Walking lifted me from the very bottom, says Věra Tůmová. Movement also reduces the risk of diseases

Walking lifted me from the very bottom, says Věra Tůmová. Movement also reduces the risk of diseases

They can't be seen, so what?

The vast majority of us are born with healthy feet. "Except for genetic factors, feet are free of any defects after birth. With the first steps, the cells learn and store what they learn. What is repeated often becomes a habit, and if it is pathological, a bad habit, bad development and a bad stereotype will arise," podiatrist Jaroslav Fešar urges parents to pay attention to their children's feet and steps and to consult a specialist in time for any deviations from the norm . "Otherwise, I recommend allowing the child's leg naturalness and freedom," he emphasizes.

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Podiatrists and podiatrists deal with the lower limbs, their anatomy, diagnosis and treatment. In the Czech Republic, podiatrists deal with preventive and rehabilitation care, while podiatry is a field primarily devoted to the treatment of feet with defects, especially diabetic patients. In our country, these specialized fields did not take off until the 1990s. "In the past, not much time was devoted to the care of the feet and the supervision of walking, which is why today perhaps a large part of pensioners have legs and, by extension, walking as we see," continues Jaroslav Fešar, who as the director of the Prague Foot and Body Care Center and the president of the Czech the podiatry society has a great overview of the condition of our feet. According to him, today's seniors often carry problems with their limbs from their youth.

"When we add to them other population groups with reduced mobility, people who buy the wrong shoes, children whose first steps are not caught by their mothers in time, and last but not least, those who are not interested in the condition of their feet because 'they are not visible ', we can really talk about the majority of our population walking badly," he continues, quickly adding that another factor is lifestyle. "Look how we grew up as children. Today, most people drive from house to house or sit.”

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It is not as simple as it looks

Doctors are increasingly highlighting the benefit of walking for our body. Many of them consider it the healthiest "sport" that has a lot of bonuses. It can be attended anytime, anywhere, it's free - no season ticket or special equipment or gear is required. While swimming, running, cycling, pilates, strength training, etc. have some limitations and it is advisable to consult a doctor about continuing this activity with any health problem, walking is suitable for almost everyone (even during recovery).

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It is ideal to include it in your daily program, to take it as a natural part of life. We should walk daily, not in bursts. So it's not like we sit at work, in the car and at home all week and go on a multi-kilometer hike at the weekend. This is more likely to cause a health problem. There has been a lot of research and studies on the topic of regular walking and our physical and mental health, and there are many positive effects (see the box What is regular walking for?). However, some of this only applies if we walk well. This means, first of all, that we do not slouch and look at the ground when walking. We are to look straight ahead. The legs should be level from the hips to the knees to the toes and should point forward, not out or in. With each step, our weight should be distributed over the entire foot.

Walking should be flexible, so first we step on the heel and gradually transfer the center of gravity of the body forward to the toe. At the same time, the heel is relieved. The work of the thumb is important - we bounce off it. The steps should be of the same length, this is the only way to create the right walking rhythm and not put more strain on one limb than the other... Walking described in this way no longer looks like the simple activity that we consider it to be. It is a movement of the whole body, so there are a lot of mistakes that we can make during it.

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"It will suppress your joy in life, good mood and smile," says Jaroslav Fešar about the consequences of bad walking. "From an orthopedic point of view, it causes many changes in the entire movement system, which manifest themselves mainly as complications in the area of ​​large joints, but also changes in the curvature of the spine and various asymmetries leading to neurological problems."

How to use the summer to improve your feet and walking? Jaroslav Fešar, podiatrist: "I recommend walking on proven terrain without shoes. A grassy surface in your own garden, pebbles on a beach by a lake or sand on a holiday by the sea are the real thing for your feet they need. Many people associate summer with more body exposure. It's fascinating how many of us don't notice our legs again until spring and summer. I'd like people to be aware of the importance of legs all year round and when the sun exposes them more , so that at least in the summer they intensify their care, exercise more with them, dance and treat them to comfortable shoes and beneficial massages or rehabilitation."

We all know it: an "ordinary" blister on the heel is enough - so that it doesn't hurt so much, we start walking differently and our backs can "catch" us, our heads get crushed... "All changes on the feet, such as bunions, hammer toes, heel spurs or changes in the position of the arches of the feet can fundamentally affect the characteristics and quality of walking," explains Jaroslav Fešar, adding that poor walking mechanics can also cause many deformities.

