In last week’s post (5 Mistakes People Make When Walking) — a somewhat self indulgent story to set the stage for these next 5 posts — I mentioned that I had an additional reason for being exceptionally aware of how I use my feet.
I’ve had bunions ever since I can remember. Additionally, in the summertime if we were ever barefoot, it was only because our feet were wet and I remember everyone else’s wet footprints on the patio stones looked like this:
My footprints looked like this:
I had flat feet. Something just seemed wrong about this and it bothered me.
Oma’s feet
My German grandmother (Oma) lived far away in Berlin and so I only saw her a few times in my life. One of the more vivid memories I have of her is of the two of us sitting on a bench in the backyard. I couldn’t have been older than 5. She was having a heart to heart talk with me about my feet. Her feet looked very similar to my feet, only hers were quite a bit more gnarled, but we both had bunions. Oma used to be a postal carrier when she was younger and her route was 100% by foot, so she knew about being on her feet.
That day in the backyard with my Oma, I learned from her that it was very important to exercise the toes by wiggling them and grabbing things like towels and clothes and picking up things off the floor — like pencils — all with my toes! She also explained that I could make my footprints look like the other kids’ and decrease my bunions by doing these toe and foot strengthening exercises.
She was very serious about it and I was only 5 or 6 but I felt very special to have one-on-one time with this woman who was a little mysterious to me, and so the message stuck. Come to think of it, the sight of her feet and the fear that my feet would look like hers in the future probably made a bigger impression.
Of course she was right and that awareness about needing to build toe and foot strength served me well. I still have bunions but thanks to diligent work to maintain connection with my foot muscles, I’ve maintained dexterity in my toes and arches. This has helped me have the ability to intentionally reduce my bunions and create an arch that does actually support my full weight on each foot without flattening. But it takes effort. When I walk, my toes and arches are intentionally grasping the ground with each step. That’s the only way to manage the otherwise potentially painful joint dysfunction from a weak and collapsing foot.
Shoes and poop
Understanding more now from my time with anatomy, physiology and kinesiology, I’ve come to understand that our modern foot lifestyle — wearing shoes, and being largely inactive compared with our ancestors — has created generations of people with feet that have only ever been trained to behave like hooves.
We stuff them into shoes. We teach our kids to “sit still” and some parents, like my own did, don’t allow kids to run around barefoot. There are many good reasons to wear shoes. For one, walking on poop contaminated ground can expose us to a parasite known as hookworm. You might think “surely this isn’t something to worry about in a developed country!”. But it’s not as uncommon as you think. (Here’s a news story from 2017 about it).
And while I’m on a tangent, there’s an interesting twist: new research is raising the possibility that hookworm might actually protect against autoimmune disease!1
But I digress.
Homework for you
Before we start thinking about the other 4 walking mistakes (Limb Flinging/Bones as Meat Hangers/Fashion Runway Walk/Bad Stretch Timing), I want you to spend time physically and mentally with your feet.
Until next week, your homework is to wiggle your toes inside your shoes at every opportunity. Whether your walking, standing or sitting, wiggle those toes! But don’t stop there. Play with all 5 of these things:
- Scrunch & Release…scrunch all your toes up at once and release. Repeat frequently
- Be a Toe-Tapper…try to tap one toe at a time — even if you can’t, just the effort is important. Your feet are capable of being just as coordinated as your fingers. If you jammed your hands into hard small boxes all your life — they’d be just as clumsy.
- Short Foot…see if you can make your foot shorter — create a space under your arch. (imagine there’s a thumbtack under the middle of your foot that you want to avoid without lifting your toes)
- Yoga Foot…Think of your feet as having 3 corners (big toe / little toe / heel) and try to apply pressure evenly through all 3 points. If you’ve done yoga you’ve probably hear this way of thinking about your foot support to help with balance poses.
- Roll it out…after all this good effort, the bottom of your foot deserves a massage. See if you can find a bumpy ball or roll (like these) and while sitting, use it to roll around on with the bottom of your foot.
If your shoes don’t allow for the first 4 activities, they’re probably too tight and you should think about joining the movement towards wide toe box designs. Some examples of popular brands are Altra, Hoka and Birkenstock. Dansko is also not a bad option. I personally, don’t feel comfortable in the raised heel but Dansko is a very popular brand among nurses who know about being on their feet all day. (What are your favorite shoes?)
Please stop treating your feet like hooves
All of us should be using our foot muscles with some combination of the above 5 activities daily. When we activate the feet, we help our lower leg and ankle muscles get stronger.
The increased activity in the foot, ankle and leg muscles will improve your circulation. Muscle activity (motion) plays a huge role in helping the blood return to your heart for re-oxygenation. It’s a long trip from your feet back to your heart. So this is not just about your feet.
When the feet and lower leg are strong and able to do more of their share of walking and standing, hips and low back get a break.
All of this foot awareness will make recovery from the other 4 walking mistakes much easier!
Join me next week for a look at Limb Flinging 🙂
[As originally published on medium.com/@yalingliouon April 22nd, 2022]
Full Disclosure: Some of the shoe links are affiliate links at Amazon where I might get a small percentage of the purchase if you were to purchase something directly from that link
5 Mistakes People Make When Walking
