November 18, 2024 • 34 mins
You’d be hard pressed to find a more passionate professor on Auburn University’s campus than Wendi Weimar.
A biomechanist by trade, Weimar has been the Director of Auburn’s Sport Biomechanics Laboratory for more than 25 years. The lab consults with professional and college athletes, Olympians, national teams, military members, veterinarians and the community. Weimar primarily focuses on the function of the lower extremity — everything from footwear choice and shoe tying to walking and running. She empowers her students to analyze movements of the body to help individuals put on an armor of protection, while also improving their performance.
“First of all, we do motion and gait movement analysis to help people be better movers,” Weimer said. “In our research, we do studies that help people perform better, and hopefully by performing better, we put them in a better position to avoid injuries.”
Weimar’s journey to the Plains is as fascinating as her gait dynamics research. The Vermont native got her undergraduate degree from Castleton State College.
“I had a double major, double minor,” said Weimar. “I was secondary education, physics and chemistry, and then I had a minor in math and a minor in theater. I went into theater because I thought that would help me be a better teacher.”
After graduating with her master’s in Adapted Physical Education from the University of Virginia, Weimar started teaching at New York’s Colonie High School. When it came time to consider getting her doctorate, it was Weimar’s parents who urged her to visit the loveliest village on the Plains.
“It was 1996, and we drove up College Street and saw all the beautiful brick buildings: quaint, quaint, quaint. It reminded me of a New England town,” recalled Weimar. “Then, when I met the professors in the School of Kinesiology, it was like putting on a jacket that just fits the length of the sleeves.”
While working to obtain her doctorate from Auburn, the native New Englander learned to embrace the Auburn spirit that is not afraid.
“The Auburn family permeates outside of campus,” said Weimar. “When I went home on my first Christmas break, I had on an Auburn shirt, and somebody yelled ‘War Eagle’ at me. I dropped back ready for a fight.”
“I was like, ‘You feeling froggy, Kermit? Just jump. Let's go.’ I wasn't up on the lingo then, but I am now. I've been all over the country, all over the world, and if I'm wearing Auburn gear, I hear it. It’s great.”
In addition to being a professor, Weimar is a renowned author and scientist. She is the co-author of a widely used textbook, Kinesiology: Scientific Basis of Human Motion. Her study on flip flops, footwear choice and shoe tying led to an interview on Good Morning America where an estimated 600 million people engaged in her research.
Using her infamous phrases like ‘slice o’ pie’ and ‘wicked cool,’ Weimar’s classes are a favorite among Auburn students.
“I like to create an environment where students feel comfortable and have access to opportunity,” Weimar said. “One of the biggest things I learned being a theater minor is that the play doesn't happen on the stage. If you’re on the stage, it’s your job to create the environment in the reach of the audience and it's their job to come and get it. You must bring it to them and make them excited to engage.”
Photo courtesy of Jared Long ‘19, College of Education, Auburn University
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(00:06):
Weagle Weagle War DamnEagle, Kick ‘em in the butt, Big Blue.
It's Dalton Odomand my co-host Carter too!
Back at the Everything Auburn podcast.
Carter, how's it going?
It's going man,I wasn't ready for it, but it's good.
I'm ready.
That was very loud.
Was it loud? I’m sorry.
It's good, I love it.
That's what you get.
Its just the mic man voice.
I’m sorry.
He's used to the megaphone,I am Im sorry. I suppose.
(00:27):
Well, welcome to it.
Dalton's been torturing mewith this cinnamon broom
for another month.
Yeah.
So if you were here in the last episode,And if you have it,
make sure you go check it out.
We learned that Carter hates cinnamon.
So what I decided to dowas I had a miniature
cinnamon broom in my office.
Just cause I love the fall.
I went and put it on.
I do love the fall unitto try and make it blow cinnamon
(00:49):
air into his office.
It just didn't work.
You found it immediately.
Instantaneously.
I also didn'thave the air conditioning on.
So because apparently I hate things.
Yeah, well, welcome to another one.
And I am very happy to saythat it's not just me
and you talking and wafflingback and forth all day,
but we have an incredible special guest,Wendy Wymer, who, The shoelace
(01:13):
queen herself. If I may,welcome to the podcast.
Thank you.
So, we'll get into it, I'm sure.
But you do have the can.
Is itfair to call you the shoelace Queen?
There's people that compete for that.
Okay.
Sure.
That that's a,I haven't officially been awarded
(01:35):
that title.
You have now.
Outstanding. Yeah. Congratulations.
We should have made it plaqueBut you're big time now, so.
No, no, you are.
You have been, What?
Good morning, America. You've been on.
So you've you've been able toyou've blessed us with our,
you know, rinky dink little show here.
I'm doing my best.
But I appreciate it,you know, coming down here.
(01:56):
But you're doing some really cool.
You're so.
But you actually do researchon shoes and shoe laces,
which is the reason forthe shoelace queen title.
But before we get in there,Dalton has a list of grievances
I think, thathe wanted to share with you.
Which is particularly why we thinkyou're a, a special guest to have here.
So starting out with number one.
(02:17):
So these are all from formerstudents in here. Okay? Okay.
We don't know who said these things,but this is what
they have been anonymized.
Yeah.
But Doctor Wymer, has beenby far my favorite professor
in graduate school at Auburn.
She is driven to help you succeedand will do anything to help
you understand,even if that's a funny YouTube video.
(02:37):
She is awesome and uses phraseslike slice of and wicked cool.
A truly great professor.
Can you explain what slice of pie means?
So just that just, my curiosity.
So a lot of people use the termpiece of cake. Sure.
So piece of cake, slice of pie.
Okay. It is. Do you understand?
Do you feel comfortable with it?
(02:59):
Are you kind of in thatthat zone I love it.
Yeah, yeah, I see I'm a Yankee too.
And so, you know, my my,not that I'm a Yankees fan.
I'm a Red Sox.
Make that clear.
But yes.
Well, because I'm a Red Sox fan.
Right. So, important distinction.
Yes, very much so.
And so some of my phrases are very commonwhere I come from down here, the
you know, it's likefirst time I heard what cattywampus.
(03:22):
Yes, yes.
cattywampus cattywampus.
Yes. That is very southern.
Yeah.
That's how I would describe growing uplike the people, like
I had my next door neighborsand people live on my street.
And the people have cattywampus from me,and they lived right over there.
Yeah. We call that catty corner, so.
Oh, okay. Okay. Cattywampus same thing?
Yeah. So a Wampus is a corner?
(03:42):
Yeah, sure.
I think it works.
One other thing,another student said there there's more.
There's more.
But but wait, there's more, there's more.
I'm a junior at Auburnand she is by a landslide.
The best professor I've had.
Great teacher.
I had her class at 8 a.m.
and I seriously didn't mind waking up.
And that's high praise, right there.
(04:03):
That sure is.
Because let me tell you, those eight.
And they're rough.
They are tough.
They are indeed.
But I think this is part of the reasonwhy we thought you'd be a great person.
Because if you can make an 8 a.m.
class fun for people,then you're doing something right.
Yeah, you really are.
But I did have to askbecause you did mention
you are a self-proclaimed Yankee,not Yankees fan,
(04:26):
but a self-proclaimed Yankee.
That's not very close to Auburn. Nope.
If I may,how did you find yourself
on the Loveliest Village on the Plains?
Yeah. Great question.
Came up with it myself.
I think it's,so as part of my teaching technique
to encourage people.
So, like when they ask questionsto, to support them in that.
(04:48):
So great question.
But it is a great questionabove and beyond that.
So, I had always thoughtthat I would get a PhD.
I started my collegiate careeras, an engineer
and realized thatthat was not my passion.
And universe higher power.
God, whateveryou want to interpret it
to be kept puttingteaching experiences in front of me.
(05:10):
And so I became a teacher,and I really think that
that was my best destiny.
I do think that that'sthat's how I interact
with the worldin addition to my research.
So, when school became a teacher,and then in my senior year
of my going into my senior year,I got hurt
and athletic trainers fix me using them.
(05:32):
And I said, I need to knoweverything that you just did to me
because this was fascinating And that was the day
I became a biomechanicist.
