Podiatrist · Specialist in Biomechanics · Founder of VOLKAN
"The problem is rarely movement. The problem arises when we demand more than the body can tolerate at that moment."
"But I just went out to run..."
It's a conversation I have very often in consultation.
—I don't understand what happened.
—I only ran ten kilometers.
—I have run that distance many times.
—And the next day I couldn't put weight on my foot.
When we dig a little deeper, the details start to emerge.
I had been training less for several weeks.
I was sleeping worse.
I had increased the pace.
I had lots of stress at work.
I had changed shoes a few days ago.
None of those factors, by themselves, seemed sufficient to explain the injury.
But together they had changed something very important.
The body's ability to adapt.
The body lives negotiating with the load.
Every tissue in our body receives loads continuously.
The bones.
The tendons.
The muscles.
The joints.
Even the nervous system responds to the demands we place on it.
Walking is a load.
Climbing stairs is too.
Running represents a greater load.
Lifting weights, jumping, or standing for many hours are different ways to demand something from the body.
And the body has an extraordinary capacity to respond.
As long as the demand is compatible with the resources available.
Adapting is a form of survival.
When we train progressively, the body interprets that it needs to prepare for the future.
The muscles increase their capacity.
The tendons modify their structure.
The bones are remodeled.
The nervous system improves coordination.
It doesn't happen overnight.
It happens because the body understands that this load will be repeated.
Adaptation is, in fact, a way to anticipate tomorrow.
Why then do injuries occur?
Because there is a limit.
When the load exceeds the tissue's capacity to tolerate it, problems start to arise.
Sometimes it happens because we do too much.
Other times because we do too little for a long time and suddenly demand too much.
At times the physical load hasn't changed.
What has changed is the body's capacity to manage it.
We sleep worse.
We have more stress.
We recover less.
We are going through an illness.
Or we are simply accumulating fatigue for weeks.
The tissue receives the same load.
But it no longer has the same resources.
Pain does not always mean that the body is fragile.
There is an idea that particularly concerns me.
Many people interpret an injury as a sign that their body is broken.
Most times it is not.
On numerous occasions, pain is the way the body alerts us that it needs more time, a better recovery, or a different progression.
It is not an enemy.
It is a protection system.
Listening to it does not mean stopping movement.
It means understanding what it is trying to tell us.
What does this have to do with barefoot?
A lot.
It is increasingly common to find people who switch to minimalist footwear overnight because they have read that it is more natural.
And, a few weeks later, discomfort appears.
Not because the footwear is harmful.
But because the body was still not prepared for the new demands.
The muscles of the foot.
The tendons.
The musculature of the leg.
Even the nervous system.
All need time to adapt to a different way of receiving the loads.
Barefoot does not break tissues.
The lack of adaptation can do so.
That is why a progressive transition is not a prudent recommendation.
It is a biomechanical necessity.
What I see every day in consultation
One of the phrases I repeat most to my patients is this:
"We do not need you to do less. We need your body to be able to do more."
That change of perspective completely transforms the treatment.
The goal ceases to be avoiding movement.
It starts to be increasing the body's capacity to tolerate it.
In many cases, we do not seek to protect a tissue indefinitely.
We seek to prepare it to withstand the life that person wants to live.
And that difference completely changes rehabilitation.
What can you do starting today
The next time discomfort appears, before thinking only about the place where it hurts, ask yourself:
Have I changed something in my activity?
Am I resting the same as a few weeks ago?
How is my stress level?
Have I increased the intensity too quickly?
Am I allowing my body to adapt?
Many times, the answer starts long before the pain.
🔬 In a sentence
The body does not strengthen by avoiding loads. It strengthens by learning to tolerate them progressively.
The most important idea
Biomechanics is not about finding the perfect movement.
It is about helping the body develop the necessary capacity to respond to the demands of life.
Because the problem is almost never walking.
Nor running.
Nor training.
The real problem arises when we demand today a body that still belongs to yesterday.
A question to reflect on
Think about the last injury you remember.
Was it really the movement that caused it… or was your body just not yet prepared to handle that load?
In the next article…
So far we have talked a lot about the body.
But there is a protagonist that appears in every chapter and almost never receives the recognition it deserves.
The brain.
Why do two people with the same injury feel completely different pain?
Why can fear change the way we walk?
And why does the nervous system decide, in many cases, to protect us even before there is significant damage?
We will delve into one of the most fascinating topics in modern biomechanics: the relationship between the brain, pain, and movement.