learning to walk
There was an interesting article in NY Mag recently, on walking. Specifically, how because of shoes, we walk in a way that is seriously damaging us. By age 40, 80% of us have some muscular-skeletal foot or ankle problem. By 50-55 that goes up to 90-95%.
Basically, because we're used to wearing shoes, we walk such that our heel hits the ground first, which sends massive shock into our ankles, knees & hips. Ideal would be to be barefoot and walk properly, but this is hardly practical in a city.
One of the possible solutions they do mention is the Vivo Barefoot. It looks like this:
It's basically a fancy schmancy moccasin. Puncture proof 3mm thick kevlar sole, extra wide (so you can use your toes when walking), so light & flexible you can roll them up.
Walking around Manhattan in my boots for 6 hours at a stretch resulted in me having pain in my hips. For a guy my age, this is somewhat disconcerting. It got me thinking more seriously about walking.
So, when I was in London, I picked up a couple of pairs of these shoes. On, they look like this:
('scuse the filthy mirror)
I wore them around town today, and the first few blocks, I've gotta say, it HURT. I felt every step as my heel slammed into the ground. Even more interesting was watching my body roll around, trying to figure out how to move itself so the pain would stop. Within half an hour or so, I found myself instinctively fox walking (longish but interesting article on learning to walk). I need to practice more, but so far it resulted in near zero impact of ANY kind on my heel or ankle (in fact, my ankle just kisses the ground), and a definite feeling of using my calves, abs and thighs.. but then, that's what they're there for, right? Once I'd settled into it, the immediate tactile feedback was very like getting reflexology with every step. Can't wait to see what THAT clears.
In other news, I bought some fruit & veg today:
hot damn I can't wait to dig into that lot.
I figure that should last me 3 or 4 days. I'm also keeping track of my calorie count (a concerned friend in the UK was worried I wasn't taking enough in & insisted I track it for a week). That should be interesting too.
Basically, because we're used to wearing shoes, we walk such that our heel hits the ground first, which sends massive shock into our ankles, knees & hips. Ideal would be to be barefoot and walk properly, but this is hardly practical in a city.
One of the possible solutions they do mention is the Vivo Barefoot. It looks like this:
It's basically a fancy schmancy moccasin. Puncture proof 3mm thick kevlar sole, extra wide (so you can use your toes when walking), so light & flexible you can roll them up.
Walking around Manhattan in my boots for 6 hours at a stretch resulted in me having pain in my hips. For a guy my age, this is somewhat disconcerting. It got me thinking more seriously about walking.
So, when I was in London, I picked up a couple of pairs of these shoes. On, they look like this:
('scuse the filthy mirror)
I wore them around town today, and the first few blocks, I've gotta say, it HURT. I felt every step as my heel slammed into the ground. Even more interesting was watching my body roll around, trying to figure out how to move itself so the pain would stop. Within half an hour or so, I found myself instinctively fox walking (longish but interesting article on learning to walk). I need to practice more, but so far it resulted in near zero impact of ANY kind on my heel or ankle (in fact, my ankle just kisses the ground), and a definite feeling of using my calves, abs and thighs.. but then, that's what they're there for, right? Once I'd settled into it, the immediate tactile feedback was very like getting reflexology with every step. Can't wait to see what THAT clears.
In other news, I bought some fruit & veg today:
hot damn I can't wait to dig into that lot.
I figure that should last me 3 or 4 days. I'm also keeping track of my calorie count (a concerned friend in the UK was worried I wasn't taking enough in & insisted I track it for a week). That should be interesting too.