So my undergraduate degree,I had a double major. Double minor.
I was secondary education,physics and chemistry, and then I had a,
minor in math and a minor in theater.
(05:52):
And I had gone into the theaterbecause I thought that would help me
be a better teacher.
I thought if I couldcreate an environment
where the students feel comfortableand have the opportunity to have access.
And what I learned,one of the biggest things I learned
as being a theaterminor was that
the play doesn't happen on the stage.
It's your job.
If you on the stageto create the environment
(06:14):
in the reach of the audience.
And so it really goes onin the to the mind
and the grasp of the audience.
And it's their their jobto come and get it.
So you have to bring it to them,make them to be excited to engage in it.
when I graduated from my master's,I started teaching high school.
Actually, I worked a yearworking with individuals
with traumatic brain injuryto try and help them recovery.
(06:37):
Realized that that was too hard onmy heart.
Yeah.
It's not.
That's not how I interact with the world.
There are some beautiful peoplewho do beautiful things with individuals
who are recovering fromcatastrophic injuries and
whatever you believe,your higher power,
the bless themgive them the energy
(06:59):
and strength to do it.
So I was teaching high school, coaching,field hockey, basketball,
softball, loving my life.
And I started to feel like I was relaxingand I said I could retire from here.
This would be okay.
And I said, do you want to get a PhD?
And I said, I think I do.
And I said, look,I don't care if you change lanes,
but you got to decide.
And I decided and Iapplied to a bunch of places,
(07:20):
and I had no intentionof coming to Auburn.
None. Zero. Okay.
The only reason I applied wasbecause my folks moved to Florida
and I was like, oh,all right, oh, get one close
because I was in Indiana, Penn State.
Sure.
So, we visited Indianaand we're driving back to Florida, and,
my dad said, if I turn right here,I can be in Auburn in an hour.
(07:43):
And I was like, good, Im not going there.
But good for you.
And he said,and my mom said, come on Wen,
you got to look at it.
I was like, oh, well,we drove a college street
and it was beautiful brick.
Now this is 1996, okay.
Beautiful brick buildings.
You right by Samford.
(08:03):
Auburn was still small.
It's smaller than it is now.
Not that it's big now.
Quaint.
Quaint, Quaint. Quaint.
And there were a lot of components of itthat reminded me of a New England town.
Okay.
Yeah.
And then when I wentand I met the professors and I was over
in the school of kinesiology they it was.
I describe itas putting on a jacket that just fits.
(08:26):
Oh, what a what an analogy.
I'm.
Wicked artsy.
So I was like, okay,I think this is where I'm supposed to be.
And I used that storyto tell a lot of students
when they come in, they're like, hey,we're going to school here.
I'm like, you need to find your pathWe need to find where you fit.
(08:50):
And if that's at Auburn, that's awesome.
We're so excitedbecause I truly believe
that a rising tide does lifts.
All boats in the worldcan only be what it's supposed to be
if people arewhere they're supposed to be.
Wow. No, no.
If you want to be here at all,we want to do everything
we can to pick you up.
But if you're supposed to be atIndiana State and we're here for
you to help elevate youbecause that's going
(09:11):
to make the world better.
And that's that's kind of whatI'm trying to do in my little way.
So I'm glad you found Auburn.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
I'm very glad. Yeah.
And then I brought my cynicism and and,New England
crassness down here and, a young ladythat was getting their PhD
when I was getting my PhD here,walked up to me and said, are you a jerk?
(09:34):
Is you prepared for that?
You pretend to me.
I said, well, welcome to Alabama.
And bless her heart.
I said, you know what?
What why why would you say that?
And she said,you never speak in the spoken to
you never look anybody in the eye.
And when somebody asks you a question,you answer it and move on.
(09:56):
And I said,everything you just said
is a survival skill where I come from.
Okay. It's flippin cold up there.
We don't chat outside. Okay?
We answer the questionand then we go inside
and people,the strangest things have happened.
Like one of my doctoral students said,why don't you like my wife?
And I said, I like your wife. She's fine.
And he said, well,how come every time she calls,
(10:17):
you just give the phone to me?
Just what do you mean, exactly?
I was like,because she wanted to talk to you,
not to me.
So. And so.
Yeah. You have to chat.
So there's that. You got to.
You got to figure outhow to do some chatty Cathy's around.
(10:38):
Yeah, yeah.
So if I carry that up,some people make podcasts and everything.
What jerks.
I know, I go back up northand they're like,
did you get to the point?
Which is probably kind of likefor the problem right here.
So now I'm gonnaanswer your biomechanics question.
Oh, please. Yes.
It's complicated.
So the 50 cent definition of biomechanicsis the application
of mechanical principlesto biological systems.
(11:00):
Okay. That does not help a lot.
It's a lot of syllables.
Feel free to do that okay.
So what people use biomechanics.
So think about an engineer.
Those tools to study movement.
And that's what we did.
So and there's people that studygeckos walking, roaches walking.
(11:24):
Oh yeah.
Mice.
And matter of fact, I just got aI was on a call today.
A faculty member wants me to help them.
Study the gate of chickens,you know, casual Wednesday.
Yeah, yeah.
What an interesting phone callthat would be.
Well, and that's one of the reasonswhy I love my job, you know,
because the Raptor Centerwill call us and say, hey,
(11:46):
can you come overand take a look at this Eagle?
It was hit by a car.
We're not sureif it has arthritis in its wings.
And if we can release itback into the into the.
Well,I mean, now they make the decisions.
They're the veterinarians.
I'm not saying we did,but we do contribute to them, you know?
Yeah.
We work for the swim team.
We've I worked with a bunch of Olympianson the swim team and the track team, and,
and we just give that feedback,to the coaches and to the athletes,
(12:10):
and they kind employ that. So. Yeah.
And we basically apply Newton'slaws of motion
to how people move, likethere was a stroke or
his name was Mark GangloffAnd I,
we used to work with DavidMarsh way back in the day,
and we'd go over.
It was a lot of fun.
We have an underwater camera.
We put a TV on the side of the pooland we walk next to them.
(12:31):
And so they're they're strokes.
And then theperson would lean on the edge of the pool
and watch the TV and the coach and say,what do you see?
And I'd say, I see this.
And then he'd say to the athlete,get your elbow higher.
You know, really cool stuff.
Yeah. And he went with Mark Gangloff.
We pointed out the, thewhat are the deficits in his stroke?
(12:51):
He and I'm not taking credit.
I'm saying that I provided an idea.
Okay.
He's the one who worked from the timehe was six
to the time he was, however, when he,you know, won his gold medals.
So he went from number 13and 17 of the world to, number three.
Well,Michael Phelps, I'm one of the.
So that's the keybecause understanding like the human body
(13:15):
and how it moves is one thing.
But if I may.
Yeah, you'renot a expert at knowing
the proper technique for swimming,but how does it translate to know like,
I know how the arm and the leg and the,you know, shoulder and everything moves.
But to knowhow it translate to a sport that,
you don't just notyou're not you're
not an athlete in that sport.
(13:35):
How do you do that? Yeah.
Great question.
And so what I tell peoplewhen I go to work with swimmers,
is that what I know about swimmingis how not to drown. Okay.
That's a good that's a good skill.
If you start on that, say sure. Okay.
And but they didn'tthey didn't care about me, knowing
the intricacies of,you know, the breaststroke
(13:58):
kick, which I thinkis really bothersome to me
in my propulsive mode,you know, when I'm like, dude,
why would you do that?
It's like, it can do.
You have to do that?
Yeah, we have to do that.
Well, all right.
So because the tools are the tools.
Okay, they're the same toolsthat a mechanical engineer applies
(14:21):
when they're trying to build,a car or a,
a a dolly system for your camera.
Sure. Okay.
So decreasing the friction,improving and making a better wheel,
those sorts of stuff, those rules.
I'm just applying themto a different set of conditions. Okay.
Okay.
So, my dad was an engineer.
(14:43):
My brother's an engineer.
I fell in love with sciencewhen the Tacoma Narrows Bridge fell.
Because I didn't think concreteand steel could bend
and twist that much before,and still stay intact.
Yeah, it eventually failed,but that was
that was one of my first thingsthat really kind of
got me in that direction.
