Gary Ward is a sports therapist from London, U.K. He is the author of What the Foot and founder of “Anatomy in Motion” (AIM). AIM is more than just a technique—it’s a philosophy on how to track movement through the human gait cycle. This philosophy takes a unique approach to understanding human kinetics. Gary starts with an in-depth look at the feet and works his way up to evaluate and address chronic pain at its source. He believes in educating people about their own bodies so that they can take charge of their own health. He has made a reputation for being able to solve a client’s pain in minutes.
Ward is a 1998 graduate of Loughborough University (U.K.) with a B.A. in Modern European Studies. He traces his beginnings in all things foot to his time as a former ski-boot fitter in the French Alps. This ignited his passion for the foot and made him realize how much the feet actually influence human movement. Gary is a popular resource in the fitness and therapy industry.
Gary shares how he began to be interested in the foot. He explains his big rules of movement with a focus on how human position dictates muscle firing, and not the other way around. He describes his method for finding an athlete’s center and what that means for training. Gary also discusses the importance of pronation in explosive human movement.
In this podcast, Gary Ward and Joel discuss:
- The huge impact working with the foot has on the rest of the body.
- Putting your athletes into the most efficient position to give the muscles more firing options.
- Eccentric vs. concentric muscle contractions in relation to efficient joint movement.
- Best practice in teaching pronation and its impact to athletes.
- Training the foot using isometrics.
- Separating human movement and strength training realms.
Podcast total run time is 1:15:02.
Gary’s website can be found here.
Keywords: foot training, explosive movements, wellness, pain reduction
