👋 Hey.
Welcome to issue #46 of The Everyday Athlete Newsletter. Thanks for being here.
Here are my 3 favourite ideas, learns and resources to help you improve your performance this week (3.5 min read):
🩴 Walking mechanics in thongs, slides & birkies
Birkenstocks have been half my shoe wardrobe for the last 4 months.
Some days 20k+ steps in them.
And I heard about it… super tight calves and what feels like some mild plantar fasciitis (stabbing pain in soles of feet).
Which are both still hanging around now.
But I thought birkies were recommended by podiatrists…
Turns out the arch support can be helpful. Because it reduces pronation (how much our ankle tilts in when we walk).
So we don't overuse our foot and lower leg muscles.
The drama is wearing shoes without a back (like thongs, slides and some styles of birkies).
Because they aren’t fixed to our feet, we're activating muscles in the feet to grip and keep them on.
Which can not only lead to a crook condition called clawed digit deformity...
But also changes how you walk.
It strains the plantar fascia (band of tissue that connects heel to toes).
And after time we get micro-tears through it aka plantar fasciitis.
The soleus (lower calf) and gastrocnemius (upper calf) then work to take the load off. Which eventually bar up too from all the extra work.
It’s an overuse injury.
So no dramas in thongs if you get a superstar park near the beach, or you’re chewing the fat in them at a bbq.
But if you’re clocking up kms in them, maybe reconsider. Go for something with a back.
🙌 Thanks to foot wizard Will for the insights.
P.s. Plantar fasciitis can also stir from changes in exercise (load, mode and frequency), poor footwear and being overweight.
If that's ever you, Will reckons we want to:
- 🦶 Strengthen fascia and surrounding structures with a towel toe scrunch
- 🦵 Calf stretch (30 secs each side straight leg, each side bent leg, 3 times a day)
- 👟 Look into a rocker bottom stiff cushioned shoe like HOKA
- 🏊 Pull back on or modify anything that aggravates the pain (e.g. bike/swim instead of running). Try accumulate pain-free days (pain is delaying healing).
- 🧑⚕️ Or see a good podiatrist like Will (who can also help with taping, orthotics, lifestyle modifications, all the above and more)
✌️
🧠 Article: Amateurs vs Professionals
Performance is 100% physical. And 100% mental.
But from my experience in sport, physical performance is prioritised.
Even though mindset is often the difference between good and great.
This article breaks down some of the most critical mindset differences between amateurs and professionals.
My favourites:
- Amateurs are impatient, Professionals are patient
- Amateurs fear being wrong, Professionals enjoy it
- Amateurs make it look effortful, Professionals make it look effortless
🌱 A herbal remedy for stress (that actually works)
Distress is stress that negatively affects us.
It can cook our physical and mental performance.
But the best medicine for it isn’t a pill.
It’s sleep, nutrition, exercise.
Sunlight and breathing (mechanics and training) are up there too.
But if you’re:
- Ticking all those boxes and still feeling it
- Or stress is derailing all those good habits 💤 🥑 🏃 ☀️ 😮💨
...the Asian-African herb Ashwagandha may be worth looking into.
A recent meta-analysis looked at Ashwagandha supplementation on anxiety and stress.
They found:
- 😌 There’s really strong evidence that it significantly reduces stress and anxiety
- 😕 The optimal recommended dose for reducing anxiety is 1200mg/day
- 😟 The optimal recommended dose for reducing stress is 300-600mg/day
- 👍 No noted side effects
So if you live a high-stress life, for less than a dollar a day, it might be worth trying.
Even just to keep in the cupboard for those super stressful weeks.
That's it!
Have a great weekend 🤙
Matt
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