So incredible. Interesting.
(15:04):
Well, then.
So another thing I want to askis because I did kind of
tease this earlier with the shoelaces, you've done a lot of work in like,
I don't know what the right wordyou'd know
better in like walking gates, posture,how you're
you were telling us beforeabout how you tie your shoelace affects
and cascades up the whole body and,can you tell me
(15:28):
what's the right way to tie my shoe?
Okay. Was.
Let's let's get into it.
There you go.
And it's all for different things.
And if you have, like.
Okay, so let's go back to the beginning.
Let's do it first of all,I would like to thank Auburn University
for giving me the opportunityto run the lab the way I run my lab.
(15:51):
And I, I came inand kind of part of the old school
and a lot of labshave a very specific line of research
where they might havea clinical population
that they pay attention to.
I have been giftedthe opportunity to be diversified.
Okay.
Here's the bottom line for me.
(16:12):
I love biomechanicsand I love to do everything
I possibly can with it,which is why we've done
birds and dogs and horses and people.
It's a pretty wide breadth. Yeah.
And now maybe even chickensnow apparently.
Yeah. Yeah.
I mean that's that's anyway, that's all.
So one of the things that theevolution of my doctoral students
(16:34):
is they come in, they work on a projectthat's going on in the lab,
then they take on a smallproject of their own,
and then they follow usinto their dissertation.
So one of the things we used to dowhen we were over in the Coliseum,
they would have a lot ofcheerleading camps
going on in the Coliseum.
And so cheer.
Yeah, it's full circle.
Look at us. We're doing it.
We're we're doing it.
It's a family.
(16:54):
Auburn family.
It's real, it's real.
That is so real.
It truly is. I've just.
And now we've really gone on.
I said I've, Iso I went to Auburn, worked Auburn
I left for few years and I came backand everyone likes to joke about them
and it's the Auburn familything is like kind of cliche.
And I don't thinkAuburn is only people who
use that terminology.
(17:16):
However, aslame as it sounds, it it's real.
It really is.
And it's like you can't explain it.
No, it does a little bit.
It does a little bit, but it is real.
It's, it's it's a physical thingthat you feel walking around on campus
seeing someonewith the Auburn shirt on like it does
do something.
(17:37):
So on campus I expected.
You know if I was on any campusI would expect somebody was here.
That was you bump intooh buddy I'm sorry you know or
hey great game last nightwhere you go okay cool. No problem.
I'm talking about how the Auburnfamily permeates outside of the campus.
So againbeing the suspiciously New Englander
(17:58):
that I am when I first,when I went home
from my first Christmas breakand I had an Auburn shirt on
and somebody yelled War Eagle at me,I dropped back ready for fight,
I was like, You want to go?
Lets, you feeling froggy Kermit?
Just jump. Let’s go. You know?
So, I got all upset, and I was likewhat are you doing
the guy looked at meand he’s like War Eagle!
I'm like, Hey!because I had heard War Eagle Hey!
(18:22):
I wasn't up on the lingo.
It’s a call and response,That’s right, so I came back
and I told the storyand people pounded the table much
and laughed as much likeyou guys did like
you're such a dodo head.
Yeah, I was sobut that was my first thing.
So now I've been all over the country.
I've been all over the world.
And if I'm wearing Auburn gear,I it there.
(18:45):
People walk up to meand this is the difference too.
So I was in DC and this guywith a lot of medals on his chest
walked by me very closelyand very quietly, said War Eagle.
War Eagle.
And is this going to sound stupid?
But I felt safer. Yeah, him.
Right then I was like,somebody got my back. Yeah.
(19:05):
I believed in my heart right thenthat if I turned that guy
and I was like, hey,that he would stop and take a minute
and you know,tell me how not to be lost or whatever
it is. Yeah.
And that has happened to memultiple times.
And I tell these people,not these people.
I tell people these storiesand they tell me
stories, unbelievable stories about,you know,
(19:26):
flying out to Californiafor the ball game and,
you know, thethe husband, the wife couldn't fly.
And the 15 year,the 20 year old daughter
was going to fly out and meet the father.
Will the father get caught in weather?
And so these peoplewho were sitting next to her
when she heard her storysaid, we'll take you.
And they just drove her inand then they all had dinner together.
(19:48):
I mean, it really is it's a real thing.
And I yeah.
And like I said,you can't tell the story without it
sounding a little cult like.
And yeah,that when that man yelled War Eagle,
my mom wanted to fight him too.
She doesn't play, you know, that's justthat's just the thing, you know,
she knows middlepeople with the middle name The.
(20:09):
oh, that's good.
You know,just please just give her a wide berth.
Yeah.
So yeah, we've had a couple of notit doesn't matter.
We should.
Anyway, sorry,but you were talking about.
You were talking about shoes.
We're talking about shoes,War Eagle everybody. Sorry.
That's so my, My doctorial student is.
(20:29):
So we wouldwe would go out and we would watch,
the first day of camp,we would watch the young ladies
perform and dance and do their things.
and men.
Excuse me.
Yeah. No disrespect.
None at all. Disrespect.
None at all.
And, they would walk inand their flip flops.
Then they would don their appropriatecheer shoes and do their thing,
(20:50):
and then they would don their flip flops.
And I was like,they walk different in flip flops
than they do in their shoes.
Yeah.
And nobody had talked about that.
And whether it was good for you or notand that kind of thing.
Yeah.
And so the purposethat we would go in there
and watch them on Mondayand then predict
who would be hurt by Thursday.
And then what a fun gamebased on the deficits
(21:12):
that we would noticeand weaknesses and things.
And we're like, oh, you knowlike a coordination issue.
And then we would go back and seeif our predictions were correct.
A coordination issue like that one,it looks clumsy.
It's not about that.
It's aboutthe coordination can be associated.
And this is why we do our job.
So if if we were at a sports teamor if we had a cheer team,
(21:34):
we would walk up and we wouldthen talk to the strength
and conditioning coach and say,hey, this is
a deficit in your performance.
This could actually lead them to injury.
And so we believe that,if you do X, Y, and Z or work on x, y, z,
they potentially could avoid injuryand become a better performer.
And so that'sand what I was doing
was teaching my studentshow to analyze motion,
(21:55):
how to identify breakdownsin form and technique.
And again, like I said,I don't know a lot about swimming,
but I know a lot about the,the the rules of the road.
You know,that Newton's laws are going to tell us.
Yeah.
And there's an equal opposite reaction.
If your action is bad,you're going to get a bad reaction.
So it's all that kind of stuff.
And so we noticed the whole flipflop shoe thing.
(22:15):
And so my junior projectfor one of my students was to,
to compare walking in sneakersto walking in flip flops.
Cool. We did it.
We wrote itup, we submitted it to,
National Conference WebMDand picked it up
and it went absolutely viral.
The Office of Communications Management,communications marketing,
(22:37):
that's that's us.
That's us they stopped countingat 600 million interactions
with our research.
We actually got an award that yearfor the most positive interactions
with Auburn University. Wow. Yeah.
That's a that is truly incredible.
Yeah.
Well, and we got phone calls fromthe BBC, from Australia, from India, from
the West coast.
(22:57):
And people were just curious about this.
And then I was at the pool.
As a matter of fact,I got a phone call from one by
the faculty members that are colleaguesand they said, when,
Good MorningAmerica wants to talk about
the whole flip flop thing.
And I was like, look,I am really busy right now.
I don't have time for jokes.
We can talk laterand come back to doing what I was doing.
(23:18):
And he calls me backand he's like, I'm serious.
And I'm like, come on, really?
And they're like, yeah.
So he gave me the information.
And so we did the wholeGood Morning America thing. It was great.
But that got even more attention.
That was cool.
And so, that wasthat was how we evolved into that.
So then the next step waswe were doing research
(23:39):
and more researchabout flip flops and things like that.
And I ran into,that got me in one with Dana Marquez.
Used to be the equipment director herefor athletics. Dana. Oh, fascinating.
Fascinating guy.
I've received a lot of shoes from him.
So.
So they were at the end of the seasonor the end of their fiscal year.
They'll give us shoesthat we can do research on.
(24:01):
So we can do that,which is tremendous
because shoes cost money.
