7 interesting facts about our feet

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Knowledge is power. And a life hacker needs knowledge doubly. In this series of articles, we collect fascinating and sometimes unexpected facts about the world around us. We hope that you will find them not only interesting, but also practically useful.

The world is arranged in such a way that even very familiar and familiar things sometimes open up from a completely new side. For example, if you look at the structure of the human leg from an engineering point of view, it turns out that this is an ingeniously designed mechanism, extremely reliable and capable of withstanding enormous loads. For an artist or poet, women's legs can be a source of inspiration, but for a traumatologist, they are just bones and tendons. You will find a few more different points of view on our feet in today's selection of interesting facts.

1. In the morning our legs are smaller

By the evening, the volume of a person's foot usually increases, and the difference in size in the morning and evening can reach 8%. Therefore, if you want to buy new shoes, do it in the afternoon. Otherwise, you risk buying yourself a pair that is too tight. Be sure to also check out our tips for choosing the right athletic shoes.

2. Take care of your limbs

The legs contain about a quarter of all the bones in our body (54 out of 206). Moreover, it is the musculoskeletal system that accounts for the main load both during normal walking and during sports. For example, at some moments when running, the foot experiences a load that is 3-4 times the weight of a person. It is on the legs, according to statistics, that account for the bulk of injuries and injuries. If you managed to twist your leg or stretch your ligaments, then this infographic will help you cope with the consequences faster.

3. Better to walk than to stand

When walking, the stability of the body increases several times in comparison with the stability when standing. This biomechanical phenomenon has not yet been studied, but this explains the fact that standing still is much more tiring than walking.

4. Women's shoes are dangerous

Every 2 centimeters of heel height increases the pressure on the toes by 25%. About 90% of women wear shoes that are too small and too tight for them. Therefore, women experience leg diseases four times more often than men. Don't believe me? See for yourself!

5. Why do shoes smell bad

There are approximately 250,000 sweat glands on the legs, which produce about 400 ml of sweat per day. In fact, sweat does not have that pronounced smell that shoes sometimes “smell like”. Simply, socks and shoes create the ideal warm and humid environment for odor-causing bacteria to thrive. And how to get rid of it, you will learn from this article.

6. The oldest shoes

The oldest pair of shoes was found in Armenia during the excavation of the Areni cave in September 2008. The find dates back to the Chalcolithic period (3600–3500 BC). These are soft shoes with pointed ends - charokhi. Shoes practically do not differ from those that were recently worn in Armenian villages.

7. Benefits of walking

Walking is the most affordable and safest form of physical activity. That is why doctors most often prescribe walking as the main means of therapeutic training. Some researchers believe that walking is even superior to running in terms of its effects on the body.