse than I thought. I had my wife take a couple quick pictures. I hope these will serve as before and after at some point, where I will regain the mobility I have lost.

This is me, horrible I know.

This is my wife. Great mobility.
my ankle mobility, and knee rotation is no existent.

 

[OccamzRazer]

@Dave_Fit

I've been doing the resting squat for a few days now and it's already started to resolve some right ankle mobility problems I've had for over a decade. It's such a simple, holistic way to encourage body alignment!

 

[-Luke-]

I can't identify this on the picture: Are his heels on the ground in the resting squat position or not?

Thanks for all the good links in this thread by the way!

 

[Dave_Fit]

@Dave_Fit

I've been doing the resting squat for a few days now and it's already started to resolve some right ankle mobility problems I've had for over a decade. It's such a simple, holistic way to encourage body alignment!

That's great to hear. I'm hopeful I can correct my issues, I've seen a noticeable reduction in knee and ankle pain, my right hip feels a little worse likely from being asked to get into positions where it has not been able too before, not terrible but a little aggravated if that makes sense.

 

[Dave_Fit]

I can't identify this on the picture: Are his heels on the ground in the resting squat position or not?

Thanks for all the good links in this thread by the way!

In that picture his heels are elevated high. I understand that being able to sit that way with heels on the ground is advanced/better, I have seen him do it in videos, but could not find a picture. He may have been showing a variant for people who can not get down there with heels on the ground in the picture I posted. Glad you find the content useful, I know I am and wanted to share.

 

[-Luke-]

In that picture his heels are elevated high. I understand that being able to sit that way with heels on the ground is advanced/better, I have seen him do it in videos, but could not find a picture. He may have been showing a variant for people who can not get down there with heels on the ground in the picture I posted. Glad you find the content useful, I know I am and wanted to share.

Thanks! The deep squat position has been more or less part of my daily routine for years, but with a wider stance and feet pointing slightly outward. Tried it with a narrow stance and parallel feet today and had a slightly uncomfortable feeling in the lower back area. Maybe a matter of getting used to it.

 

[RealNeat]

I would rub progesterone on all areas that need to regain mobility while doing this.

 

[Dave_Fit]

I would rub progesterone on all areas that need to regain mobility while doing this.

Ill need to get some. Thanks for the tip, do you find this helps?

 

[Dave_Fit]

Thanks! The deep squat position has been more or less part of my daily routine for years, but with a wider stance and feet pointing slightly outward. Tried it with a narrow stance and parallel feet today and had a slightly uncomfortable feeling in the lower back area. Maybe a matter of getting used to it.

At least from the GOATA guys perspective as i understand it, feet about a fist width apart, knees pointed out, but feet straight, and inside ankle bone high is the preferred position.

obviously all of these are not fist width apart, but feet are mostly straight, inside ankle bone mostly high.

The movement pattern is to reinforce the bow landing, and back chain dominance, from what I understand toes pointed out is not the best position for retraining our bodies to move properly. We want to walk toes straight ahead and not pointed out (which I did, have changed that now when i am conscious of it)) duck foot. The toes out is the reason is we end up front chain dominant and more injury prone. That's the thinking anyway.

 

[RealNeat]

At least from the GOATA guys perspective as i understand it, feet about a fist width apart, knees pointed out, but feet straight, and inside ankle bone high is the preferred position.

View attachment 33375 View attachment 33377 View attachment 33378 View attachment 33379
obviously all of these are not fist width apart, but feet are mostly straight, inside ankle bone mostly high.

View attachment 33380 View attachment 33381

The movement pattern is to reinforce the bow landing, and back chain dominance, from what I understand toes pointed out is not the best position for retraining our bodies to move properly. We want to walk toes straight ahead and not pointed out (which I did, have changed that now when i am conscious of it)) duck foot. The toes out is the reason is we end up front chain dominant and more injury prone. That's the thinking anyway.

We'd get much better at this as an entire population if we could just adopt squat toilets. The most sustainable approach to positive habits is to make it a necessary step in everyday life.

 

[RealNeat]

Ill need to get some. Thanks for the tip, do you find this helps?

Yes progesterone and magnesium help relax the tissues. Like FP states stretching already tense muscles can be counterproductive, fascial release and muscle relaxing compounds will ease the inflammation and movement.

• "Some forms of arthritis are known to improve or even to disappear during pregnancy. As mentioned above, the hormones of pregnancy can make up for a lack of adrenal cortex hormones. During a healthy pregnancy, many hormones are present in increased amounts, including the thyroid hormones. Progesterone, which is the most abundant hormone of pregnancy, has both anti-inflammatory and anesthetic actions, which would be of obvious benefit in arthritis."