And so for us to be ableto do these things and so we can
and right nowwe're working on a partnership
with, barefoot to do minimalist shoes.
And you also talk about the lacing stuffthere where there's
actually a lacing survey projectthat we're doing right now
that's out there,and there's QR codes
all over the placethat if you go to our website, there
(24:25):
you go scan the QR code.
Yeah.
So, I talk we were talking to Danaand we were talking about them being able
to take advantageof the qualities of the shoe,
you know, like the archsupport, the grip of the toes,
the heel cup, those sorts of stuff.
And he said, well, you know,you can tie the shoe differently
to take advantage of that.
(24:46):
And my mind wasyou used to be a first commercial
where the head blew offand purple just came out.
It was purple dusted.
Oh yeah.
And, so I was I was likesomebody had given me permission
to unlock.
And like,I never even thought about tying my.
Yeah, I talked Dana.
And so Dana started to introduceus to ways to tie your shoes to,
(25:08):
to keep the foot more engaged.
And that's the beginning of it. Right.
So thethere's a, called The Runners loop
where you tie the top of the,the top to eyelets of your shoes
a little bit differently.
And what it doesis it sinks the heel cup in
and you're,it engages the heel of your foot
and the heel cup of the shoe betterso that it's more connected.
(25:29):
And it doesn't feel likeyour foot is in a shoe
hitting the ground.
It feels like your foot shoeis hitting the ground.
It's one unit, okay.
And so we do that for,cleats and shoes and that sort of stuff.
But if somebody has turf toe,if somebody had a,
you know, a lot of runners will get,what's it called,
(25:49):
a bruise on their big toenail.
Oh, yeah.
You can replace your,your sneakers
to take the pressure off your big toe.
And we've done this with,we worked with a doctor one time
who was, having neuropathy symptomsat the end of the day,
and he had triedevery shooting on demand.
He had gone barefoot.
He had done everything,and it just kept happening.
And so we retied his shoesand took some of the pressure
(26:13):
and guided his foota little bit differently.
He called us two weeks later.
He said, I can't believe it.
Wow, I don't know this.
You guys are magic.
I think you did some voodoo thing on us.
Well, you might have.
We're not allowed to talk it.
That's the secret sauce.
I do think it's remarkable.
Like how the.
I think you said I never.
I've tied my shoesthe same way every single
(26:34):
time my entire life.
And, frankly, I don't wantyou to see how I've tied my shoes,
because I feel like you'dprobably be appalled.
But you said there's 214,depending on the number of items
on your shoe.
Of those 214, give or take.
How many do you know that you could do?
Do you have like, memorized?
(26:55):
How many?
How many different wayscan you tie your shoes right now
without looking one up?
So ish.
I'm just now I'm just really curious.
Okay.
So it'sthe it's the application of techniques
at different locationsalong the eyelet range.
Oh, that the way they come upwith the math for that.
And, you know,this is the other reason
why I'm a little uncomfortablewhen you say that I'm the queen of lacing
(27:18):
because there is a guy out of Australiaand I think he's called
Doctor Shoelace or something.
Oh, did I, did I, did I hit a copyright?
I don't know man, I don't Iyeah yeah okay.
It's all about peace,love and understanding. Good to know
okay.
Yeah.
Because we wantto bind with the shoe laces.
Yeah.
Everybody climbs a tree.
Nobody falls off.
(27:38):
That's.
Soso it's basically kind of a runner's
loop technique that we appliedto put the force
at a different point along the shoeto give you better.
Like if you have a tendencyto fall off the outside of your shoe,
we would tie your shoesdifferently along that
(28:00):
outside border of youryour laces, support over there.
And so all of this goes backto taking advantage of the science
that's in the shoe,and then also taking advantage
of the lines of force and lines of actionthat can help,
you be more engaged with your,with your shoe and foot interface and
that's, yeah, that's that'skind of what we will be trying to do with
(28:22):
I, we know one thing that,the School of Kinesiology does,
they, they have thesports lab, and Carter
and I have both had the opportunityto go down there,
and it's extremely cool space.
So if you don't mind touching on thata little bit
and just telling the peoplewhat you'll do down there.
Oh, yeah.
So my lab has three prongs of activitieswe work in.
(28:45):
First of all, we teach wewe do motion analysis,
movement analysis to helppeople be better movers.
And then we have a research people.
And so that's the part of the trainingwith my doctoral students.
Now with regard to our research,we are primarily a lower extremity lab.
Who needs that sort of stuff.
So we do studies that,contribute to, people performing better
(29:07):
and hopefully by performing better,putting them in a better position
to avoid injuries.
Like, you know,there's a lot of people that are like,
oh, can you can you prevent injuries?
You know, okay. Butright now we just can't do that.
But we can help people.
B to developan armor to be as most protected
as they possibly can.
So for instance, right nowwe're looking at a study
looking atthat is addressing movement
(29:29):
variability and gait.
And so what we do iswe have people who just do
20 gait trialswhere they just walk up and down,
and then we put a static obstaclein front of them, and they have to walk
and then they step over it.
So the idea is, you know,you think that when you walk,
you walk the same way every dayand every step, but you don't,
because if a ball runs in front of youor a bug is coming or the traffic,
(29:53):
the foot traffic is addressedin a certain way.
We don't want to have a whole new plancome in
to, adjust for every little perturbationthat happens.
So you have this window of variabilitythat you have when you walk.
Well, we believe thatas you get closer
to the edge of thosewindows of variability,
that that's where you beginto look at injuries
(30:13):
and that sort of stuff where you've got,almost a cognitive, logjam
where you're trying to figure outhow to handle that situation.
So we have them walk,we have them step over a static obstacle,
and then we have,and, where we have a moving obstacle
that we have a, remotecontrolled car area.
(30:36):
Then we're also looking at,individuals
who that was with, high calf.
So some people have higher,higher calfs or smaller calf muscles.
Does that change your foot structure.
Does that change how strongyour toes are. Do you get it?
Does every changein the position of the muscle
actually yield a greater force?
Productionbecause it has less of a acceleration
(30:57):
road to go through?
And then, we're looking at, whether thethe partnership with Vivo
Barefoot is to see is this,barefoot shoes actually help
people wake up their foot morebecause when we wear these
big, fluffy shoes, you know,the body's the biggest slacker there is.
And if there's a way to,get out of something to not work
(31:19):
hard, it shuts down.
It says, oh,you've got big, fluffy shoes.
I don't have to work so hardwith my intrinsic foot muscles
to engage the groundand have a good force exchange.
So, we're looking to see if a shoe wornperiodically could actually help
reengage the brain foot body connectionand make you a better mover
(31:42):
and engaging some of thethe smaller muscles
in your pelvisthat would help to stabilize your pelvis
and your strengthening.
So those and then we're also workingwith the vet school on the
on the Detection Dogs project, helpingthem, helping the dogs
be healthier in their gait cycle.
So wow, that's incredible.
And it's really cool because like,there's this like poetic thing with like,
(32:03):
that's your connection to the Earthand the planet
and the world that you experience.
And it just cascades all the way up.
Exactly. Incredible.
Well, justthank you for coming here
and just having,you know, a good time, a little chat
with us and teaching usabout sport biomechanics
and how it works.
And nowand I feel like I know a little
bit better now.
I can tell people what it means.
(32:23):
I've learned a few words, what have you.
But before we go, if you could.
What if I'm a studentpending grad student.
So I want to do a where.
How do I find you?
What classes are you teaching?
What if this is somethingI want to get involved in?
What are my steps?
So, we have a website.
The Auburn Universitysport biomechanics lab.
(32:45):
We're over in the first floorof the kinesiology building.
If you Google me.
And I know the famous, well,there was a swimmer one time.
He was an international student,and he tried to
come back into the countryand they're like,
no, you've leftand come back into the country too often.
You're gonna have to stay outfor six months now.
And he's like, no, I'm a swimmer.
(33:06):
And we said, Google me.
I just started laughing so hard.
I actually, that was a great line.
But, yeah.
So if you, if youGoogle Auburn University
biomechanics, the sport biomechanics,you're actually going to find three labs.
There's Doctor Oliver's lab,and she does work
with the upper extremity throwing events.
