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2022 RESOLUTIONS ON HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FEET FOR BETTER EXERCISING

2022 RESOLUTIONS ON HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FEET FOR BETTER EXERCISING - SelectFlex

Got a New Year’s resolution to get more exercise? That’s great! But let’s make sure to protect your feet! Starting a new sport or fitness program is a great way to drop weight or to improve your cardiovascular health. But when you try a new exercise or start exercising more, you put lots of pressure on your feet. And that can lead to sports injuries (National Safety Council)…unless you follow these three important tips for safely exercising!

How to Start a New Sport or Exercise

Whether you’re starting a new running program, or jumping into deadlifts and squats, caution is key. With any new movement, your body needs time to adjust. Don’t expect to get off the couch and run five miles on your first day.

Instead, start low and slow with your training. In your first week, mix running and walking and don’t go more than a mile. If that pace feels comfortable, you can slowly increase your miles or speed the next week. (The safest way to train is to limit your increases to 10%. Whether that means you run 10% farther or faster is your choice.) If walking is your new exercise of choice, check out our blog on how to start a walking workout (Very Well Fit Magazine).

Why is slow and steady the best way to try a new exercise? It gives your body (and feet!) time to adjust to new movements and time to build up the muscles that will support your activity. If you rush into a new sport at full force, you risk an overuse injury which could send you into your Podiatrists office with problems such as shin splints or heel pain.

Choosing Sport Specific Shoes

Maybe your exercise resolutions have you getting serious about one sport. If that’s the case, it’s important to wear the right shoes for your chosen activity. If you’re playing tennis or basketball more than three times a week, choose shoes specifically designed for those sports. (The same is true for cleat-based sports, such as soccer or football.)

But what if you’re just walking or hitting the cardio equipment at your gym? In this case, cross-training athletic shoes are the way to go. These are athletic shoes with forefoot flexibility, so you can run if you need to. They also have lateral support, so you can step from side-to-side in Zumba class or on the elliptical. Finally, they have good support to protect your feet from the impact of any exercise.

       

Consider Orthotics to Prevent Exercise-Related Injury

Sometimes the structure of your body (biomechanics) increases your injury risk. That means even the best athletic shoes won’t protect your feet when you exercise. If your feet are flat, if your arches are too high or if your legs are different lengths, you may need extra support. Customizeable Orthotic insoles such as SelectFlex could be your solution. SelectFlex are an entirely new type of dynamic energy returning insole that won ISHN’s award for Best Protective Footwear.  SelectFlex insoles use a patented energy returning arch lifting technology called the PowerLift Arch.  The PowerLift Arch provides the wearer with 3 energy return levels to support the arch with dynamic alignment with every step. 

This can improve your efficiency when starting a new sport, especially running. Want to learn more about keeping your fitness resolutions with the help of cutomizeable orthotic insoles? See how SelectFlex can help you meet those 2022 fitness goals!

 

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HOW BODY WEIGHT AFFECTS YOUR FEET

HOW BODY WEIGHT AFFECTS YOUR FEET - SelectFlex
***January is Health Weight Awareness Month***

In addition to a slew of other health issues, carrying around extra weight on your body can cause some serious problems with your feet and ankles. As weight balloons, it will cause your body to shift how it distributes its balance, meaning that you have extra stress on your feet. Having your weight unevenly distributed can result in a lot of pain. This pain is present even when doing your simple, everyday tasks, like walking for a short distance.

1) Extra Weight Can Flatten Your Feet
Your feet have tendons and ligaments that bundle the bones together and hold them in place. Obesity can stress these ligaments and tendons, causing them to tear and break (Medical News Today). This can cause fallen arches and flat feet. When the arch of your foot lowers, it can cause your feet and every step to be painful. It lowers the effectiveness of their shock absorption, creating pain with every step. By using shoe inserts that can make each step more comfortable, you can stop this process in its tracks.

2) You Might Tear Your Plantar Fascia
An important part of your body is the plantar fascia, which connects the heel to your toes. Extra weight can cause stress during your daily activities. If you are overweight and are experiencing pain in your heels, you may have a case of plantar fasciitis. Investing in comfortable insoles for the inside of your shoes can help you avoid or correct this painful foot affliction.

3) Bone Spurs May Affect You
Carrying extra weight on your body can make your bones rub together. To prevent this from happening, your body may create some foot bone spurs. These are outgrowths from the bones in your feet (Mayo Clinic). Because of the stress that weight places on your joints, it is more likely that an overweight person will suffer from these. Being obese can affect them negatively, adding to the pain, stiffness, and tingling in your lower extremities. Talk to a doctor about effectively managing the pain caused by your bone spurs.

4) You Can Develop Localized Arthritis in Your Ankles
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports (CDC.Gov).  that up to twenty percent of Americans suffer from arthritis. The two main forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. While arthritis can affect anyone, the instance of arthritis in people of larger weights is greatly enhanced. Arthritis in the ankles is a form of osteoarthritis. It happens when your cartilage wears down, that flexible and durable tissue that protects your bones from rubbing together at the joints. Obesity can cause your cartilage to wear away faster. While osteoarthritis is a stress injury, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune issue where your body attacks its own joint tissue. Studies have shown that chemicals found in adipose tissue (fat) can cause rheumatoid arthritis to get even worse (Arthritis Foundation).

