Have you ever been in a tight spot for an extended period of time? It may feel like the whole lower half of your body goes numb and is gasping for air.
Once you get out of your cramped situation, you may be surprised to find that you can't feel your foot and it is extremely hard to move! This is sometimes commonly called a "sleepy foot".
You would think this would only happen in claustrophobic situations, right? Well, you might be surprised to know that many people are getting sleepy feet while using elliptical trainers!
It may seem weird, but is becoming a more common problem among exercisers of this machine. Let's take a look at how this peculiar problem starts and what measures you can take to prevent it.
If your body and legs are in constant motion when you are exercising on an elliptical, then why is it that your feet get numb and can "fall asleep"? For an explanation, let's look at some other examples in the real world.
Do you remember those high school chorus concerts that you participated in? It seemed like a lifetime of just standing there in one spot, not moving. You might have even had your legs or feet fall asleep, which can be quite a nuisance.
Or think about when you are standing in line somewhere for a long time. The bottom half of your body might feel numb and it might take a while to get the feeling back into it.
This is a condition called paresthesia, and it happens when the nerves in your body get pressure applied to them so that they have increased stress. This can cause a "pins and needles" feeling to wherever the nerves are being stressed.
This can happen when on an elliptical. The rest of your body is moving, but your feet are not. Sometimes they can stay in the same position for the entire workout.
For this reason, this problem can become common when people use this machine. Here are a couple things that you can do to help prevent this annoying condition:
Pick the right shoes: It is important to have well-cushioned, well-fitting footwear when using this machine. This can help make your feet more comfortable so that they are less likely to get fatigued.
You need to also remember not to tie your shoelaces too tight. If you do, you can cut off much-needed circulation to your feet and put unneeded pressure on the nerves of your feet.
Tie your shoes tight enough so they won't fall off, but loose enough that you can wiggle your toes around and give them some breathing room. This can help prevent paresthesia.
Move your feet: If the problem is relatively simple, then this is one of the best ways to get rid of it. If you are standing in the same place for a long amount of time, some people bend their knees and move their legs around to get blood flow back to that area.
It is the same principle for the sleepy foot problem. When you are working out on the machine, wiggle your toes around and move your feet every so often to promote blood flow and to relieve pressure on your nerves.
This can be a great way to somewhat solve the problem. If it seems like a more serious problem, there are other steps that can be taken.
Change the nature of the workout: Another great thing is to vary the type of exercises you are doing. Change it up so that your feet get that needed change of scenery.
You can alternate the direction of your pedaling from forwards to backwards. Doing this will change the areas of pressure on your foot, so that no one area is over-worked.
You can also find an elliptical that has an incline. Many have seen that using incline machine sometimes help with the problem.
By following these simple steps, this problem doesn't have to be anything but a road bump. It really is no more than a pesky nuisance and can be easily fixed.
If none of these steps work, check with a doctor to see if more drastic steps need to be taken. Make it so that your annoying sleepy foot doesn't bother you anymore!
Author Resource:-
Ronald Pedactor is a personal trainer and has authored hundreds of articles relating to physical training and elliptical trainers. He has been a health expert and physical trainer for over 15 years.
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