Jérémie Agius Reading Osteopath
Last Sunday, April 22nd, London hosted its 37th Annual marathon. Over 50,000 runners took part in this race of just over 26 miles. Many may have done better with an assessment of their feet and orthotics, writes Reading Osteopath Jérémie Agius.
50,000 runners, that means 50,000 pairs of shoes and therefore 100,000 feet striking the ground simultaneously. Now, out of all these feet how many actually work with healthy, and efficient, biomechanics?
Recent research suggests that almost 75% of the population have poor foot mechanics and therefore would benefit from having orthotics in their shoes. Many people are oblivious to the potential benefits of orthotic correction to correct their foot function.
Foot function can affect your whole body
Consider this: your body is designed to work a certain way but it also has an amazing capacity to
adapt to the environment. When you go beyond that capacity to adapt, the body starts spending a lot more energy on trying to just keep up with everything you do. So if we find a way to make your body work more efficiently then your overall performances should really improve.
Have you ever noticed when you train that, some days, as soon as your start running it feels different? You can feel that it’s going to be harder than usual and you don’t really understand why? That’s what happens when your body is overworking, and compensating, for too areas that are not doing their fair share.
CLICK HERE to find out more about Prescription Foot Orthotics in Reading
Your Feet and Orthotics
The body is composed of over 650 skeletal muscles all working in chains. When you run, you obviously use the muscles in your lower limbs and glutes to move your legs but you also need to use your core muscles to stabilise your pelvis and torso. And for all these muscles to work together, they need very precise co-ordination that rely on efficient foot mechanics when you strike the ground.
Considering the research I mentioned earlier, that would mean that a significant number of people could potentially see great improvement in their performance if their foot mechanics was better. This is exactly what foot orthotics are supposed to do. They don’t change the shape of your feet, it very simply helps to position them in a neutral position that is less strenuous for all your muscles.
Healthy feet are essential as our mobility depends on it. That’s even more true considering that in a lifetime we walk an average of 100,000 miles!
We take care of our eyes and teeth, so why not our feet?
Here at Reflex Spinal Health, our fantastic team of Osteopaths and Chiropractors are fully equipped to assess feet and orthotics and determine if this could help you achieve your goals!
If you wish to know more about what we can do, call Reflex Spinal Health on 0118 946 2100 now!