However, a number of problems can be corrected - through exercise, rehabilitation, proper footwear, orthopedic insoles. You just need to pay attention to them and look for an expert. Thanks to modern devices, he can also examine our gait, and we can then work on eliminating our bad habits.

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Shoes are responsible for quite a few problems. It is healthiest to walk barefoot, and orthopedists, podiatrists and podiatrists recommend that we use this option in natural terrain as often as possible. But we have to spend most of our time in shoes, so it pays to pay proper attention to their selection.

Walking lifted me from the bottom, she says Věra Tůmová. Movement also reduces the risk of diseases

"When you put on shoes that have hard, inflexible soles, your feet stop feeling and become numb over time," states Jaroslav Fešar. "I can talk about inappropriate shoes with a raised index finger every day, and still a thousand women around me buy inappropriate and, from a long-term perspective, harmful shoes for their feet. From the point of view of the feet and the musculoskeletal system, the combination of inappropriate footwear and lack of interest in the condition of the feet is a big mistake that will return to most people sooner or later - the body is often willing to endure abuse for a long time," he warns.

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Modern shoes are often narrow, especially in the toe area (thus causing bunions and other deformities, including a decrease in the transverse arch), with a hard sole that does not allow the foot to roll out properly and perceive the surface we are walking on ( therefore we naturally walk poorly), often made of unyielding material (blisters, calluses and bruises appear), with an inappropriate heel that changes the position of the foot (again leads to unnatural movement), etc.

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Recently, the so-called barefoot shoes, which restrict the feet as little as possible and walk in them is basically like barefoot, are coming to the fore. The number of manufacturers in our country is also rapidly expanding, as (for now?) an additional assortment has also started to be sewn by established footwear companies. So there are plenty of them to choose from for various types of feet, and also the design, which at the beginning could deter many people, has been significantly improved (this is also the case with orthopedic shoes, by the way). Experts usually do not object to it, some only point out that it should not be used for long-term walking on hard surfaces and that it is not suitable for everyone. It should be avoided by people with loose ligaments or severe leg deformity, diabetics and rheumatism. We also can't expect to put on these shoes and all our walking and musculoskeletal problems will be solved.

You can experience so much

Norwegian adventurer and writer Erling Kagge, who was the first in the world to conquer all the "three poles of the world": North, South and Mount Everest, in his new book Walking: Step by Step encourages readers to take walks as often as possible. “If you take a cab in New York, it will take you, say, ten minutes. If you walk, then twenty, so you save about ten minutes by driving. But in a car you don't experience anything, when you walk you always see something, meet someone, etc. So I don't walk because I think it's better than driving, but because life is a little richer if you walk," he invites to return to our most natural movement.

In the International Walking Charter, which aims to create an environment in which people prefer this movement to any other form of transport, it is written: "Walking is the first thing a small child wants, and the last thing you want give up old man".

That is why it is more than appropriate not to neglect your feet throughout your life, to take proper care of them and to use them correctly. Any problem should be consulted with an expert sooner rather than later. "When the legs work well, their owner will work too," sums up Jaroslav Fešar.

Walking lifted me up from the bottom

"Walking a few kilometers in a short amount of time is already a piece of cake for me today. Before, however, I often struggled with my own laziness and convenience," says Věra Tůmová. Inspirer of walking and author of the e-book Seven miraculous effects of walking and three more, which can be downloaded for free on the server veratumova.cz.

When did you fall in love with walking? It was quite simple - you could actually say that walking found me. Eight years ago, I was going through a very difficult time in my life. My daughter started walking at seven months and I got a strange thing for it - a pedometer. And I had strange dreams too. Until then, I hadn't thought about walking in any particular way, nor had I focused on it in any particular way. I started going properly and regularly only after I found myself at the lowest point mentally and physically in my entire life.

What kind of dreams were these? I had a recurring dream about my long-dead grandfather, which I had never dreamed of before. And suddenly he was here again, walking in my dreams. He used them for his favorite long walks in the Hvězda nature reserve in Prague and in Šárka. Even in my dreams, I saw him walking briskly and proudly, the way he and other officers of the First Republic walked, and how I remembered him from childhood. That was the first such signal that, regardless of personal and health situation, you need to raise your head and walk forward proudly. And on top of that, I received an unexpected gift - a pedometer. And since I'm quite a practical person and I enjoy things being used and not just lying around, I wanted to try this strange thing. Then the daughter also had to be managed and tired. And so, thanks to all these impulses, I started to go more and more, always and everywhere.

