Walk Strong on your...Feet?

The foundation of good health begins with a sound structure of the feet.

Feet are designed to support the weight of our entire body. When we are balanced, the right and left sides of your body appear as mirror images across the center line of your body. Our feet point straight ahead and our head rests directly above our shoulders.

Most of our feet are deformed by pre-school age; 85% from a study in Japan, 76% from Austria, and 600,000 forefoot surgeries are performed in USA every year because of shoes. 2 million years of evolution created the perfect foot. A few hundred years of narrow toe boxes, heels, and 50 years of cushioning has not changed that original blueprint. Yet our modern lives, with less movement, as well as cushioned supportive restrictive shoes, have led us to poor foot development and health.

The biggest, influences on the form and function of our feet are the shoes we wear. This is because the shoes we wear affect how we move. Our all-terrain, mobile nature is made possible by the combined movements of the ankle and foot joints. The support required for these joints are the ligaments combined with the strength of the surrounding muscles. No shock absorbers you say? That’s where the arches come in. When properly walking, the foot’s contact with the ground will send impact waves right up the bones of the lower leg to the top of the body.

No shoes, no matter what the price or the brand, will cure foot problems. At best they camouflage the dysfunction. A shoes artificial sole robs the foot of its ability to flex and extend fully and to read the terrain beneath. The best thing you can do for your feet is to get them out of shoes whenever possible. Do as much walking as possible on your bare feet. You can also do foot stretches and exercises to regain strength and mobility in your feet.

It is never too late once you are committed to your health.