• There are other naturally anesthetic hormones which are increased during pregnancy, including DHEA, which is being studied for its anti-aging, anti-cancer, and anti-obesity effects. (One of the reasons that is frequently given for the fact that this hormone hasn't been studied more widely is that, as a natural substance, it has not been monopolized by a drug patent, and so no drug company has been willing to invest money in studying its medical uses.) These hormones also have the ability to control cell division, which would be important in forms of arthritis that involve invasive tissue growth."

- Blocking Tissue Destruction

-------------------

"Hyperventilation can cause muscle contraction. Panting causes a tendency for fingers and toes to cramp. Free intracellular calcium is the trigger for muscle contraction (and magnesium is an important factor in relaxation.) Capillary tone, similarly, is increased by hyperventilation, and relaxed by carbon dioxide. The muscle-relaxing effect of carbon dioxide shows that the binding of intracellular calcium is promoted by carbon dioxide, as well as by ATP. The binding of calcium in a way that makes it unable to interfere with cellular metabolism is, in a sense, a variant of simple extrusion of calcium, and the binding of calcium to extracellular materials. A relaxed muscle and a strong bone are characterized by bound calcium."

"The combination of supplements of thyroid (emphasizing T3), magnesium, progesterone and pregnenolone can usually restore normal respiration, and it seems clear that this should normalize calcium metabolism, decreasing the calcification of soft tissues, increasing the calcification of bones, and improving the efficiency of muscles and nerves."

-https://raypeat.com/articles/articles/osteoporosis.shtml

 

[Dave_Fit]

We'd get much better at this as an entire population if we could just adopt squat toilets. The most sustainable approach to positive habits is to make it a necessary step in everyday life.

View attachment 33388

Agreed, been using a squatty potty for years.

 

[Dave_Fit]

Yes progesterone and magnesium help relax the tissues.

Thanks or the detailed response.

 

[Dave_Fit]

I thought this interview with Ricky Stanza was GOATA gold. A little advertising for some other stuff at the beginning had to jump past.


View: https://youtu.be/Bp8hV6nw1bg


Gotta watch the Usain Bolt documentary on Netflix now.

 

[-Luke-]

The movement pattern is to reinforce the bow landing, and back chain dominance, from what I understand toes pointed out is not the best position for retraining our bodies to move properly. We want to walk toes straight ahead and not pointed out (which I did, have changed that now when i am conscious of it)) duck foot. The toes out is the reason is we end up front chain dominant and more injury prone. That's the thinking anyway.

I walk with toes straight, but I have noticed that my toes move outward when I do kettlebell swings for example, even though I start in a straight ahead position. I wonder if this is just pure habit or if it indicates an imbalance.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

Also look into Ben Patrick (Knees over Toes) on Youtube.

 

[Dave_Fit]

Also look into Ben Patrick (Knees over Toes) on Youtube.

I like that guy, and not to discount him. I have watched a ton of Knees Over Toes guy vids and actually did quite a bit of his movements a little over a year ago and injured my knee. I am definitely not saying his stuff injured my knee, I was not being coached by him or his certified coaches, I was just trying to bullet proof my knees and doing a decent amount of his drills, reverse walking, reverse sled pulls, VMO squats, tib raises, Quadratus lumborum side bends, and various hamstring exercises, I was doing a combination of the movements a couple times week making sure not to push myself into any pain. I really think that looking at movement patterns for locomotion you see that our joints are spiral rotating systems, the slow motion video of injury free movers is quite clear. While we keep doing everything in a linear fashion. I still do the tib raises, and the bench good mornings so I'm not saying his stuff is without merit, I honestly think what caused my injury was my toes out movement pattern and my front chain dominance from years of heavy Squats and deadlifts. The sad thing is at 54 I can still trap bar deadlift just under 500 lbs and never had a knee injury my whole life, only my right hip from a contact injury years ago and it was manageable. I do think the hip led me to favor that side and move into more of a toes out position which was the recipe for the knee, and ankle, and probably ultimately the shoulder all on the right side.

 

[Dave_Fit]

I walk with toes straight, but I have noticed that my toes move outward when I do kettlebell swings for example, even though I start in a straight ahead position. I wonder if this is just pure habit or if it indicates an imbalance.

That's great Luke. I have been working on consciously walking with my toes straight landing on the outside edge of my foot for the last few weeks. I think with kettle bell swings we move into our lifting engine, which is our reverse movement pattern, so it makes sense that the toes want to drift out because that's what we do when we lift heavier things. It could be, and I don't know this for sure as I am new to the whole GOATA thing, that the swings are reinforcing that reverse movement pattern. The swings appear to be a back chain exercise so maybe I'm off on that because I has seen the GOATA guys recommend "good mornings" a back chain hip hinge which to me seems very similar to the correct way to do kettle bell swings, the only part of the swing I know they would not like is the hip thrust portion at the end.