Are your feet able to do what they were designed to do?
As winter brings about heavier rains and, consequently, thicker and heavier footwear*, it’s vital that we remember not to neglect taking care of our feet.
No, I’m not talking about pedicures (though fully support you rocking one if that’s your thing). I’m talking about foot and toe strength and mobility.
Did you know that each foot is made up of [generally] 26 bones, 30 joints, more than 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments, and over 200,000 sensory nerve endings? Unfortunately, however, most people in the Western World have been shoved into inflexible, cushioned shoes since before they could even walk.
We not only lose out on the vast benefits of the sensory input our feet typically get from the ground, our perfectly engineered foot and toe joints suffer with a lack of mobility-- or usable range of motion.
Why should you care?
Our feet are the starting point of our kinetic change (basically, everything in our body responsible for movement). They’re our foundation. Would you want to live in a house built on a poor foundation? Think of all the issues that might cause to each subsequent layer built upon it.
Now relate that to your feet and the rest of your body.
If your feet can’t do what they’re designed to do (for example, absorb ground forces and transfer them to other areas that are also built to absorb forces), the rest of the joints in our bodies are at greater risk of injury.
That is amplified during impact activities.
Now, I AM NOT suggesting you suddenly go out and buy “barefoot shoes” and go running in them. This would be even more dangerous to your body if you have not yet progressively built up your foot strength and mobility.
What I AM saying, is to try to add some foot and toe action to your day, THINK about how your footwear and [lack of] foot mobility/strength may affect your body, and then make gradual, specific steps towards retraining your foot to be able to do what they were made to do.
Check out my article next week when I give you some tips on how to bring some life back into your feet :).