If I ask you to close your eyes and try to identify an object I placed in your hand, do you think you can tell me what it is? For example, if I gave you a quarter, a key, a cotton ball, or even a flower, do you have what it takes to name it? I can’t imagine it being too challenging.
Now, let’s say that you put a glove on and tried to identify another set of objects. You may still be able to identify these objects; however, it may be more of a challenge considering the glove is acting like a barrier. Depending on the thickness, this hand sweater can potentially dampen your ability to sense what you are actually touching. Imagine for fun, that I had you put on five more gloves and then asked you identify some other common handheld objects. This time you may actually have a hard time figuring out what the heck you're holding, right? Wearing six pair of gloves can really muffle your ability to sense and identify exactly what you’re touching.
If you thing about it, we can apply this same concept to the foot. Our feet are also pretty good at identifying what it is contacting whether it’s grass, asphalt, a wet spot on the hardwood, or sand on tile. Wearing socks is just like putting on gloves. Your feet may still be able to recognize and identify the environment it’s coming in contact with like the wet spot or sand, but that sensation may not be as crisp and refined. Once you put your shoes on, it’ll be a totally different story. Wearing shoes is like putting on the five extra pairs of gloves. Good luck trying to identify the wet spots or grains of sand that your stepping on.
The crazy thing is, a lot of us are wear shoes and socks all day long. It’s great for protecting your feet and keeping them cozy and warm; but unfortunately, we don’t realize that we are at the risk of losing key information that your brain feeds to help you move efficiently and optimally.
Speaking of the brain, here’s a little crash course on how it works. Once we get an understanding of the basics, we can hack into it:
Body Gathers Info from Surrounding Environment —> Ships & Delivers Info to Brain —> Brain Interprets, Packages, & Sends Out Directions for Body to Execute
“Body Gathers Info” is what your body senses (hear, smell, taste, see, touch). In this particular example it’s based more on the sensory input of touch
The sensory input is shipped to the brain where it’s dissected, digested, interpreted, and packaged.
This package is sent back out to the body with directions and estimations of movement that coincides with the information that was initially gathered. It’s an expression of the sensory information gathered, and is seen through movement.
Here’s the pearl:
Better quality information going in = better chance of quality movement coming out
So… how can you take advantage of this sensory hack?
Use a ball and roll out the bottom of your foot (a bonus is using a vibrating ball). This includes everything that contacts the ground like the heel, toes, both inner and outer edges of your foot, and everything else in-between. This will help wake up those sensory receptors that have been dormant from wearing those comfortable socks and cushioned shoes over the years. It will help the brain become more aware of what’s happening in the entire foot - translating into a more complete quality of sensory input, and more refined estimation of movement, improved efficiency of energy, and better overall performance. Such an easy (and may I add … feel-good) task with ENORMOUS potential!
Cheers to your happy feet!
Change your mindset … Change your perspective … life is much better when you have an outlook that creates opportunity.
Thanks for being curious and taking the time to read this! Hope it added value to your life and equips you to become better than you were yesterday!
Dr. Joe Jaime, DC, DACBSP®, ATC, CSCS®, FRC®ms, CES
Credit: Hero Image