Foot/knee issue from training Muay Thai/Kickboxing for years?

[PUO3]

Posting for @Travis17

Probably a dumb question but I didn't have this problem until after training for a couple years, maybe just a coincidence but wanted to try and ask more people who've trained to see if they've heard of this at all.

Has anyone ever had a problem keeping their foot flat on the ground after training for years in Muay Thai/Kickboxing/Boxing? I have this issue where when my right foot is straight (seems to turn outward naturally as well), typically the ball of my foot underneath my big toe comes off the ground. If I force it down, the ball underneath my pinky toe comes off the ground. I think this instability is somehow causing me knee pain when I do stairs or jump roping. When sitting down, I can feel the top of my shin shifting left and right as my foot wobbles on the ball left and right. I only have the problem on my right foot, and I don't recall it happening until after I started training for a couple years which could just be a coincidence.

I kind of suspected it might have something to do with having my back foot turned outward and hopping on the ball of my foot, perhaps building up my calf on the outer leg, and creating an imbalance on the inside of the calf, but it could be something else. I just know after I started training my calf on my right leg got a half inch bigger around than my left from having most of my weight on my back leg, and it use to have all these knots in it from being too tight. Just flexing my calf would cause cramps. Took a long time to figure out how to stretch it too as a normal calf stretches didn't work (I could only get ankle stretches to work) and rolling even with a baseball or softball gave temp relief but never got rid of knots. Could be something else causing it.

So has anyone dealt with this or know what could be causing this?

 

[ironkhan57]

I'm sorry but for some reason i get the feeling this is a troll thread, because unless you've been training muay thai for years and standing on the ball of your foot in and outside the gym (which will make people think your crazy honestly). I mean i still have knee problems sometimes because there was this dumbass in a gym that would kick at the sametime as me sometimes and our knees would collide.

And i'm not trying to offend @Travis17. You must have a medical condition in your feet or something that does that shit.

 

[Travis17]

No not a troll thread. I did find out I have a leg length imbalance recently. My right leg is longer than my left by about a quarter of an inch. I think that's why I was putting so much weight on my back leg when moving around. Even before starting Muay Thai and keeping track of my numbers, my right thigh was about an inch bigger than the left one when measuring around it. I just use to train every day, and we'd often do exercises where we'd hop on one leg, I guess to strengthen or calves.

I guess there are several possibilities, maybe it's not related to training. I just thought it might be due to starting up again a year ago and noticing the problem seemed to get worse a bit with keeping my foot flat on the ground.

 

[William Huggins]

No not a troll thread. I did find out I have a leg length imbalance recently. My right leg is longer than my left by about a quarter of an inch. I think that's why I was putting so much weight on my back leg when moving around. Even before starting Muay Thai and keeping track of my numbers, my right thigh was about an inch bigger than the left one when measuring around it. I just use to train every day, and we'd often do exercises where we'd hop on one leg, I guess to strengthen or calves.

I guess there are several possibilities, maybe it's not related to training. I just thought it might be due to starting up again a year ago and noticing the problem seemed to get worse a bit with keeping my foot flat on the ground.

I don't think you have a leg length difference. I think this is your problem.

https://www.drnorthrup.com/psoas-muscle-vital-muscle-body/

1. Leg length discrepancy. A tight psoas muscle can cause your pelvis to rotate forward. This, in turn, can cause an internal rotation of your leg on the affected side. The opposite leg will rotate externally in an effort to counter-balance. This will make the affected leg longer so that every time you take a step, it drives your leg up into your hip socket. This can lead to functional leg length discrepancy.

 

[William Huggins]

Posting for @Travis17

Probably a dumb question but I didn't have this problem until after training for a couple years, maybe just a coincidence but wanted to try and ask more people who've trained to see if they've heard of this at all.

Has anyone ever had a problem keeping their foot flat on the ground after training for years in Muay Thai/Kickboxing/Boxing? I have this issue where when my right foot is straight (seems to turn outward naturally as well), typically the ball of my foot underneath my big toe comes off the ground. If I force it down, the ball underneath my pinky toe comes off the ground. I think this instability is somehow causing me knee pain when I do stairs or jump roping. When sitting down, I can feel the top of my shin shifting left and right as my foot wobbles on the ball left and right. I only have the problem on my right foot, and I don't recall it happening until after I started training for a couple years which could just be a coincidence.

I kind of suspected it might have something to do with having my back foot turned outward and hopping on the ball of my foot, perhaps building up my calf on the outer leg, and creating an imbalance on the inside of the calf, but it could be something else. I just know after I started training my calf on my right leg got a half inch bigger around than my left from having most of my weight on my back leg, and it use to have all these knots in it from being too tight. Just flexing my calf would cause cramps. Took a long time to figure out how to stretch it too as a normal calf stretches didn't work (I could only get ankle stretches to work) and rolling even with a baseball or softball gave temp relief but never got rid of knots. Could be something else causing it.

So has anyone dealt with this or know what could be causing this?

https://www.drnorthrup.com/psoas-muscle-vital-muscle-body/

 

[spacetime]

It is not normal, no.

 

[spacetime]

Why does a mod post for someone else??

 

[ironkhan57]

Why does a mod post for someone else??

Because hes a white belt and can't post. At first i thought it was a troll thread because i think i remember seeing that mod in OT.

 

[spacetime]

Because hes a white belt and can't post. At first i thought it was a troll thread because i think i remember seeing that mod in OT.

The fuck??? I could post right way

 

[ironkhan57]

The fuck??? I could post right way

You joined years ago, that just started like last year. I don't know if it was because people were posting a lot of troll threads.

 

[spacetime]

You joined years ago, that just started like last year. I don't know if it was because people were posting a lot of troll threads.

