Course Introduction

Pathologies of the lower leg are both common and problematic to sustaining function and performance for old and young alike. But what influence does movement quality have on their aetiology, chronicity and recurrence?

This course details a comprehensive clinical framework of movement assessment and retraining to tackle both common and less common presentations of the knee, ankle and foot.

The course provides the hands-on skills required to use movement as the primary tool for assessment and retraining to manage thigh, knee, patello-femoral, shin, ankle and foot pain.

Course Outline

The knee, foot and ankle possess multiple degrees of freedom, allowing the lower limb to be highly versatile but also highly complex as a functional unit. Adding to this complexity are the multi-planar, open and closed chain demands of gait, together with the many variables—including pain, restriction and previous injury—that have the potential to alter movement during both the stance and swing phases.

This intensive two-day course provides clinicians with a systematic framework for movement assessment and retraining to manage this complexity, addressing pain, pathology and compromised function associated with movement at the knee, foot and ankle.

Participants will develop advanced movement evaluation skills by analysing co-ordination patterns and muscle recruitment strategies that form the building blocks of the gait cycle. This assessment process allows each patient to be considered as an individual, supporting sound clinical reasoning and the implementation of highly specific movement interventions to manage pain, pathology and compromised function.

Key Features

• Highly specific evaluation of muscle synergies and co-ordination patterns of the lower limb.
• Connecting lower limb movement impairments with pain, pathology and compromised function.
• Development of impairment-specific retraining programmes to restore functional control of the lower leg using a structured clinical reasoning framework.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the phases of gait, including single and double leg support, weight transfer through the foot, and the sagittal and rotational components of movement.
• Recognise and explain movement control impairments that occur during gait.
• Explain the relationship between uncontrolled movement and contributing factors such as pain, restriction and previous injury.
• Perform and evaluate cognitive movement control tests of the lower leg, ankle and foot, identifying the site and direction of uncontrolled movement.
• Develop management strategies for movement control impairments, including retraining muscle synergies, co-ordination and movement restrictions.
• Relate specific movement control impairments to common clinical presentations and patient scenarios.

Programme Outline

• Gait: single and double leg support, weight transfer through the foot, and sagittal and rotational components.
• Movement impairments during gait.
• Alignment evaluation of the lower limb.
• Structural versus functional impairments.
• Movement control impairments at the knee – assessment, retraining (including muscle synergies), movement restrictions and pattern recognition.
• Movement control impairments at the foot and ankle – assessment, retraining (including muscle synergies), movement restrictions and pattern recognition.
• Patterns seen in common clinical presentations, including shin splints, Achilles pain and plantar foot pain.