ACADEMY CLINICS SHARES SOME INTERESTING FOOT FACTS

posted: Aug. 11, 2016.

 

 

 

 

According to people who measure things, the length of the human foot is between 14-16% of our height. The size of a foot is the equivalent to the natural width of the waist, or the depth of the chest in profile at the level of the nipples. Now there is an icebreaker for your next date. While you are at it, if you measure the length of your face from eyebrows to chin, and then double it, that's right, it should be about the size of your foot. Which of course is, as we know the circumference of your fist? Tip for fisters. The breadth of the foot, at the ball, is about one third of its length. So we have no excuse for not guessing our shoe size. The foot has 28 bones (26 small bones and 2 sesamoids) , thirty three joints, 107 ligaments, 19 muscles, and 250,000 sweat glands which excrete about half a pint of fluid per day. The bones of the feet make up about one quarter of the bones of the body. One step takes about one second to complete and on average we take between 60-70 steps per minute. Each step equates to one heart beat and one breath. No footprint is exactly the same and each step we take is a truly a unique event. The average person takes between 8 to 10,000 steps per day, or the equivalent of walking between Perth and Fremantle every day. In a lifetime we walk approximately 115,000 miles or more than four times around the world. No wonder walking is considered the natural exercise. Tracing the foot onto paper then cutting them out will reveal one foot longer and slightly broader than the other. Our feet are seldom the same size. This is a fact seldom acknowledged by shoe designers and retailers. Our nails grow approximately 1mm in ten days. Farmers have been known to mark the bottom of their nails when they plant their crops and by the time the plumb line reaches the free edge, their crops are ready to harvest. Nails are made from modified skin cells and protect the small bones at the end of our fingers and toes. Podiatry students will conservatively cut a quarter of a million toe nails during their training. The palms of the hand and soles of the foot are covered with large clear lines and ridges or prints. These are used by fortune tellers and forensic experts to tell our future and as a means of identification. The fine lines which cover the sole are called papillary ridges or finger prints. These form a roughened surface and are thought by some experts to help grip the ground, or assist the sense of touch.