Me First – A Self Pursuit
Performance sporting tools and equipment
If you’re anything like me, you love your sport, you love your gear, you are constantly looking for improvement. Often we look for items that only add a very small amount to performance. We look at lighter equipment, non water absorbent clothing, shoes that decrease friction and resistance, and tech that offers increase in aerodynamics, greater strength and agility. We also look at energy and nutrition products that may offer some edge in power and reserve. When we use each of these, together (as in the sum of all) they result in some measurable level of performance improvement. We do this because we recognize that it all adds up.
What many of us miss is that real performance is about mastering our limitations, and maximizing our true potential. Let’s talk about some real world applications. Races are won or lost based on a few principles:
- Start time
- Acceleration rate
- Maximal sustainable speed
- Short Burst rate
Some of that is a function of fuel and weight (hence our gear choices), the rest is about technique and our ability to take advantage of (or correct) our physical limitations. We can affect each of these rates but only when we address the fundamental parts we can truly control. So we must add in our physical body components:
- Raw Position
- Available Range of motion
- Elasticity
- Gross strength
- Recovery
The way the foot is positioned at the ankle, the angles the foot can accommodate on the terrain, the energy required at each strike, the shock absorption that allows maximal conversion to the next push phase in the cycle. This is the way we attack and create performance.
If we can aid in maximizing positioning, the result then would be an increase in available energy, a decrease in muscle fatigue and injury and in the long run increased sustainable speed and reserve. Sure, makes good sense. How do we do it? The answer is not just an insole, it’s actually a maximally tuned performance custom orthotic.
Yea, yea… we’ve all heard that before. This is different. I start with a device that is designed for the specific sport. There is a big difference in the motion and physical stresses on the foot when comparing straight running to the cutting actions in tennis or jumping in basketball. Our orthotics are sport and surface specific to meet and properly balance those stresses. Then I custom hand mold my patient’s feet for a properly fitting orthotic device. Then we study the true motions using gait scan technology. Allowing us to pinpoint and fine tune pressure and stresses so the fitted mold can be optimized to and for true maximal performance.
Individually molds and scans are not actually unique processes. But no one combines the process (not actually does both) for maximal performance, except me. Because I’m all about MORE. I’m all about the constant pursuit of better. And when I say “Me first” I mean you.
Ari Rubinstein DPM
Stronger, Faster, Smarter Healing