5) Diabetes Can Greatlyt Affect the Health of Your Feet
In addition to your weight distribution, your feet need adequate circulation and blood flow to stay healthy. Diabetes, which disproportionately affects those of larger weights, can cause a reduction of the flow of blood to your feet. If you develop sores on your feet, they can quickly become ulcerated and difficult to treat. Numbness in your extremities is an important reason to seek the aid of a medical professional. Over 70,000 amputations are done of feet and lower legs every year. It is important to your health to stay up to date on all medications and get a regular check up to catch issues before they get worse.

With so many issues that can affect your feet, it is no surprise that you will want to find relief. Give yourself appropriate and adjustable arch support and minimize foot pain by using orthotic insoles by SelectFlex®. They are committed to staying current on all the trends in orthotics and can bring you customizable arch support.

Introducing SelectFlex
SelectFlex can increase comfort and reduce pain in the feet by correcting alignment, supporting the arch, providing more ankle support and cushioning the feet. In other words, it can help promote more normal gait and mobility. I invite you to learn more about SelectFlex Arch Control Insoles. We have worked with an orthotics company and our own engineers and product designers to develop a shoe insert that closely imitates the function of certain ligaments in the foot. Our adjustable PowerLift® Arch can provide as much as 89 percent more arch support than other inserts at about one-quarter the cost of custom prescription orthotics. You can find out more about us here:  (Welcome To SelectFlex) You can also text us at (844) 600-0082. I hope you will want to find out more about how our product can help you with your peripheral neuropathy. On behalf of SelectFlex, we look forward to serving you.

 

 

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FOOTWEAR & FOOTCARE

Footwear & Footcare

Your footwear directly impacts the overall health of your feet. It is important that your shoes contour to your feet and match with the overall width and shape of your foot (WebMD). If you notice that your feet are sore and frequently tired you may need to start with better shoes. If you are wearing the wrong shoes, foot pain and other issues can result. Learning more about your feet, the right and wrong shoes and general footcare can help to ensure that your feet are healthier. However, if you've tried new footwear and are still having pain, your footcare routine may need work and understanding your arch type is an excellent first step.

Foot Arch Types
There are three primary types of foot arches and knowing the type that you have plays an important role in helping you choose the best type of footwear. The three types include:
(Medline Plus) 

  • Flat feet: With this type of arch, your foot tends to over-pronate and roll inward when you are walking. This makes you more vulnerable to arch pain, heel pain and plantar fasciitis. An estimated eight percent of adults in the US have flat feet.
  • Medium arch: This type of arch is moderately flexible and biomechanically efficient. However, you may still be prone to discomfort in the balls of your feet and heels.
  • High arch: This arch type causes a lot of pressure on your forefoot and rearfoot. Your arch sits high, and your foot tends to be very rigid. Pain in the balls of your feet and heels, and plantar fasciitis, are possible with a high arch.

Shoes to Avoid
Your shoes can either help or hurt your feet. It is important to choose shoes with adequate support for the type of arch that you have. Certain shoes are not ideal no matter your type of arch:

  • Flip flops: These shoes offer little to no support for your feet and may increase your risk of plantar fasciitis.
  • Worn-out shoes: If your shoes are worn out, they lack the arch support that your feet need. They are also not ideal for orthotic insoles.
  • High heels: These shoes can lead to foot pain and issues like bunions due to lack of support and forcing your feet into an unnatural position when you are wearing them.
  • Pointed shoes: Since these shoes squish your toes, they may cause structural damage and pain over time.

Taking Good Care of Your Feet
Before you spend a great deal of money on new shoes, consider the addition of an arch support insole to your existing shoe. If your shoes are in need of replacing, make sure to get a pair that offers space in the toe box. If you do choose to add an arch support, you want to keep pressure off the end of the foot and avoid pushing down on the tops or ends of your toenails
(Better Health). The right orthotic insoles can ensure proper footcare and better comfort.

They can also be beneficial for the following conditions:

  • Arthritis
  • Bursitis
  • Flat feet
  • Heel spurs
  • Injuries
  • Back pain
  • Bunions
  • Diabetes
  • Hammer toes
  • High arches
  • Plantar fasciitis

In addition to considering your arch type, you need to figure out what you will be doing in your shoes to pick the right inserts. For example, will you be using your shoes to run or engage in moderate to vigorous exercise? If so, you will need more support than if you just use your shoes for casual walking. It is also important to think about how often you will wear your shoes since you want a sturdier insert if you wear them daily and for extended periods of time.

All of these factors will help determine which inserts are the right choice for you. One of the best options includes customizable arch support shoe inserts like SelectFlex. These orthotic insoles are not typical shoe inserts, as they offer customizeable arch support through their patented PowerLift Arch® suspension system.

Now is time to make sure that you are doing everything that you can for your feet with SelectFlex Arch Control Insoles. These shoe inserts offer customizable arch support due to their adjustable technology. This allows for optimal support and comfort with every step that you take. Along with good routine footcare, you can significantly reduce your risk of foot problems. Take control of your Footcare today! Find out more about this special Arch-Control Insole.

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