Podiatrist · Specialist in Biomechanics · Founder of VOLKAN
"The body continuously negotiates between two needs: to improve for the future and to protect itself in the present."
"I don't understand my body"
It's a phrase I hear many times.
"One day I walk ten kilometers and nothing happens."
"The day after, it hurts after two."
"There are weeks when everything goes well."
"And other weeks when it seems my body has forgotten how to move."
For a long time I thought these situations were exceptional.
Today I know they are part of the normal functioning of the organism.
Because the body does not make decisions following a fixed rule.
It constantly evaluates the situation.
And it modifies its behavior based on what it considers most important at that moment.
Adapting takes energy
We like to think that improving is something automatic.
But it is not.
Each adaptation requires resources.
Building muscle consumes energy.
Strengthening a tendon takes time.
Learning a new movement pattern requires practice.
Modifying neural connections involves reorganizing the nervous system.
Every change has a cost.
That's why the organism does not adapt simply because we want it to.
It adapts when it considers that it is worth investing those resources.
And that decision depends on the context.
Protecting oneself also has a price
Protection is one of the most intelligent functions of the body.
When pain appears.
When mobility decreases.
When muscle tension increases.
When we walk more cautiously.
The organism is trying to reduce a risk.
That mechanism has allowed our species to survive for thousands of generations.
But it also has a cost.
Moving less reduces the information that the nervous system receives.
The tissues bear less load.
Physical capacity decreases.
Confidence deteriorates.
And, if the protection lasts too long, what initially helped us can start to limit our ability to adapt.
The problem is rarely about protecting oneself.
The problem arises when the body no longer knows when to stop doing so.
The organism is continuously negotiating
Every day the brain responds, even if we are not aware.
Did I sleep well?
Am I recovered?
Do I perceive safety?
Do I have enough energy?
Is the environment stable?
Is the load manageable?
It does not respond with words.
It responds by modifying movement.
Increasing or reducing muscle tone.
Changing the perception of effort.
Facilitating adaptation.
Or prioritizing protection.
Biomechanics is not a photograph.
It is a permanent conversation.
When the body feels safe, it invests
Think of a child learning to walk.
They fall.
They get up.
They try again.
Explore.
Experiment.
Their brain dedicates huge amounts of energy to learning because it interprets that it is worth it.
The organism invests where it perceives opportunities.
The same happens throughout life.
When the body perceives that it has rest, resources, sufficient movement, and a relatively safe environment, it usually increases its capacity for adaptation.
Learns.
It strengthens.
Refines the movement.
Expands its repertoire of solutions.
Safety favors learning.
When the body perceives a threat, it conserves
Now imagine the opposite situation.
Pain.
Stress.
Fatigue.
Little sleep.
Uncertainty.
The brain interprets that it is not the best time to spend resources on improvement.
First, it needs to ensure survival.
Then protective responses appear.
Not because the body wants to harm us.
But because it is trying to help us with the information it has.
From the outside it may seem like an exaggerated reaction.
From the inside it makes biological sense.
The organism always makes decisions trying to increase the chances of continuing to function.
What does this have to do with barefoot?
Everything.
There are people who think that wearing minimalist footwear will automatically strengthen their feet.
But the organism doesn't work that way.
If the transition is too fast.
If there is fear.
If there is accumulated fatigue.
If the load exceeds the capacity to adapt.
The brain may interpret that experience as a threat.
And respond by increasing protection.
On the other hand, when the transition respects the organism's timing, the system receives a completely different message.
"This is new."
"It poses a challenge."
"But it is manageable."
And then the adaptations we seek appear.
Not because the barefoot has magical properties.
But because the body has decided to invest in learning.
What I see every day in consultation
There is a particularly beautiful moment during many treatments.
It happens when the patient stops asking me:
"When will the pain go away?"
And starts to ask me:
"How can I help my body readapt?"
That change in question completely transforms recovery.
Because it stops fighting against the organism.
It starts to collaborate with it.
And, many times, that collaboration marks the true turning point.
We do not try to defeat the body.
We try to understand how it makes its decisions.
What can you do from today
The next time a discomfort appears, try doing a different exercise.
Instead of only asking yourself:
"What part of my body is failing?"
Ask yourself:
"What is my organism trying to protect?"
And add a second question.
"What would it need to feel safe enough to adapt again?"
Sometimes the answer will be movement.
Other times it will be rest.
At times it will be to temporarily reduce the load.
And many times it will be a combination of all of it.
🔬 In a sentence
The organism improves when it perceives it can adapt and protects when it perceives it needs to survive.
The most important idea
All biomechanics can be understood as a dynamic balance between adaptation and protection.
Neither is good or bad in itself.
Both are essential.
Without protection we would not survive.
Without adaptation we would stop evolving.
Health appears when the organism can alternate both strategies according to what it needs at each moment.
Not remaining always alert.
Not by seeking continuous improvement.
But by knowing when to do one thing and when to do the other.
A question to reflect on
Think about the vital moment you are in right now.
Is your body investing most of its energy in adapting… or in protecting itself?
In the next article…
So far we have talked about the organism as an extraordinarily intelligent system.
But there is one characteristic that summarizes everything we have learned and that, paradoxically, we rarely value.
Biological resilience.
Why is the body capable of recovering from injuries, learning new skills, and continuing to adapt even after years of inactivity?
Where are its limits really?
And why, so often, do we underestimate our organism's ability to change again?
In the next chapter we will discover that the human body has an extraordinary quality: it never completely stops learning.