[pct-l] ROLLED & SPRAINED ANKLES - FOOT PLACEMENT

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good evening,

>From my experience most walking problems are related to joints rather than
to bones themselves; primarily joints in the back, hips, knees, and foot
including the ankles.

Weight moving at some speed equals energy that must be controlled over a
period of time.  When investigating problems it’s always good to look at
all of the possibilities, but I look at the biggest numbers first.  The
trouble is, we can’t always change or improve all of those big items; they
may be functionally unchangeable – in effect, they are not variables they
are just given.

So, with poor aching feet we have several potential variables:  Weight,
speed, control, and time:

SPEED – The speed used in a hiker’s energy calculation is the result of our
walking speed, and that doesn’t vary much.  We’re not going to run; we are
going to continue to travel about 2-3 MPH.  As a result there’s not much we
can fix with this variable.

CONTROL  --  For this purpose control means how a hiker’s energy is
converted to force applied over a distance.  This force attenuation is done
by muscle action, and to a much lesser degree, by any cushioning that there
may be in shoes, for example.  Our muscles work the way they have to, and
most shoes and boots have about the same cushioning, so this is another
area where it’s very difficult to make meaningful changes.

TIME – The number of times a load is applied is important.  A joint may be
damaged by one huge load, but it can also be damaged by much smaller loads
applied repeatedly over time.  That’s called fatigue damage, and
fortunately our bodies can repair fatigue damage -- usually getting
stronger in the process.  The downside is, whenever the average rate of
damage exceeds the average rate of repair we can get a stress fracture.   For
the purpose of this discussion, time – meaning the number of times the load
is applied – tends to be fixed at the number of steps the hiker takes.  For
a thru-hiker that number is somewhere around 3,000,000 steps with each
foot; and as a result it too is very difficult to meaningfully change
unless the hike distance is shortened or the hiking duration is
significantly increased to let the joints recover and improve.

WEIGHT – That leaves the big one; the one that we really can change greatly
to our advantage or disadvantage.  The energy of walking, and the forces
involved, vary directly with the total weight of the hiker “on the hoof”,
so to speak.  50% more total weight means 50% more force applied to the
joints.  That should not be a surprise to anyone.

When hiking my personal weigh is about 150 lbs.; and my pack with gear,
food, and water is usually about 20 lbs. but it can increase to 38 lbs.
when departing on one of the long, waterless stretches.  That averages
about 175 lbs. for me on the hoof.

Conversely, if I were to let my personal weight creep up to 175 lbs. and if
I felt it was necessary to carry a 75lb. pack my total weight would be 250
lbs. That’s 75 lbs. heavier than I normally hike, and 43% heavier than what
I think is necessary.

Experienced long-distance hikers ruthlessly go through the gear list to
eliminate that last unnecessary ounce, and they train sufficient to get
their personal body fat content down to about 15%, and preferably to 10% or
below .

"You can ignore the facts, but you cannot escape the consequences of
ignoring the facts."  --  Ayn Rand

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/