Let's Talk About Chimps, Man

Our genus Homo sapiens sapiens – the One Who Knows He Knows – is a mere 300,000 years old, which in the grand scheme of things is not unlike a babe in the woods. This relative immaturity combined with the fact that we are the only mammals to exclusively stand and walk on two legs, offers us something of a challenge.
Our transition to upright posture required significant adaptations of our muscles and bones. Most primates can sit and stand, with some able to walk upright for short periods of time. What allows humans to sustain these acts is the primary and secondary curves running through our whole body— most significantly those in the lumbar spine or lower back. Chimpanzees, our closest ancestors among the primates, have a flat lumbar spine and as a result can’t sustain upright posture. It is our lumbar spine’s lordotic or anterior curve that enables our upper body and feet to bear and transfer weight.
There are other important differences between the human skeleton and that of the chimpanzees. Our knuckle-dragging cousins use their hands to help them move forward, and although they can walk on two legs for short distances, their walk doesn’t much resemble ours.
One reason for this is that our thigh bones slope inward from the hip to the knee, allowing our feet to fall directly under our center of gravity. This led us to develop powerful pelvic muscles called gluteal abductors which stabilize our bodies while in mid-stride. Chimps’ thigh bones slope outwards causing them to stand and walk with their feet wide apart. What’s more, their pelvic muscles are much weaker than ours, so that they have to move their entire body from side to side with each step, just to keep their center of gravity over whichever leg is bearing weight. Most importantly, chimps do not place their weight across the whole foot. Rather, they ground exclusively to the outside of the foot.
Human evolution followed many different paths. Our uprightness led to increased acuity of vision and the development of larger brains, which in turn required a wider-ranging diet including more high protein foods. To accommodate these advances, we needed to make our way down from the trees in order to forage over greater distances. In time, we began to do this exclusively on two legs.
Our descent from the treetops brought changes to the structure of our feet and the job that is required of them. The chimp foot requires an opposable “thumb” for grasping tree branches. In humans, the big toe has moved towards the midline and points in the same direction as our other toes. This seismic shift saw the big toe go from being a grasping digit to one which helps us move through space. In fact, when we are walking properly, every step ends with the entire weight of the body on the big toe.
Another evolutionary change in the foot is the move towards weight bearing responsibilities and the formation of the longitudinal arch. While many primates stand largely on their toes or on the ball of the foot, human beings stand on the whole foot. The human foot is a weight-bearing platform, with spring arches that act as shock absorbers.
These transformations were necessary steps towards increased efficiency. As we evolved from quadriped to biped, our new foot became solely responsible for supporting us and moving us forward through space.

In Defense of Shoes

Shoes are not necessarily good for us and when my daughter was born I was determined to have her run barefoot through life. But then reality reared its ugly head. My wife and I live in a city in the northeast—littered streets and cold winters soon put a damper on my fantasies. What to do? Pliable shoes with space for the toes to move are of paramount concern. So are having different shoes to wear so our feet don’t get used to always walking in the same sole. The more options for change and adaptation the better.
Shoes can have a profoundly negative effect on our posture and gait. Mobility in the foot is necessary for adapting to terrain and for allowing the arches to work. Stiff shoes can really restrain our feet from finding this movement; pointed shoes prevent the toes from spreading as they need to; high heels thrust our pelvis forward; high tops restrain the ankle and can affect corresponding joints such as the hip and knee; flip flops force the toes to grip in order to keep them on your foot.
We are also realists at the FitzGordon Method so when a model who wears five inch heels in order to make a living comes to us for help, we don’t tell her to change professions— we coach her in simple ways that can help the foot perform the tasks we ask of them. (For that model by the way, the prescription is an endless series of exercises from this chapter and massage so help restore foot after such intense work)
To repeat- my approach to shoes is simple. Have lots of them. I look for comfortable shoes that have space for them to spread as much as possible with each step. I try to switch them often.

New York Times Article

The blog has been out of commision for a while but I wanted to put up a link to an article about the walking program in this weeks New York Times.

Learning How To Walk (Chewing Gum Not Included)

A Path to Better Health

Interview with Bikram Choudhury

There haven't been many posts of late but I had to link to this article. He cracks me up. And, painfully, I agree with most everything he says.

Interview with Bikram Choudhury

Walk with Your Butt Out

It is important in both standing and walking to stick your butt out. This simple statement seems to go against the grain of what many people want to think and believe is correct. As a culture we love to tuck our pelvis. Maybe you hurt your back and a physical therapist told you to tuck under to lengthen your low spine; or you’ve done too many bad fitness classes at the gym, or you simply think your butt is too big. For whatever of the many reasons the vast majority of people allow the weight of the spine to fall backwards through the sacrum tucking the pelvis under and taking the femur (thigh) bones forward with it.

Standing up straight, and proper posture really is as simple as that, requires a skeletal adjustment to allow your thighs to move underneath your pelvis. This sticking out of the buttocks is actually meant to relax these muscles and help us find deeper core muscles to hold us up. We are truly a tight assed people. We grip our butts in tension and frustration, which is a natural reaction but as with everything we tend to over do it. The femur bones falling forward in space results in a constant engagement of the butt and thigh muscles (quadriceps).

When standing the quads and glutes should be working as little as possible to let important core muscles function properly. When we walk the big buttock muscle gluteus maximus works as the back leg extends backwards but it doesn’t or shouldn’t need to hold us up. Butt gripping is one of modern man’s great dilemmas.

The release of the butt goes hand in hand with a shifting of the pelvis. The effects of this shift are far reaching. As the thighs move back and under the pelvis your legs will release differently in walking and you will feel a more even distribution of energy through the foot with every step. The shift of the pelvis into proper alignment accesses the correct curve of your lower back bringing instant support to all the bones of the spine. Your shoulders will lift up and back naturally and the head will find greater support at the top of the spine.

Release your butt and embrace a whole new realm of energetic possibilities.

Errol Morris Essay

The link below is for an essay from todays Time's. I have always been a big fan of Errol Morris and now I'm really interested in the work of Paul Ekman. This covers a lot of painful and interesting ground.

The Most Curious Thing

How can walking help with Stress?

The quality of balance within an individual’s nervous system determines a great deal of that person’s character and mood. Everyone knows someone who is angry, or fearful, or bold. These traits are all manifestations of the endless dance of the nervous system as it tries to help us find center or homeostasis. The nervous system is housed in the skull and the spine taking the form of the brain and the spinal cord. The hypothesis of the FitzGordon Method is simple. Lengthen and align the spine and skull and free the nervous system to work at peak efficiency.

A balanced and aligned body relieves stress in a number of ways.

• When the body has core tone, you will be less fatigued at the end of the day.
• When the muscles of the pelvis and abdomen are properly stabilizing the spine and trunk, your nerve pathways are at their most open and free.

A great deal of the brains “nutrition” passes through the cervical spine (the neck). When the head sits properly atop the spine the front and back of the neck are even in length and tone, the brain feasts with every breath.