There's Doctor Roper's lab,who works more with clinical populations
(33:28):
evaluating helping peoplewith Parkinson's
and the elderly move betterand have stay healthier longer.
And then there's uswho are just fascinated by
by movement and, and get involved.
If you're if you have any curiosity,if you want to be involved,
you know,your education is your responsibility.
You have to take that next step.
We're not we can't go outand ask every individual on campus
(33:49):
if they want to be involved in our stuff.
You want to be involved in our stuff?
Drop us a note.
Yeah, this is what's interesting.
Me, you know, and we have a really good,we're kind of the, one of
the the pillars of,orthopedic physical therapy.
And so, understandingthe body mechanics of the body
and the anatomy of the body better.
And the skeletal.
Now we can put you in a better positionto be successful
(34:12):
in those careers as well.
Beautiful. Well.
That's incredible.
Well,maybe we can find you a few more,
few more students,few more, test subjects,
if you will, to come out there and get,you know, figure out
good ways to, Tyler shoes and whatnot.
Thank you for coming. We appreciate it.
Thank you for listening.
And if you enjoyed this,we have more episodes.
So find our podcast hub,or you can find us
(34:34):
wherever you get podcasts.
Listen to our past episodes,and we'll have another one next month.
Speaking to another incredible memberof our of our Auburn family.
And, we'll see you again next time.
So thanks for listening.
Thanks for coming.
War Eagle War Eagle War Eagle.
Weagle Weagle War DamnEagle, Kick ‘em in the butt, Big Blue.
It's Dalton Odomand my co-host Carter too!
Back at the Everything Auburn podcast.
Carter, how's it going?
It's going man,I wasn't ready for it, but it's good.
I'm ready.
That was very loud.
Was it loud? I’m sorry.
It's good, I love it.
That's what you get.
Its just the mic man voice.
I’m sorry.
He's used to the megaphone,I am Im sorry. I suppose.
(00:27):
Well, welcome to it.
Dalton's been torturing mewith this cinnamon broom
for another month.
Yeah.
So if you were here in the last episode,And if you have it,
make sure you go check it out.
We learned that Carter hates cinnamon.
So what I decided to dowas I had a miniature
cinnamon broom in my office.
Just cause I love the fall.
I went and put it on.
I do love the fall unitto try and make it blow cinnamon
(00:49):
air into his office.
It just didn't work.
You found it immediately.
Instantaneously.
I also didn'thave the air conditioning on.
So because apparently I hate things.
Yeah, well, welcome to another one.
And I am very happy to saythat it's not just me
and you talking and wafflingback and forth all day,
but we have an incredible special guest,Wendy Wymer, who, The shoelace
(01:13):
queen herself. If I may,welcome to the podcast.
Thank you.
So, we'll get into it, I'm sure.
But you do have the can.
Is itfair to call you the shoelace Queen?
There's people that compete for that.
Okay.
Sure.
That that's a,I haven't officially been awarded
(01:35):
that title.
You have now.
Outstanding. Yeah. Congratulations.
We should have made it plaqueBut you're big time now, so.
No, no, you are.
You have been, What?
Good morning, America. You've been on.
So you've you've been able toyou've blessed us with our,
you know, rinky dink little show here.
I'm doing my best.
But I appreciate it,you know, coming down here.
(01:56):
But you're doing some really cool.
You're so.
But you actually do researchon shoes and shoe laces,
which is the reason forthe shoelace queen title.
But before we get in there,Dalton has a list of grievances
I think, thathe wanted to share with you.
Which is particularly why we thinkyou're a, a special guest to have here.
So starting out with number one.
(02:17):
So these are all from formerstudents in here. Okay? Okay.
We don't know who said these things,but this is what
they have been anonymized.
Yeah.
But Doctor Wymer, has beenby far my favorite professor
in graduate school at Auburn.
She is driven to help you succeedand will do anything to help
you understand,even if that's a funny YouTube video.
(02:37):
She is awesome and uses phraseslike slice of and wicked cool.
A truly great professor.
Can you explain what slice of pie means?
So just that just, my curiosity.
So a lot of people use the termpiece of cake. Sure.
So piece of cake, slice of pie.
Okay. It is. Do you understand?
Do you feel comfortable with it?
(02:59):
Are you kind of in thatthat zone I love it.
Yeah, yeah, I see I'm a Yankee too.
And so, you know, my my,not that I'm a Yankees fan.
I'm a Red Sox.
Make that clear.
But yes.
Well, because I'm a Red Sox fan.
Right. So, important distinction.
Yes, very much so.
And so some of my phrases are very commonwhere I come from down here, the
you know, it's likefirst time I heard what cattywampus.
(03:22):
Yes, yes.
cattywampus cattywampus.
Yes. That is very southern.
Yeah.
That's how I would describe growing uplike the people, like
I had my next door neighborsand people live on my street.
And the people have cattywampus from me,and they lived right over there.
Yeah. We call that catty corner, so.
Oh, okay. Okay. Cattywampus same thing?
Yeah. So a Wampus is a corner?
(03:42):
Yeah, sure.
I think it works.
One other thing,another student said there there's more.
There's more.
But but wait, there's more, there's more.
I'm a junior at Auburnand she is by a landslide.
The best professor I've had.
Great teacher.
I had her class at 8 a.m.
and I seriously didn't mind waking up.
And that's high praise, right there.
(04:03):
That sure is.
Because let me tell you, those eight.
And they're rough.
They are tough.
They are indeed.
But I think this is part of the reasonwhy we thought you'd be a great person.
Because if you can make an 8 a.m.
class fun for people,then you're doing something right.
Yeah, you really are.
But I did have to askbecause you did mention
you are a self-proclaimed Yankee,not Yankees fan,
(04:26):
but a self-proclaimed Yankee.
That's not very close to Auburn. Nope.
If I may,how did you find yourself
on the Loveliest Village on the Plains?
Yeah. Great question.
Came up with it myself.
I think it's,so as part of my teaching technique
to encourage people.
So, like when they ask questionsto, to support them in that.
(04:48):
So great question.
But it is a great questionabove and beyond that.
So, I had always thoughtthat I would get a PhD.
I started my collegiate careeras, an engineer
and realized thatthat was not my passion.
And universe higher power.
God, whateveryou want to interpret it
to be kept puttingteaching experiences in front of me.
(05:10):
And so I became a teacher,and I really think that
that was my best destiny.
I do think that that'sthat's how I interact
with the worldin addition to my research.
So, when school became a teacher,and then in my senior year
of my going into my senior year,I got hurt
and athletic trainers fix me using them.
(05:32):
And I said, I need to knoweverything that you just did to me
because this was fascinating And that was the day
I became a biomechanicist.
So my undergraduate degree,I had a double major. Double minor.
I was secondary education,physics and chemistry, and then I had a,
minor in math and a minor in theater.
(05:52):
And I had gone into the theaterbecause I thought that would help me
be a better teacher.
I thought if I couldcreate an environment
where the students feel comfortableand have the opportunity to have access.
And what I learned,one of the biggest things I learned
as being a theaterminor was that
the play doesn't happen on the stage.
It's your job.
If you on the stageto create the environment
(06:14):
in the reach of the audience.
And so it really goes onin the to the mind
and the grasp of the audience.
And it's their their jobto come and get it.
So you have to bring it to them,make them to be excited to engage in it.
when I graduated from my master's,I started teaching high school.
Actually, I worked a yearworking with individuals
with traumatic brain injuryto try and help them recovery.
(06:37):
Realized that that was too hard onmy heart.
Yeah.
It's not.
That's not how I interact with the world.
There are some beautiful peoplewho do beautiful things with individuals
who are recovering fromcatastrophic injuries and
whatever you believe,your higher power,
the bless themgive them the energy
(06:59):
and strength to do it.
So I was teaching high school, coaching,field hockey, basketball,
softball, loving my life.
And I started to feel like I was relaxingand I said I could retire from here.
This would be okay.
And I said, do you want to get a PhD?
And I said, I think I do.
And I said, look,I don't care if you change lanes,
but you got to decide.
And I decided and Iapplied to a bunch of places,
(07:20):
and I had no intentionof coming to Auburn.