So you have to wait X amount of time before starting a thread? Or do you need to enter a cock measuring contest?

 

[ironkhan57]

So you have to wait X amount of time before starting a thread? Or do you need to enter a cock measuring contest?

You need to wait until you posted 150 responses. Seriously spacetime read the rules god dammit. The new rules popped up last year when i got logged out for some reason. And had to log back in.

 

[Replay19]

idk if this helps but having more flexibility may help

 

[Sano]

So you can keep your heel down, but you tend to tilt to the outside of the ball of your right foot? Is it bothering you aside from you noticing it? It's hard to know the exact cause without seeing you in person, but there's plenty of stability, mobility and soft tissue work you can do to stabilise your ankle joint.

I don't think you have a leg length difference. I think this is your problem.

https://www.drnorthrup.com/psoas-muscle-vital-muscle-body/

1. Leg length discrepancy. A tight psoas muscle can cause your pelvis to rotate forward. This, in turn, can cause an internal rotation of your leg on the affected side. The opposite leg will rotate externally in an effort to counter-balance. This will make the affected leg longer so that every time you take a step, it drives your leg up into your hip socket. This can lead to functional leg length discrepancy.

A leg lenght discrepancy can be functional (caused by tight/soft tissue) and anatomical (bone lenght) so either is possible. The hip flexors, including the psoas, are generally tight and beneficial to work on, but that article is a tad quacky. There can be several reasons why you have an updrift, tilt or rotation of the pelvis besides the psoas alone, and doing stretches for it isn't a cure for all ailments like chest breathing and fatigue, nor is it "the most vital muscle in the body".

 

[William Huggins]

So you can keep your heel down, but you tend to tilt to the outside of the ball of your right foot? Is it bothering you aside from you noticing it? It's hard to know the exact cause without seeing you in person, but there's plenty of stability, mobility and soft tissue work you can do to stabilise your ankle joint.


A leg lenght discrepancy can be functional (caused by tight/soft tissue) and anatomical (bone lenght) so either is possible. The hip flexors, including the psoas, are generally tight and beneficial to work on, but that article is a tad quacky. There can be several reasons why you have an updrift, tilt or rotation of the pelvis besides the psoas alone, and doing stretches for it isn't a cure for all ailments like chest breathing and fatigue, nor is it "the most vital muscle in the body".

The psoas muscle can cause issues with your breathing, I've had issues with my diaphragm because of it, it actually caused me all sorts of issues including my bowels......my foot, my IT bands my back below my shoulder blade........it's not as quacky as you think, once it was figured out I have had total relief from my symptoms.......

 

[Sano]

The psoas muscle can cause issues with your breathing, I've had issues with my diaphragm because of it, it actually caused me all sorts of issues including my bowels......my foot, my IT bands my back below my shoulder blade........it's not as quacky as you think, once it was figured out I have had total relief from my symptoms.......

And what about the other hip flexors like iliacus, sartorius, TFA, rectus femoris or other muscles effecting the pelvis, spine and thorax like both obliquees, quadratos lumborum, erectors, intercostales, the diapraghm itself, traps, lats and the list goes on. It is all connected yes, but there's nothing special about the psaos and almost all muscles effect your breathing, posture, functionality and sensibility in various ways.

I'm glad you felt better, but there's more going on.

 

[William Huggins]

And what about the other hip flexors like iliacus, sartorius, TFA, rectus femoris or other muscles effecting the pelvis, spine and thorax like both obliquees, quadratos lumborum, erectors, intercostales, the diapraghm itself, traps, lats and the list goes on. It is all connected yes, but there's nothing special about the psaos and almost all muscles effect your breathing, posture, functionality and sensibility in various ways.

I'm glad you felt better, but there's more going on.

Whilst I understand what you are saying the psoas is a muscle that could be causing all the issues that have been mentioned.

 

[Sano]

Whilst I understand what you are saying the psoas is a muscle that could be causing all the issues that have been mentioned.

You say that, but in which way, and what makes the psoas unique?

 

[William Huggins]

The psoas is unique in that it actually connects your legs with your spine, it also interconnects with your diaphragm, which other muscle can compress your vertebrae, cause you breathing issues and unbalance your knee all at the same time amongst other things

 

[Travis17]

I do do a psoas stretch. It's difficult to say whether one side is tighter than the other though, unless I'm just not getting it right.

After looking at that article I did google pelvis rotating and found this article. Been busy reading it.
http://posturedirect.com/how-to-fix-a-rotated-pelvis/
Pretty in depth, I'm familiar with some of this stuff, but not all of it.

I should clarify I saw a chiro for a back injury and he x-rayed my low back. He's the one who said I had a leg length issue. I asked if it was muscular due to there being a severe muscular imbalance between my left and right leg, but he claimed it couldn't be although he only x-rayed my low back. He recommended wearing a lift in left shoe to even out my legs. It seemed to help. My right low back use to cramp up when standing in one place for too long, with the lift it doesn't happen anymore. However, looking in the mirror it seems more noticeable that my hips are uneven barefoot. Also, I never had the cramping issue before hurting my back. I kind of think I pulled the left hip out of place due to having a few clicks on the left side when injuring it.

I've been training for about a year with the lift, I thought it was evening out my leg strength due to noticing extra soreness on my left leg at first, but I recently measured and found there's an inch and a half difference between the left and right thigh. So I'm going to have to focus on single leg work. Problem is, even though my right leg is stronger, when I do exercises like Bulgarian split squats or lunges on my right leg, my right knee rotates inward and my right hip outward. It's almost like my body twists left to compensate for some weakness. I thought it had to do with my ball of my foot not being flat, but I guess it could be something else.