What have regular walks brought you? I'll probably start with the most visible. Thanks to walking, I've improved my physical condition, I'm out of breath less, I'm slowly losing weight, I feel better overall and I've also gotten rid of my dislike for walking uphill. Much more intense for me is what is hidden, i.e. the fact that with the help of walking I learned to calm my mind, concentrate on one thing and fully perceive space and time, i.e. the "here and now". Intensive walks also helped me to get to know the city much better and to manage children's tantrums, boredom or vague childhood "angry".

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So now you directly "prescribe" walks? Yes, I also go for a walk when I need to feel better, when I want to clear my head and improve my mood, get an idea or focus on something specific. I learned to focus purposefully on conscious walking or direct meditation through movement. And lately sketching the city and urban life has become more and more a part of my walks. My pictures even appeared at this year's modern art exhibition Art Prague Fair. I therefore consider walking for myself and others as a preventive and active medicine for the soul and body, which is why I actually came up with the concept of Walking as medicine. What this means in practice is to regularly add more and more steps each day or week in “doses” and add various other activities so that walking becomes a natural part of your daily routine.

How often do you go and how long are the hikes? To tell the truth, I don't go on one-off endless or demanding hikes or special marches or long-distance pilgrimages. I just consciously plan my walking so that I walk between 6 and 10 km a day. And since I'm also a mom, a workaholic, a gardener, an artist, and I have a lot of family and work responsibilities, I mainly focus on making walking a part of my day, so that I can cope with life's merry-go-round and sedentary lifestyle.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to use walking as medicine? It mainly depends on how you approached walking up until now and how you walked. If you used to go everywhere by car, elevator and escalator, then you need to start in smaller doses, but daily. And ideally with some method that will be fun for you. So every day, walk for example 100 to 300 meters or steps more than yesterday or add an extra block around the house or park. You can also walk your basic portion of steps for a week or two and then add more steps to it. The main thing is to persevere.

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How to motivate yourself? Various simple tools can help you stick to your resolution to walk more. For example, a bullet journal where you directly plan the acquisition of a new habit yourself. You can also buy a pedometer for your mobile phone or a smart watch, which will easily monitor the number of steps you have taken. And it is also good to have a walking partner for mutual motivation and endurance.

Does it make sense to stress about the obligation to take 10,000 steps, which is referred to as the daily norm? Definitely not. When you stress about not being able to do something, you will feel guilty. And for what makes you feel bad, then one automatically feels disgust and avoids it. Walking 10,000 steps a day is proven to be beneficial for health according to many scientific studies, but not everyone is able to find an hour every day for an intensive walk. If you were to avoid daily walks because of the feeling of guilt, it is certainly better to walk sometimes only half the stated number of steps, than to walk a lot once and then almost nothing every other day of the week. The key is simply to change your thinking so that walking becomes a natural part of your lifestyle again.

Ten principles for taking care of your feet01. Wash your feet every day and don't forget the area between your toes. Alternating hot and cold water is suitable. Then dry them thoroughly to avoid mold and eczema. 02. Afterwards, thoroughly lubricate and massage the feet. 03. Remove calloused skin regularly.04. Inspect your feet every day and treat any defects such as corns, cracks or blisters immediately. 05. Cut the nails straight, not in an arch, so that they do not grow. 06. At least occasionally, it is advisable to undergo a professional pedicure treatment. An experienced podiatrist can also alert you to problems that you don't even notice.07. Exercise with your legs, grasp objects with them, circle your ankles, curl your toes. 08. Wear clean socks every day. Buy ones that absorb sweat well and that do not cause allergic reactions.09. Alternate your shoes. Always let it dry and use disinfectant sprays. 10. Consult a specialist for any problem and pain - the sooner the better.

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What is the point of regular walking01. It is the most natural way to lose weight.02. It reduces the risk of heart and vascular diseases.03. It reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and the associated metabolic syndrome.04. It has a positive effect on blood pressure and improves blood circulation.05. Increases bone strength.06. It is a prevention of flat feet, it can also improve the condition of our foot arch to a certain extent. 07. According to some studies, it improves sex life.08. Improves sleep, both falling asleep and quality of sleep.09. Strengthens muscles. 10. Improves digestion. 11. It strengthens the immune system. 12. It delays Alzheimer's and other types of dementia. 13. Increases creativity. 14. Slows down aging. 15. It reduces stress and improves mood.

NICOLE MRZENOVA

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