The amazing, but complex, foot

We put socks and shoes on them most days and, for sure, we know our size.

Feet to most of us are pretty much where our legs end and where the shoe goes.

We spend a lot of time considering what goes on our feet from a functional and fashion perspective, but with little consideration for the foot itself. The only time we stop, think and appreciate our feet is when something goes wrong, and when it does – “Ouch!” and “Help!”

The foot is an amazing and complex structure, so much so that they require their own functional specialist, the podiatrist. Here are some foot facts so you get an idea why.

The foot is made up of 26 bones, 33 joints and hundreds of muscles, tendons and ligaments. Every one of them has an important role to play in your posture, ability to move freely and stand.

Use and overuse with poorly fitted footwear can lead to problems with the feet and ankles. These alignment issues, especially wearing high heels, will impact your normal weight balance. These alignment problems can then be referred to the hips and spine.

High-impact sports can also lead to fracture and stress fracture of the bones in the feet, which can be incredibly painful and isolating.

If you suffer from foot pain, consult your podiatrist for assessment of your gait.

Strong joints

Like your feet, the only time you care or sit down to learn more about your joints is when something goes wrong. In between now and then, we take joints for granted.

“You have amazing knees” or “your elbows look amazing in that dress”, said no one – ever. But tweak your knee playing netball, or roll your ankle on a pothole jogging and, all of a sudden, your joints are the highest priority.

And for your efforts, there is a dual sentence:
1) a healing time penalty; and
2) a pain penalty.

That’s not to mention now diverting your discretional income towards rehabilitative costs.

So how do you strengthen your joints? In general, you need to tackle this from two angles.

Firstly you need proper nutrition. To ensure your joints are not weakened by deficiency, you must consume your recommended daily calcium intake, and ensure sufficient Vitamin D for calcium absorption.

Secondly, you must train with weights or with resistance. Weight bearing exercises strengthen bones and joints. They also develop the muscles and tendons around joints that provide the stability and strength of the joint structure.

Poor muscle conditioning leads to reduced co-ordination and stability. This, in turn, can bring on a slip and fall and subsequent bone and joint damage, which we definitely don’t want. Remember that aging works against us, and you should tackle aging with regular exercise and proper nutrition.

Farewell YCMA at Victoria Point

After 10 years of operating a gymnasium and pool at the Victoria Point apartment complex, we closed the doors on this wonderful chapter in Docklands on May 31.

Over that time and in that centre alone, we serviced well over than 1 million workouts to Docklanders and residents of the Victoria Point building.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners in setting up this space: Victoria Point Joint Ventures our landlord, Places Victoria and the City of Melbourne. We would also like to thank our key corporate partners Bendigo Bank, NAB, Etihad, AFL, Lion, Channel 7, Myer, ANZ and Docklands News for their support over the years.

We will continue to offer health and wellness services in the Docklands out of our centre within the ANZ headquarters. Facilities and programs in the location have been increased from June 1 accordingly.

An important note is that, while the YMCA has left the gymnasium as a tenant, both Pinnacle Health Group and Gate 10 Café will continue trading from the space.

And thank you to all of our members – we look forward to continuing our relationship from the Collins St location in the future.