The Footprints of Health

I will be talking about:

• Natural movement – walking barefoot
• The cost of modern conveniences on our muscles
• Lessons from Great Granny C
• Reframing exercise

My favourite form of natural movement is walking barefoot – or as close to as I can. When I’m at home I’m barefoot and when I go out I’m sporting a pair of Vivos. I moved to this brand back in April and simultaneously began wearing toe spacers and exercising my toes with basic toe lifting and spreading throughout the day. I mentioned this in an earlier Substack post.

The move towards this was dictated by two things – one I had a bunion that was causing me great pain and two I had been reading what Dr Courtney Conley had to say on the matter. I can say that my feet are no longer in any pain and I have been slowly strengthening my foot muscles which I strongly believe has helped with my hip and low back pain. Since the improvements in my own aches and pains I have become very interested in the foot and more natural movements.

Anyway, aside from my personal story on how I got to this place, I want to talk about the benefits of how many steps a day and my thoughts on an extension of this, beyond the feet and to life in the kitchen.

What the Science Says About Daily Steps

Studies from Shreeves reported that taking 9,000 steps a day is associated with a lower risk of cancer. The results are slightly different 11%-16% versus 18% in the newer study; with the 2023 study (which included 56% women!:)) associating a lower risk of 13 cancers including bladder, breast, colon, endometrial, esophageal, kidney, liver, lung and adneocarcinoma.

Additionally, there are several studies supporting increasing your daily step count to help prevent muscle wastage (sarcopenia). The sweet point seems to be between 6,000-7,000 steps. 7,000-8,000 (Nakanojo), and a meta-review (Ding) reporting a finding of 7,000 steps lowering all-cause mortality by 47%. Which brings me nicely onto my latest thought…

The Cost of Convenience

Sarcopenia is a type of atrophy which is age related. However, atrophy is something that we can all be at risk of. I was thinking how convenient and instant our lives have become and how there are always gadgets to help us save time. However, I think these come at a cost. Some things are time saving but they are encouraging atrophy. We simply do not use our muscles like we used to, or like we are intended to.

My first thought was the invention of the electric whisk, when we manually whisk an egg or cake mix for example instead of using an electric whisker we are standing for a start, using our forearm flexors and extensors, engaging wrist control and strength, and engaging the biceps, triceps and anterior deltoid. When we use an electric whisk we aren’t loading or strengthening these muscles. I’m not suggesting we will end up with atrophied muscles from using an electric whisk, but it’s a thought provoking point about how perhaps we should be more mindful of what we are outsourcing.

Choosing manual kitchen tools forces our upper limbs, forearms, and deep core stabilizers to engage under low-level resistance. This functional loading patterns natural bone density and prevents premature upper-body muscle atrophy.

The “Manual Kitchen Challenge”

The very next time a recipe calls for mixing, whipping, or kneading, skip the electric stand mixer or plug-in hand whisk. Grab a traditional steel manual whisk or a solid wooden spoon instead, and reframe those 4 minutes of physical effort as an essential, protective movement snack that strengthens your physical body right where you stand.

Get your kids involved! I find it slightly odd that we have encouraged children to play or entertain themselves whilst we cook and they’re hanging off our legs! I have a little kitchen tower and my little boy has always helped chopped the vegetables up for dinner, I give him a wooden chopping board, toddler friendly knives and away he goes chopping up green beans mostly. We have some music playing and it’s one of my favourite times of the day :).

Lessons from Great Granny C

It also made me think of my lovely Scottish grandmother in law, Great Granny C as we used to so fondly call her. She lived until the ripe old age of 89. She was an absolute powerhouse of a women. She did practically everything herself, she was always gardening and was even still cleaning her own wheelie bins out herself!

She had such a positive can do attitude and was extremely active, very rarely sedentary unless she was enjoying reading a book or a crossword. It was similar with her cooking, wholesome home made food with some of her famous Scottish recipes including her famous hotpot, apple crumble and coffee buns.

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Reframing Exercise for Busy Mothers

I appreciate we are all time poor, but this also brings me to a reframe moment – what if, you didn’t NEED to go to the gym for an hour. We could reframe the simple swapping of an electric whisk for a manual one as exercise, this is a form of natural movement. The more of these swaps we make, the more natural movement we get in. I sometimes feel like I am being pressured into exercising ‘for my own health’ and this adds another impossible metric or target for me to hit, so I have found reframing these moments really helpful.

And hey, if you love going to the gym go for it (it can have great social benefits, plus you get some time for yourself). This is simply a suggestion to those mothers who don’t have the time or money to go to a gym, who struggle to fit an hours workout in. Let’s reframe these natural movements as exercise. There is always a delicate balance with time and this suggestion won’t be for everyone. But I truly believe a reframe around what exercise is, can help.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article, including thoughts on movement, daily steps, and physical activity in the kitchen, is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Every body is unique, and individual physical capabilities or health conditions vary. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional, physical therapist, or doctor before making significant changes to your physical activity level, especially if you are managing pain, injury, or recovering postpartum.