Hands and Feet: Even More Important than We Thought
I’ve been doing some research and “tripped over” some surprising facts. Did you know that just over half of the total number of bones in your body are in your hands and feet? Did you know that toe strength is the number one factor involved in falling? Did you know that grip strength is so closely associated with health and longevity that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposed considering it as a health biomarker along with blood tests and other medical metrics like VO2 Max?
Try this. Take a breath in, and as you breathe out make fists with both hands as hard as you can. Feel the effects in your body. I don’t know about you, but I can feel the source of that grip strength all the way into my chest, lungs, and abdomen. The same goes for my legs when I grip the floor with my toes or scrunch my feet into an arch. The sensation of muscles strengthening and “kicking in” to do this task goes all the way up my legs and into my torso. In other words, both actions influence areas of the body that we do not think of being directly connected to the hands or feet. Our bodies are completely interlinked, and strengthening one aspect will always affect others, especially if you are aware of this full-body connection. The strength and condition of your hands and feet are reflections of what is going on with the rest of you, which explains the NIH biomarker proposal.
Modern life has caused our hands and feet to get weaker, along with the rest of our bodies. We simply don’t use them enough, and we don’t use them as they were intended in our long evolution from early hominids. Our first ancestors who stood upright spent as much time in the trees as they did walking on the ground. Climbing, with its emphasis on hands and feet, was central to existence. It’s no accident that most of our nerve endings are in our hands and feet, it’s how we touch our physical world.
You can improve the condition of your hands and feet. I’m not talking about moisturizers to make them softer. In fact, just the opposite. I am talking about making them stronger, and yes, even rougher. You can do this with exercise and in daily life simply by using them more and how they were meant to be used.
Let’s Focus on Feet First
Let’s start with our feet. Strong and functional feet are essential to have a strong and functional body, especially as we get older. As I mentioned, toe strength is the leading predictor of falling, something we want to avoid as falling often leads to a host of problems in older people. The best way to increase toe strength, and foot strength in general, is to use them, that is, not in shoes but as they were meant to be used: by going barefoot.
I am always barefoot when I am inside, year-round. From late spring to early autumn I am lucky enough to live in a region where I can be barefoot outside much of the time. Lawn, beach, and some rough gravel are my walking terrains. By the end of the summer my daughters describe my feet as “Stone Age” in that they are calloused and rough, with my toes splayed out much wider than most modern feet. (The picture with this week’s article shows the feet of a modern hunter gatherer, our natural heritage.)
I also do my morning routine and yoga practice barefoot, which further enhances my barefoot life. Stretching, strengthening, balancing, and moving my feet are regular practices and pastimes throughout my day that are healthy and feel great. The feet have a great many nerve endings that are connected to other parts of the body, and they are surprisingly sensitive to touch.
Besides being barefoot, the second-best thing you can do for your feet is to wear functional, minimal footwear. I can’t even imagine what high heels and narrow, pointy shoes do to a person’s legs and body. Notably, comfort shoes with extra padding are no better. I listened to a podcast with a functional osteopath, and she described the flexion of the foot while walking. She said that the width of the toe box and height of the heel are the two most crucial elements. Shoes should have a wide toe box so the toes can spread with every step. She added that a “zero-drop” difference between the heel and sole of a shoe is critical, meaning the heel and sole are on the same level so the foot strikes the ground in a balanced way, front to back. In my daily life, as well as in the gym, I wear Xero and Altra brands, both of which she endorsed in her podcast.
Feet are the foundation of everything in your body. Don’t be surprised, as I have written about in my “Healing a Leg” article, if things change in your legs and hips once you begin paying attention to your feet.
A Toe-Strengthening Trick
Stand barefoot about a foot from a wall, facing it. Without bending at the waist and keeping your body straight, start leaning toward the wall so all the pressure is felt in your toes. Don’t touch the wall. The goal is to lean toward the wall 4-5 inches at waist level. This is tricky to measure and may require another person to measure for you (or you can use a laser measuring device). If you can get this close, it means your toes, and particularly your big toe, are strong enough to mitigate balance and falling issues. If not, you will need to strengthen them, which you can also do with this balance exercise. Simply hold your leaning position for as long as possible. (Be sure to stand next to a counter or chair for support, if necessary.) You can find lots of online resources to strengthen your feet and toes.
Being conscious of the amount of foot and toe strength you are using in regular exercise is also important. When you walk, be aware of the motion of your feet, especially how your toes widen and then spring up at the end of every step. Play with it; the combinations are endless. The most important thing is to use your feet and toes more and become more conscious of them.
Hands Down, Our Hand Strength Is Vital
As I mentioned above, grip strength is so closely correlated with All Cause Morality (ACM) that the National Institutes of Health propose using it as a biomarker for longevity. A strong grip strength for a 60-75 year old man is roughly 45kg (99 pounds), and for a woman 30kg (66 pounds). You can measure this with any adjustable hand grip device, and you can use the device to strengthen your hands as well. A quick guide is how you respond to a handshake. Does it usually seem like your handshake is weaker and the other person’s is firmer? If so, you probably need a stronger grip.
Luckily, most exercises involving free weights and kettle bells strengthen grip as a by-product of that activity. I would be surprised if anyone who does even a moderate amount of weight training had a weak grip. Hanging from a chinning bar is also a great way to have stronger hands, arms, shoulders, chest, and back. Remember, hand strength and gripping are part of a much bigger constellation of muscles than just hands and forearms.
Lastly, using your hands more in regular life can also significantly strengthen them. When was the last time you walked home carrying two (equally weighted) bags from the supermarket? When was the last time you squeezed a lemon or lime by hand instead of using a kitchen tool? How about gripping a handrail as hard as you can while standing on a train or bus, or isometrically gripping anything? Gardening and handywork around the house involving gripping tools are also wonderful ways to keep your hands strong.
Life is full of little hacks to strengthen our wonderful feet and hands. You’ll be surprised at how strengthening them affects other parts of your body. The result is becoming stronger, healthier, and living longer!
