The Windlass Mechanism

I'm going to figure the next couple of weeks is going to be of small tidbits of the Weingroff CD. He goes into this short section on the Windlass Mechanism and I wasn't too familiar so I did some research.

The Windlass (pronounced wind-less)mechanism.

From Asics Tech:
"The Windlass Mechanism is the coordinated action of the layers of muscle, tendon, ligament and bony architecture, to maintain arch height and foot rigidity . Without correct windlass function, the foot will not act as an efficient lever, and effective push off power cannot be achieved at the end of the stance phase."
It is made up on the calcaneus, the midtarsal, and the first metatarsophalangeal (which also has an additional feature of 2 sesamoid bones)

A really cool video on the Windlass Mechanism:


This may sound like pointless information but if you think of the consequences up the chain for an immobile big toe or even a temporary stubbed toe for a runner that packs in miles, it really is something to consider in training.