12/06/2015
Steps 6438
Water 6
You
heard me, get off the damn sidewalk.
This
is something I've been telling folks for nearly 40 years, since my
days of running barefoot. (that will be another post)
"Why
should I do that?" You ask. "It's smooth, flat and safe."
Well,
you just answered your own question.
Pavement
is smooth, flat, safe and hard. None of these are good for you, your
feet and most importantly, your bones.
The
biggest culprit is hard. Why do you think shoes have so much
padding? Those super thick soles and cushy shoe liners are an effort
to compensate for the unyielding surface of pavement.
You've
heard the old saying "like hitting a brick wall." Well,
that's what happens to your body with every step. Doubly so when
you're running or jogging.
Most
research on footwear has always been an effort to try and deal with
the problem of how to lower the impact of every step you take on
pavement.
It's
not just sidewalks and parking lots, but nearly every modern building
except for your house, has cement floors.
They may be covered with
tile, carpeting or wood laminate, but they are still rock hard and
unyielding cement underneath.
So
the next time you're out for a walk, especially if you feel any pain,
step to the side and walk in the grass a bit. You'll probably notice
an almost instant lowering of joint pain in the feet and knees.
Be
careful, it's a bit uneven!
Yes,
this is the other reason to get off the pavement! Because it's flat,
smooth and safe.
This
is a long-term problem that most folks, even specialists, have not
grasped yet.
Nature
is always changing, and that means the ground you are walking on.
Every step you take on the grass is different from the next. A tuft
of grass here, a low spot there, a pebble or stick.
"But
that's why I stay on the sidewalk, it's smooth and safe."
Seems
like good logic now, but in 50 years, dead wrong.
If
you've spent most of your life off the grass, you might actually find it
hard to walk on. You might find it a bit unsettling to your sense of
balance. And you'll be right. Not because the ground is uneven, but
because your sense of balance has been atrophied from years of
non-use.
Your
feet are actually the lower sensors for your balance control system.
Your
feet constantly send signals to a your head with every step. A
constant stream of up, down, back, side, bump, soft, hard, etc. All
those signals being regulated by your brain, in an effort to keep you
upright.
Those
are the signals as you walk in nature, on pavement, it's more like
hard, hard, hard, hard. The same signals, day in and day out.
As
time goes by, you may notice a strange uneasiness on grass. You seem
to be unsteady on your feet, and you rush back to the pavement. As
the years go by, you might find yourself stumbling over the smallest
change in that flat, hard world. A crack in the sidewalk, the edge
of the carpet, or even stairs. You start looking for handholds as
you go through your day, railings, walls, table edges and chairs.
Then
one day, for no apparent reason, you just topple over. If you are
lucky, it's just an embarrassing moment as folks come around to help
you backup. If you are not, it's a broken wrist, elbow, or hip and
you are heading to the hospital, rehab or casket.
So,
just like all the other bad habits you've learned over the years,
now's your chance to change another for the better.
Start
taking a few steps off that hard, man-made world, and get back to
nature where you belong.
Get
back on the grass.
KRASH
