The Global Laws (Part I)
Inside Ankle Bone High Foot Control
This series of articles will review the Global Laws of G.O.A.T.A — the innate, observable patterns identified in the most resilient humans on the planet. This installment will discuss the foundation of the Global Laws (Inside Ankle Bone High Foot Control).
In bipedal locomotion, the foot is the only part of the body that contacts the ground. The feet are the foundation of the body and just as you wouldn’t want to build a house on a faulty foundation; you wouldn’t want to do that with the human body either. Unfortunately, most people today locomote and statically load their body on top of a collapsed foundation. This collapsed foundation is termed “Inside Ankle Bone Low” or IABL for short.
Hundreds of thousands of years of development allowed for a resilient human design, so what has caused our foundation to collapse? In short — footwear, sedentary lifestyles, and modern “fitness” training has led to the degeneration of the structure and strength at the foot level.
Modern Society Has Been “Decoded”
Footwear restricts the natural development of the foot and leads to altered behavior in locomotion (i.e., heel striking) that would not occur while barefooted. Sedentary lifestyles promote Front Chain Dominant behaviors such as pushing the hips forward in front of spine leading to wide stance, externally rotated feet — further collapsing the half-dome of the foot by driving pressure to the inside edge of the foot. Finally, modern “fitness” training focused on lifting results in destruction of the half-dome structure, all via inside edge loading. The cues may seem different (heel drive, tripod foot, activate the big toe, etc.) but the behavior is all the same. The combination of all of these factors has led to a major behavioral shift at the foot level for the worse. But don’t take my word for it — just observe the images above and below.
What Does Inside Ankle Bone High Look Like?
Inside ankle bone high (IABH) is when the bony landmark protruding on the inner side of your ankle (medial malleolus) sits higher than the bony landmark on the outside of your ankle. This simply acts as a visual indicator that the half-dome of the foot is in-tact, and the pressure at the foot level is on the second through the fifth metatarsal, all the way to the outside blade of the foot. Loading and securing the pressure on this area of your foot sets the IABH behavior and fulfills the foundation of the Global Laws (Inside Ankle Bone High Foot Control). This may be the most important Global Law because a failure at the foot level instantly sets you up for major non-contact injuries. IABH behavior is the secret that has kept the likes of Michael Jordan, Ed Reed, Tom Brady, and many others safe throughout their lengthy careers. It allows for the most efficient transfer of energy between the body and the earth as possible. To this date, we have never seen a non-contact injury occur with IABH foot control.
Drive vs Balance vs Rest Diagram
IABH VS IABL
