Question
Dear David,

I am in major need of your help.  Need a comfortable shoe that provides support for my back.  Am in fashion industry and on my feet alot.  At age 49 everything is hurting last few years.  Can you give me some suggestions on what to do,  what brands to buy ?  Insoles, etc ?
With appreciation
Janet

Answer
Hello Janet

First, the bad news; shoes will not solve your problem. Here is why; I work outdoors, in construction. I wear steel toed work boots. You could not buy a worse shoe for DISCOMFORT. I was in a lot of foot pain, ankle swelling, and my legs had cramps so bad at night, it felt like knives were sticking into them.

That was 17 years ago. I am now age 53; still working outdoors (the foot inserts don't work either; they do not stay put; they keep climbing up into the toe area of the shoe, causing pressure and pain on the toes).
I work 8-14 hours a day and have NO feet pain.

Here is what was happening to me, probably the same thing is happening to you;

As I got older, my muscles were getting weaker. I was asking a body that was slowly falling apart, to do the work I was doing at age 20. Walking around and being on my feet all day was not making my muscles stronger; they were getting weaker.

As your muscles get weaker, your balance starts to slightly go off. You compensate by forcing your stronger muscles to do the work the weaker muscles no longer can do. That puts your spine out of alignment - and vola! - your back hurts all the time.

It is the way we are built. Around age 18-20, our bodies are fully grown. What you see is what you get. As the years go by, we slowly get weaker, and weaker. It is called sarcopenia. Your back is 80% muscle.

You see it in older people; they cannot get out of a chair, they cannot sit down, etc. - no muscle strength. Ever see a senior citizen walking with a really bad limp? That is because of a condition called dominant side vs passive side. Your dominate side is the side you write with. As you get older, your dominate side pushes down your passive side. Then you loose your balance and walk with a limp.

I have NONE of these problems, and I have had a LOT of physicals over the years proving what I say is working.

Here is what to do. You need to set up and exercise program where you make your feet, leg, and hip muscles stronger. Everything else will follow along as time goes by.

Assuming that you have the same schedule as me; frantic; I would suggest that you do these exercises in the morning when you wake up, and again when you get ready for bed.

In the Morning; stand at your kitchen counter, holding the counter, squat SLOWLY down as far as you can go, slowly going back up. You hold the counter for balance so you can concentrate on the squatting, not keeping your balance. I do this exercise every day.

Your goal is 10 squats a day.

Also at the counter; hands firmly on the counter, one foot forward, the other foot far back; do lunges toward the counter. Again, hold the counter for balance. I also do 10 a day. A little more difficult to do, do not force yourself, work your way up slowly to this one.

And to finish at the counter. Place one foot a little far back, foot firmly on the ground, and move your leg back and forth, stretching the calf muscles. Again 10 times.

Now you have got your leg muscles warmed up; time to get them stronger!

But The Step, they sell them at Walmart. What I do is go up and down, starting with my left foot. 10 times. Then I pause. I repeat again 10 times, this time starting with my right foot. The hardest part of this exercise is the step UP with either foot, so I alternate to give the leg muscles a break. I do 100 steps in the morning. Just do what you can. When you get to 100 steps, invest in a weight vest and start increasing the vest's weight as you go along. This exercise ALSO will make your hips and back stronger.

If you have STAIRS at work - even better. Every hour, take a "5 minute smoke break." Go to the stairs, climb up, and then down, 1 flight of stairs. I call this the "smoke break" because people who smoke can take a 5 minute break every hour, why not you? It is really a exercise break, but let's tell everyone it is a smoke break so they will have no comment or opinion. This is also an AMAZING stress breaker. It is really something to observe when you walk away from work for 5 minutes every hour. The day goes by faster, and you feel a LOT better.

Evenings; before you go to bed. Let's work on the rest of the body; buy a pair of empty 5-gallon bottle of water that have handles on the sides.

Fill both bottles with equal water. Enough water where you can bend down slightly; elbows bent, knees bent, bent over a little bit, and pick up and HOLD the two water bottles for 60 seconds. IF the bottles feel too light at the end of 60 seconds, add more water. If the bottles are too heavy and you are straining, drain off some of the water. Trial and error in the beginning until you find a happy medium. Once a week, add a very small amount of water to both bottles.

What happens with this exercise; your are holding the bottles, elbows, knees and back bent. This keeps the bones from doing any work; the muscles are doing ALL the work. You have major muscles that are holding the bottles up. About 30 seconds later, they become fatiqued, so your smaller muscles kick in to help. 45 seconds into it, all your muscles are fatiqued. You have tightened up 100% of your muscles.

When you put the bottles down, after 60 seconds, your muscles immediately go into repair mode. To make them stronger. Do this exercise every OTHER day. Not every day. Muscles need rest to grow stronger.

Adding the water slowly tricks your muscles. They do not feel the increase in weight. If you JUMP the increae in weight, you end up with very sore muscles.

Long term, you will out grow your water bottles. We can discuss that later as at THAT time I will discuss purchasing a power rack and some weight equipment for a SUPERIOR strength training exercise that will keep your body physically strong and free of stress and pain.

You also need to tighten up your core muscles. They are like thick bands of rubber that wrap from your spine, around your abs and back to your spine. One exercise will get them strong; situps, as follows:

Lie on the floor, knees up, feet up under a dresser or some other furniture piece. With your hands cross your chest, resting on your shoulders (no hands behind the head!), raise your upper back UP about 1/4 off the floor. Keep your lower back on the floor. HOLD UPWARD for 20 seconds. You will feel, and see, your stomach vibrating!
That is your core muscles tightening up, a LOT! Any higher up and your lower back and sides are doing the work, not your core muscles. Do this exercise every night before you go to bed.

Now, throw in time, patience. It takes a while. About 3 months before results happen. And the results are VERY SLOW, you will not see the change, but your friends will.  Take a muscle reliever such as alieve, during the day.

The muscles will get stronger, the pain will become less and less, and you will be amazed at the change in not only your physical appearance, but also your attitude.

I feel like a teenager. Really! It is so much fun to go to work every day. I see everyone around me getting older and falling apart, but I have energy to spare long into the evening. I use to dread getting older. Now I embrace it.

Another example; I like to go to theme parks. I go every 2 months. Last month it was 95 degrees F with 100 percent humidity. My wife, my wife's sister, my son, age 14, 2 of his friends, age 14, my neice (wife's sister's daughter), age 11, all went with me to a big theme park. We arrive at 9 AM, left at 6:30 PM. I was walking around, wearing my WORK BOOTS. Everyone else were wearing the various brand-name walking shoes. ALL of them were literally dragging by 1 PM. I was walking, running, walking backwards, etc. - 20 feet in front of them! They said I was a machine...

I ended up carrying all their bags, their cameras, my neice on my sholders, back to the parking lot and the car. I then drove 3 hours back home, while everyone else was asleep in the car!

Sure I had soreness when I came home. But when I got up the next day, started moving around again, the soreness went away and I felt like a new man again.

I hate pain! I want to hear from you again someday that you go to your job every day free of pain and full of energy. This stuff works. You just have to do it.

Thank you for the question. If you have any more questions or comments, please write to me again. Have a great day.