None. Zero. Okay.
The only reason I applied wasbecause my folks moved to Florida
and I was like, oh,all right, oh, get one close
because I was in Indiana, Penn State.
Sure.
So, we visited Indianaand we're driving back to Florida, and,
my dad said, if I turn right here,I can be in Auburn in an hour.
(07:43):
And I was like, good, Im not going there.
But good for you.
And he said,and my mom said, come on Wen,
you got to look at it.
I was like, oh, well,we drove a college street
and it was beautiful brick.
Now this is 1996, okay.
Beautiful brick buildings.
You right by Samford.
(08:03):
Auburn was still small.
It's smaller than it is now.
Not that it's big now.
Quaint.
Quaint, Quaint. Quaint.
And there were a lot of components of itthat reminded me of a New England town.
Okay.
Yeah.
And then when I wentand I met the professors and I was over
in the school of kinesiology they it was.
I describe itas putting on a jacket that just fits.
(08:26):
Oh, what a what an analogy.
I'm.
Wicked artsy.
So I was like, okay,I think this is where I'm supposed to be.
And I used that storyto tell a lot of students
when they come in, they're like, hey,we're going to school here.
I'm like, you need to find your pathWe need to find where you fit.
(08:50):
And if that's at Auburn, that's awesome.
We're so excitedbecause I truly believe
that a rising tide does lifts.
All boats in the worldcan only be what it's supposed to be
if people arewhere they're supposed to be.
Wow. No, no.
If you want to be here at all,we want to do everything
we can to pick you up.
But if you're supposed to be atIndiana State and we're here for
you to help elevate youbecause that's going
(09:11):
to make the world better.
And that's that's kind of whatI'm trying to do in my little way.
So I'm glad you found Auburn.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
I'm very glad. Yeah.
And then I brought my cynicism and and,New England
crassness down here and, a young ladythat was getting their PhD
when I was getting my PhD here,walked up to me and said, are you a jerk?
(09:34):
Is you prepared for that?
You pretend to me.
I said, well, welcome to Alabama.
And bless her heart.
I said, you know what?
What why why would you say that?
And she said,you never speak in the spoken to
you never look anybody in the eye.
And when somebody asks you a question,you answer it and move on.
(09:56):
And I said,everything you just said
is a survival skill where I come from.
Okay. It's flippin cold up there.
We don't chat outside. Okay?
We answer the questionand then we go inside
and people,the strangest things have happened.
Like one of my doctoral students said,why don't you like my wife?
And I said, I like your wife. She's fine.
And he said, well,how come every time she calls,
(10:17):
you just give the phone to me?
Just what do you mean, exactly?
I was like,because she wanted to talk to you,
not to me.
So. And so.
Yeah. You have to chat.
So there's that. You got to.
You got to figure outhow to do some chatty Cathy's around.
(10:38):
Yeah, yeah.
So if I carry that up,some people make podcasts and everything.
What jerks.
I know, I go back up northand they're like,
did you get to the point?
Which is probably kind of likefor the problem right here.
So now I'm gonnaanswer your biomechanics question.
Oh, please. Yes.
It's complicated.
So the 50 cent definition of biomechanicsis the application
of mechanical principlesto biological systems.
(11:00):
Okay. That does not help a lot.
It's a lot of syllables.
Feel free to do that okay.
So what people use biomechanics.
So think about an engineer.
Those tools to study movement.
And that's what we did.
So and there's people that studygeckos walking, roaches walking.
(11:24):
Oh yeah.
Mice.
And matter of fact, I just got aI was on a call today.
A faculty member wants me to help them.
Study the gate of chickens,you know, casual Wednesday.
Yeah, yeah.
What an interesting phone callthat would be.
Well, and that's one of the reasonswhy I love my job, you know,
because the Raptor Centerwill call us and say, hey,
(11:46):
can you come overand take a look at this Eagle?
It was hit by a car.
We're not sureif it has arthritis in its wings.
And if we can release itback into the into the.
Well,I mean, now they make the decisions.
They're the veterinarians.
I'm not saying we did,but we do contribute to them, you know?
Yeah.
We work for the swim team.
We've I worked with a bunch of Olympianson the swim team and the track team, and,
and we just give that feedback,to the coaches and to the athletes,
(12:10):
and they kind employ that. So. Yeah.
And we basically apply Newton'slaws of motion
to how people move, likethere was a stroke or
his name was Mark GangloffAnd I,
we used to work with DavidMarsh way back in the day,
and we'd go over.
It was a lot of fun.
We have an underwater camera.
We put a TV on the side of the pooland we walk next to them.
(12:31):
And so they're they're strokes.
And then theperson would lean on the edge of the pool
and watch the TV and the coach and say,what do you see?
And I'd say, I see this.
And then he'd say to the athlete,get your elbow higher.
You know, really cool stuff.
Yeah. And he went with Mark Gangloff.
We pointed out the, thewhat are the deficits in his stroke?
(12:51):
He and I'm not taking credit.
I'm saying that I provided an idea.
Okay.
He's the one who worked from the timehe was six
to the time he was, however, when he,you know, won his gold medals.
So he went from number 13and 17 of the world to, number three.
Well,Michael Phelps, I'm one of the.
So that's the keybecause understanding like the human body
(13:15):
and how it moves is one thing.
But if I may.
Yeah, you'renot a expert at knowing
the proper technique for swimming,but how does it translate to know like,
I know how the arm and the leg and the,you know, shoulder and everything moves.
But to knowhow it translate to a sport that,
you don't just notyou're not you're
not an athlete in that sport.
(13:35):
How do you do that? Yeah.
Great question.
And so what I tell peoplewhen I go to work with swimmers,
is that what I know about swimmingis how not to drown. Okay.
That's a good that's a good skill.
If you start on that, say sure. Okay.
And but they didn'tthey didn't care about me, knowing
the intricacies of,you know, the breaststroke
(13:58):
kick, which I thinkis really bothersome to me
in my propulsive mode,you know, when I'm like, dude,
why would you do that?
It's like, it can do.
You have to do that?
Yeah, we have to do that.
Well, all right.
So because the tools are the tools.
Okay, they're the same toolsthat a mechanical engineer applies
(14:21):
when they're trying to build,a car or a,
a a dolly system for your camera.
Sure. Okay.
So decreasing the friction,improving and making a better wheel,
those sorts of stuff, those rules.
I'm just applying themto a different set of conditions. Okay.
Okay.
So, my dad was an engineer.
(14:43):
My brother's an engineer.
I fell in love with sciencewhen the Tacoma Narrows Bridge fell.
Because I didn't think concreteand steel could bend
and twist that much before,and still stay intact.
Yeah, it eventually failed,but that was
that was one of my first thingsthat really kind of
got me in that direction.
So incredible. Interesting.
(15:04):
Well, then.
So another thing I want to askis because I did kind of
tease this earlier with the shoelaces, you've done a lot of work in like,
I don't know what the right wordyou'd know
better in like walking gates, posture,how you're
you were telling us beforeabout how you tie your shoelace affects
and cascades up the whole body and,can you tell me
(15:28):
what's the right way to tie my shoe?
Okay. Was.
Let's let's get into it.
There you go.
And it's all for different things.
And if you have, like.
Okay, so let's go back to the beginning.
Let's do it first of all,I would like to thank Auburn University
for giving me the opportunityto run the lab the way I run my lab.
(15:51):
And I, I came inand kind of part of the old school
and a lot of labshave a very specific line of research
where they might havea clinical population
that they pay attention to.
I have been giftedthe opportunity to be diversified.
Okay.
Here's the bottom line for me.
(16:12):
I love biomechanicsand I love to do everything
I possibly can with it,which is why we've done
birds and dogs and horses and people.
It's a pretty wide breadth. Yeah.
And now maybe even chickensnow apparently.
Yeah. Yeah.
I mean that's that's anyway, that's all.
So one of the things that theevolution of my doctoral students
(16:34):
is they come in, they work on a projectthat's going on in the lab,
then they take on a smallproject of their own,
and then they follow usinto their dissertation.
So one of the things we used to dowhen we were over in the Coliseum,
they would have a lot ofcheerleading camps
going on in the Coliseum.
