Root:
Definition:
A root’s four major functions are 1) absorption of water and inorganic nutrients, 2) anchoring of the plant body to the ground, and supporting it, 3) storage of food and nutrients, 4) vegetative reproduction and competition with other plants. – Wikipedia
That should be the role of your feet when you lift.
Actively Rooting you into the ground, LOCKING the body into the floor.
Much like the hands gripping the bar, the feet need to grip the floor if we’re going to create optimal stability and generate maximal force.
What Rooting Does:
#1: Increases Surface Area
The larger the surface area the more stable the base.
Like Louie Says,
“A pyramid is only as tall as its base is wide”
The more surface area you can push through the more locked into the ground you can be and more force you’ll generate.
#2: Activates the Foot
We’re not really meant to wear shoes.
And certainly not meant to wear these glorified pillows on our feet.
The feet are our INITIAL point of sensory feedback from the ground.
Pressure, load, compression, angles etc on the foot tell the brain and rest of the body A LOT about the environment and how to compensate.
Blunting that input through the use of modern footwear probably isn’t the best choice.
Modern shoes basically try to negate the need for an “active foot”.
Do We Really Want An Inactive Foot With 500lbs On Your Back?
I’m just guessing you probably don’t want an inactive anything.
You probably want your initial sensory inputs to be REALLY tuned up and giving the brain and rest of the muscle an accurate, non-blunted, signal.
An Active Foot tells the rest of the body to get tight, lock in, and generate force.
#3: Get Glutes
Butts are really important for optimal functioning.
Your big toe does that.
Quick Experiment:
Now WITHOUT CHANGING FOOT PRESSURE
Press your big toe down aggressively and do another RDL.
Glute Fire?
It should, if it didn’t you probably shifted your weight forward, or collapsed your foot.
Aggressively driving the big toe down helps lock your foot down and lock things up above the foot.
How the Hell Is Rooting Done Anyway?
The Tripod or Short Foot:
Rooting into the floor is done through the creation of what has been termed a “short” or “tripod” foot.
The Tripod foot is pretty simple, there’s three primary points of contact to focus on.
- The Big Toe
- The Little Toe
- The WHOLE heel
Done correctly there should be pressure on all three aspects of the Tripod foot.
Sometimes you hear, “Equal pressure on each area”.
But not really.
It’s usually more like:
Big Toe: 30%
Little Toe: 20%
Heel: 50%
The point is:
If you have pressure and push through these three areas you’ll have pressure across the foot more evenly distributed and you’ll have more surface area to press into.
The “Short” Foot:
These two, the Tripod and Short foot are sometimes used interchangeably and sometimes are separate, for today, we’ll consider them separate.
The “short foot” is about foot activation, creating tension through the foot
This is mostly done through tightening the arch.
Gripping the Floor, It’s Not Curling Your Toes:
You were most likely NOT born with a collapsed arch.
It became that way over time.
We all should, to varying degrees, be able to grip the ground with our toes and tighten up our arch.
When you do this its about CREATING TENSION in the foot.
If you’re trying to do this and you’re like, “yeah, that did nothing”.
It’s because, YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG.
And if I was a betting man, I would beat that you’re NOT GRIPPING THE GROUND.
Not putting force into the ground and PULLING back.
If you’re trying to “grip the ground” and not getting tension you’re most likely just curling your toes.
Curling Your Toes Puts ZERO Force in The Ground.
Remember:
Rooting is about generating tension through the feet that transfers through the whole body and locks you into the ground and weight.
Simply sliding your toes back, curling them up, will shorten your arch, but it’s because your foot is being curled up.
NOT because it’s creating active tension.
Much like if you ball your hand up in a fist vs. gripping a barbell.
If you’re crushing something in your hand you’re going to create a LOT more force and stiffness through the arm and shoulder than if you just ball your hand up.
Rooting 101:
Create a Tripod Foot:
- Whole Heel Locked into the floor.
- Spread the toes out.
- Big toe pressed down into the ground aggressively
- Little toe pressed down hard too.
Shorten the foot/ tighten the arch by pulling the toes “back” without shifting the weight out of the heel.
Brotip:
- If you can rotate your foot, you’re not rooting effectively
- The foot will be a bit more on the “outside” of the foot but not rolled over.
About Roy:
