Scary Shadow

wiggling your toes

OMG it is a real thing! I'm not just a defective foot person lol.

Prevent elliptical foot numbness

• try wiggling your toes
• reposition your feet on the foot plates
• shift your weight onto the balls of your feet or your heels, or rock back and forth between both
• try not to keep too much of your weight on the balls of your feet
• loosen your shoe laces or getting better shoes with arch support
• change directions by going backward on an elliptical
• use an elliptical with pivoting (articulating) foot pedal.

The problem stems from an inherant flaw in the way a lot of ellipticals are built. The pedals on a lot of ellipticals are set at an unnatural angle to the way we walk and keep your feet completely flat on them during a workout. And what happens when your feet are set unmoving, and with constant pressure on them while you stand? That's right, they fall asleep! Think about it like standing still in a line for 45 minutes -- that constant pressure on your feet will cause you to get the very familiar "pins and needles" sensation known as paresthesia, which comes from prolongued pressure on your nerves (my wife's Uncle Chris causes this sensation to appear in my head when I'm around him too much).