And so cheer.
Yeah, it's full circle.
Look at us. We're doing it.
We're we're doing it.
It's a family.
(16:54):
Auburn family.
It's real, it's real.
That is so real.
It truly is. I've just.
And now we've really gone on.
I said I've, Iso I went to Auburn, worked Auburn
I left for few years and I came backand everyone likes to joke about them
and it's the Auburn familything is like kind of cliche.
And I don't thinkAuburn is only people who
use that terminology.
(17:16):
However, aslame as it sounds, it it's real.
It really is.
And it's like you can't explain it.
No, it does a little bit.
It does a little bit, but it is real.
It's, it's it's a physical thingthat you feel walking around on campus
seeing someonewith the Auburn shirt on like it does
do something.
(17:37):
So on campus I expected.
You know if I was on any campusI would expect somebody was here.
That was you bump intooh buddy I'm sorry you know or
hey great game last nightwhere you go okay cool. No problem.
I'm talking about how the Auburnfamily permeates outside of the campus.
So againbeing the suspiciously New Englander
(17:58):
that I am when I first,when I went home
from my first Christmas breakand I had an Auburn shirt on
and somebody yelled War Eagle at me,I dropped back ready for fight,
I was like, You want to go?
Lets, you feeling froggy Kermit?
Just jump. Let’s go. You know?
So, I got all upset, and I was likewhat are you doing
the guy looked at meand he’s like War Eagle!
I'm like, Hey!because I had heard War Eagle Hey!
(18:22):
I wasn't up on the lingo.
It’s a call and response,That’s right, so I came back
and I told the storyand people pounded the table much
and laughed as much likeyou guys did like
you're such a dodo head.
Yeah, I was sobut that was my first thing.
So now I've been all over the country.
I've been all over the world.
And if I'm wearing Auburn gear,I it there.
(18:45):
People walk up to meand this is the difference too.
So I was in DC and this guywith a lot of medals on his chest
walked by me very closelyand very quietly, said War Eagle.
War Eagle.
And is this going to sound stupid?
But I felt safer. Yeah, him.
Right then I was like,somebody got my back. Yeah.
(19:05):
I believed in my heart right thenthat if I turned that guy
and I was like, hey,that he would stop and take a minute
and you know,tell me how not to be lost or whatever
it is. Yeah.
And that has happened to memultiple times.
And I tell these people,not these people.
I tell people these storiesand they tell me
stories, unbelievable stories about,you know,
(19:26):
flying out to Californiafor the ball game and,
you know, thethe husband, the wife couldn't fly.
And the 15 year,the 20 year old daughter
was going to fly out and meet the father.
Will the father get caught in weather?
And so these peoplewho were sitting next to her
when she heard her storysaid, we'll take you.
And they just drove her inand then they all had dinner together.
(19:48):
I mean, it really is it's a real thing.
And I yeah.
And like I said,you can't tell the story without it
sounding a little cult like.
And yeah,that when that man yelled War Eagle,
my mom wanted to fight him too.
She doesn't play, you know, that's justthat's just the thing, you know,
she knows middlepeople with the middle name The.
(20:09):
oh, that's good.
You know,just please just give her a wide berth.
Yeah.
So yeah, we've had a couple of notit doesn't matter.
We should.
Anyway, sorry,but you were talking about.
You were talking about shoes.
We're talking about shoes,War Eagle everybody. Sorry.
That's so my, My doctorial student is.
(20:29):
So we wouldwe would go out and we would watch,
the first day of camp,we would watch the young ladies
perform and dance and do their things.
and men.
Excuse me.
Yeah. No disrespect.
None at all. Disrespect.
None at all.
And, they would walk inand their flip flops.
Then they would don their appropriatecheer shoes and do their thing,
(20:50):
and then they would don their flip flops.
And I was like,they walk different in flip flops
than they do in their shoes.
Yeah.
And nobody had talked about that.
And whether it was good for you or notand that kind of thing.
Yeah.
And so the purposethat we would go in there
and watch them on Mondayand then predict
who would be hurt by Thursday.
And then what a fun gamebased on the deficits
(21:12):
that we would noticeand weaknesses and things.
And we're like, oh, you knowlike a coordination issue.
And then we would go back and seeif our predictions were correct.
A coordination issue like that one,it looks clumsy.
It's not about that.
It's aboutthe coordination can be associated.
And this is why we do our job.
So if if we were at a sports teamor if we had a cheer team,
(21:34):
we would walk up and we wouldthen talk to the strength
and conditioning coach and say,hey, this is
a deficit in your performance.
This could actually lead them to injury.
And so we believe that,if you do X, Y, and Z or work on x, y, z,
they potentially could avoid injuryand become a better performer.
And so that'sand what I was doing
was teaching my studentshow to analyze motion,
(21:55):
how to identify breakdownsin form and technique.
And again, like I said,I don't know a lot about swimming,
but I know a lot about the,the the rules of the road.
You know,that Newton's laws are going to tell us.
Yeah.
And there's an equal opposite reaction.
If your action is bad,you're going to get a bad reaction.
So it's all that kind of stuff.
And so we noticed the whole flipflop shoe thing.
(22:15):
And so my junior projectfor one of my students was to,
to compare walking in sneakersto walking in flip flops.
Cool. We did it.
We wrote itup, we submitted it to,
National Conference WebMDand picked it up
and it went absolutely viral.
The Office of Communications Management,communications marketing,
(22:37):
that's that's us.
That's us they stopped countingat 600 million interactions
with our research.
We actually got an award that yearfor the most positive interactions
with Auburn University. Wow. Yeah.
That's a that is truly incredible.
Yeah.
Well, and we got phone calls fromthe BBC, from Australia, from India, from
the West coast.
(22:57):
And people were just curious about this.
And then I was at the pool.
As a matter of fact,I got a phone call from one by
the faculty members that are colleaguesand they said, when,
Good MorningAmerica wants to talk about
the whole flip flop thing.
And I was like, look,I am really busy right now.
I don't have time for jokes.
We can talk laterand come back to doing what I was doing.
(23:18):
And he calls me backand he's like, I'm serious.
And I'm like, come on, really?
And they're like, yeah.
So he gave me the information.
And so we did the wholeGood Morning America thing. It was great.
But that got even more attention.
That was cool.
And so, that wasthat was how we evolved into that.
So then the next step waswe were doing research
(23:39):
and more researchabout flip flops and things like that.
And I ran into,that got me in one with Dana Marquez.
Used to be the equipment director herefor athletics. Dana. Oh, fascinating.
Fascinating guy.
I've received a lot of shoes from him.
So.
So they were at the end of the seasonor the end of their fiscal year.
They'll give us shoesthat we can do research on.
(24:01):
So we can do that,which is tremendous
because shoes cost money.
And so for us to be ableto do these things and so we can
and right nowwe're working on a partnership
with, barefoot to do minimalist shoes.
And you also talk about the lacing stuffthere where there's
actually a lacing survey projectthat we're doing right now
that's out there,and there's QR codes
all over the placethat if you go to our website, there
(24:25):
you go scan the QR code.
Yeah.
So, I talk we were talking to Danaand we were talking about them being able
to take advantageof the qualities of the shoe,
you know, like the archsupport, the grip of the toes,
the heel cup, those sorts of stuff.
And he said, well, you know,you can tie the shoe differently
to take advantage of that.
(24:46):
And my mind wasyou used to be a first commercial
where the head blew offand purple just came out.
It was purple dusted.
Oh yeah.
And, so I was I was likesomebody had given me permission
to unlock.
And like,I never even thought about tying my.
Yeah, I talked Dana.
And so Dana started to introduceus to ways to tie your shoes to,
(25:08):
to keep the foot more engaged.
And that's the beginning of it. Right.
So thethere's a, called The Runners loop
where you tie the top of the,the top to eyelets of your shoes
a little bit differently.
And what it doesis it sinks the heel cup in
and you're,it engages the heel of your foot
and the heel cup of the shoe betterso that it's more connected.
(25:29):
And it doesn't feel likeyour foot is in a shoe
hitting the ground.
It feels like your foot shoeis hitting the ground.
It's one unit, okay.
