Physics of Activites 001: Put your Feet Fore-ward!

Ever walked to a point where you start to feel as if you have a pike stuck in your heel every time you take a step?

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I wear a pair of heavy safety boots daily and I realized a change in my walking patterns. I used to walk landing with the forefoot but now as the weight of the shoe shifted my body weight to rest on my heel, I began to experience tingling pain in my heel area. The heel is a very important part of the foot and when it hurts staying active is hard.

Most people tend to heel strike while walking as well and although it is natural, putting your whole weight on it can have detrimental damages in the long run, not to mention that it makes us overstride as well.

After extensive research, turns out, walking with your fore foot has lots of benefits! Having a forefoot landing before a step can have a positive effect on how we walk and run.

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1. Switching to the Fore Gives you good running form, Sprinters are recommended to run with the forefoot and rarely do you see a sprinter run with the heel (if ever). This is because running with the fore foot gives you better cushioning and shock absorption properties from the impact on the ground.

2. This habit also tenses and relax certain body parts more. This means that the calves, feet and glutes, and core get strengthened more.

3. It promotes better posture as you will tend to arch your back more and you will be more aware of how your muscles work.

4. Naturally you will develop a quicker pace and it makes you light on your feet. Parkour, Taekwondo and other agile sports and activities recommend you to move with the ball of your feet.

It would be worth the money to invest in insoles and gel heel support as it tends to eliminate the hard-heel strike and employ something closer to a mid-strike passively.

I have friends who are flat footers and you may find it hard to adopt this change in habit but I do recommend it as flat footers tend to shift the whole body weight to the back. Striking the floor with the fore foot first slightly shifts the body weight back to the center thus making you more athletically capable.

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Practice walking and running with the fore foot and perhaps you'll see an improvement to you're physical health? Do you have some interesting

If You've missed out on my previous posts:
Random Musings 001: Declutter
Random Musings 000: Engage

References

http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/index4.html

http://www.runbare.com/900/the-3-strides-of-barefoot-walking