And so we do that for,cleats and shoes and that sort of stuff.
But if somebody has turf toe,if somebody had a,
you know, a lot of runners will get,what's it called,
(25:49):
a bruise on their big toenail.
Oh, yeah.
You can replace your,your sneakers
to take the pressure off your big toe.
And we've done this with,we worked with a doctor one time
who was, having neuropathy symptomsat the end of the day,
and he had triedevery shooting on demand.
He had gone barefoot.
He had done everything,and it just kept happening.
And so we retied his shoesand took some of the pressure
(26:13):
and guided his foota little bit differently.
He called us two weeks later.
He said, I can't believe it.
Wow, I don't know this.
You guys are magic.
I think you did some voodoo thing on us.
Well, you might have.
We're not allowed to talk it.
That's the secret sauce.
I do think it's remarkable.
Like how the.
I think you said I never.
I've tied my shoesthe same way every single
(26:34):
time my entire life.
And, frankly, I don't wantyou to see how I've tied my shoes,
because I feel like you'dprobably be appalled.
But you said there's 214,depending on the number of items
on your shoe.
Of those 214, give or take.
How many do you know that you could do?
Do you have like, memorized?
(26:55):
How many?
How many different wayscan you tie your shoes right now
without looking one up?
So ish.
I'm just now I'm just really curious.
Okay.
So it'sthe it's the application of techniques
at different locationsalong the eyelet range.
Oh, that the way they come upwith the math for that.
And, you know,this is the other reason
why I'm a little uncomfortablewhen you say that I'm the queen of lacing
(27:18):
because there is a guy out of Australiaand I think he's called
Doctor Shoelace or something.
Oh, did I, did I, did I hit a copyright?
I don't know man, I don't Iyeah yeah okay.
It's all about peace,love and understanding. Good to know
okay.
Yeah.
Because we wantto bind with the shoe laces.
Yeah.
Everybody climbs a tree.
Nobody falls off.
(27:38):
That's.
Soso it's basically kind of a runner's
loop technique that we appliedto put the force
at a different point along the shoeto give you better.
Like if you have a tendencyto fall off the outside of your shoe,
we would tie your shoesdifferently along that
(28:00):
outside border of youryour laces, support over there.
And so all of this goes backto taking advantage of the science
that's in the shoe,and then also taking advantage
of the lines of force and lines of actionthat can help,
you be more engaged with your,with your shoe and foot interface and
that's, yeah, that's that'skind of what we will be trying to do with
(28:22):
I, we know one thing that,the School of Kinesiology does,
they, they have thesports lab, and Carter
and I have both had the opportunityto go down there,
and it's extremely cool space.
So if you don't mind touching on thata little bit
and just telling the peoplewhat you'll do down there.
Oh, yeah.
So my lab has three prongs of activitieswe work in.
(28:45):
First of all, we teach wewe do motion analysis,
movement analysis to helppeople be better movers.
And then we have a research people.
And so that's the part of the trainingwith my doctoral students.
Now with regard to our research,we are primarily a lower extremity lab.
Who needs that sort of stuff.
So we do studies that,contribute to, people performing better
(29:07):
and hopefully by performing better,putting them in a better position
to avoid injuries.
Like, you know,there's a lot of people that are like,
oh, can you can you prevent injuries?
You know, okay. Butright now we just can't do that.
But we can help people.
B to developan armor to be as most protected
as they possibly can.
So for instance, right nowwe're looking at a study
looking atthat is addressing movement
(29:29):
variability and gait.
And so what we do iswe have people who just do
20 gait trialswhere they just walk up and down,
and then we put a static obstaclein front of them, and they have to walk
and then they step over it.
So the idea is, you know,you think that when you walk,
you walk the same way every dayand every step, but you don't,
because if a ball runs in front of youor a bug is coming or the traffic,
(29:53):
the foot traffic is addressedin a certain way.
We don't want to have a whole new plancome in
to, adjust for every little perturbationthat happens.
So you have this window of variabilitythat you have when you walk.
Well, we believe thatas you get closer
to the edge of thosewindows of variability,
that that's where you beginto look at injuries
(30:13):
and that sort of stuff where you've got,almost a cognitive, logjam
where you're trying to figure outhow to handle that situation.
So we have them walk,we have them step over a static obstacle,
and then we have,and, where we have a moving obstacle
that we have a, remotecontrolled car area.
(30:36):
Then we're also looking at,individuals
who that was with, high calf.
So some people have higher,higher calfs or smaller calf muscles.
Does that change your foot structure.
Does that change how strongyour toes are. Do you get it?
Does every changein the position of the muscle
actually yield a greater force?
Productionbecause it has less of a acceleration
(30:57):
road to go through?
And then, we're looking at, whether thethe partnership with Vivo
Barefoot is to see is this,barefoot shoes actually help
people wake up their foot morebecause when we wear these
big, fluffy shoes, you know,the body's the biggest slacker there is.
And if there's a way to,get out of something to not work
(31:19):
hard, it shuts down.
It says, oh,you've got big, fluffy shoes.
I don't have to work so hardwith my intrinsic foot muscles
to engage the groundand have a good force exchange.
So, we're looking to see if a shoe wornperiodically could actually help
reengage the brain foot body connectionand make you a better mover
(31:42):
and engaging some of thethe smaller muscles
in your pelvisthat would help to stabilize your pelvis
and your strengthening.
So those and then we're also workingwith the vet school on the
on the Detection Dogs project, helpingthem, helping the dogs
be healthier in their gait cycle.
So wow, that's incredible.
And it's really cool because like,there's this like poetic thing with like,
(32:03):
that's your connection to the Earthand the planet
and the world that you experience.
And it just cascades all the way up.
Exactly. Incredible.
Well, justthank you for coming here
and just having,you know, a good time, a little chat
with us and teaching usabout sport biomechanics
and how it works.
And nowand I feel like I know a little
bit better now.
I can tell people what it means.
(32:23):
I've learned a few words, what have you.
But before we go, if you could.
What if I'm a studentpending grad student.
So I want to do a where.
How do I find you?
What classes are you teaching?
What if this is somethingI want to get involved in?
What are my steps?
So, we have a website.
The Auburn Universitysport biomechanics lab.
(32:45):
We're over in the first floorof the kinesiology building.
If you Google me.
And I know the famous, well,there was a swimmer one time.
He was an international student,and he tried to
come back into the countryand they're like,
no, you've leftand come back into the country too often.
You're gonna have to stay outfor six months now.
And he's like, no, I'm a swimmer.
(33:06):
And we said, Google me.
I just started laughing so hard.
I actually, that was a great line.
But, yeah.
So if you, if youGoogle Auburn University
biomechanics, the sport biomechanics,you're actually going to find three labs.
There's Doctor Oliver's lab,and she does work
with the upper extremity throwing events.
There's Doctor Roper's lab,who works more with clinical populations
(33:28):
evaluating helping peoplewith Parkinson's
and the elderly move betterand have stay healthier longer.
And then there's uswho are just fascinated by
by movement and, and get involved.
If you're if you have any curiosity,if you want to be involved,
you know,your education is your responsibility.
You have to take that next step.
We're not we can't go outand ask every individual on campus
(33:49):
if they want to be involved in our stuff.
You want to be involved in our stuff?
Drop us a note.
Yeah, this is what's interesting.
Me, you know, and we have a really good,we're kind of the, one of
the the pillars of,orthopedic physical therapy.
And so, understandingthe body mechanics of the body
and the anatomy of the body better.
And the skeletal.
Now we can put you in a better positionto be successful
(34:12):
in those careers as well.
Beautiful. Well.
That's incredible.
Well,maybe we can find you a few more,
few more students,few more, test subjects,
if you will, to come out there and get,you know, figure out
good ways to, Tyler shoes and whatnot.
Thank you for coming. We appreciate it.
Thank you for listening.
And if you enjoyed this,we have more episodes.
So find our podcast hub,or you can find us
(34:34):
wherever you get podcasts.
Listen to our past episodes,and we'll have another one next month.
Speaking to another incredible memberof our of our Auburn family.
And, we'll see you again next time.
So thanks for listening.
Thanks for coming.
War Eagle War Eagle War Eagle.
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