Month: June 2020

Flat feet? How to strengthen your feet, lower legs, and improve your balance and focus (at the same time)

I’ve got one foot that’s flatter than the other. It’s not as flat as my dad’s feet where the arch is totally flattened out, but enough.

When I was a kid the doctor said I had “flexible flat feet”…

And gave me some orthotics, but those don’t help and you can’t do anything athletic in them.

And recently I was reading some of the things problems and disadvantages about having flat feet.

  • knee problems (have had several knee injuries)
  • hip and back problems
  • postural problems
  • kyphosis or lordosis

So since about 6 months ago I’ve been working on rehabbing a knee injury (torn meniscus).

And one thing you can do is strengthen the surrounding muscles. Ironically the knee that I tore was on the flatter foot side. It’s weird my lower right leg and foot is weaker than my left, but my upper right leg is stronger than my left…

Have asymmetry in your body?

Anyways here’s a yoga video I made that will help your lower legs (feet, ankles, calves), balance and focus. Also there’s a pose in there where I bend forward that also will work your hamstrings and glutes (1 side at a time).

If you do this 5-10 minutes a day everyday you will notice a difference because I have.

I’ve always practiced yoga – well for 20 years, but about 1-2 months ago I started to set a timer for 10 minutes for the second half of my yoga routine and just focus on one legged balancing exercises.

You’ll feel it in your feet.

I am sure you will notice a difference in how your feet feel in a week. The benefits of doing poses like this vs. normal exercises such as curling a towel with your toes is that it’s more engaging for your body and mind.

You’ll use your whole lower leg, improve your balance and focus at the same time. If you just do towel exercises, well I think they are boring and they are kind of isolated – at least the ones I’ve seen.

Try.

My feet feel stronger from doing this and I noticed I can stand still and type on my computer for longer periods of time.

My feet feel more like they are gripping the floor vs. being flattened out.

That video above I made near a park (Momochi seaside park) near my home in Fukuoka. It was a bit rainy and windy that day. They have some big stones that you can sit or lie on and that was what I was standing on.

Occasionally I will go and do yoga there. It’s nice the ocean meets the river there.

5-10 minutes?

What if my feet get tired? They will. Then just switch sides. I focus more on my right side since that is the weaker side.

How can you balance?

Focus on a point in front of you. This is harder outside since there is more space. But if you are inside just find a point on the wall or something in front of you.

And focus on your breathing.

Last words…

  • Will walking in the beach sand help? Somewhat, not as much as I thought, but if you do it daily… Since I currently live near the beach for the last 30-40 days I would walk maybe a half of a mile in the dry beach sand barefooted. But the yoga exercises above are more efficient.
  • Will toe shoes help? Maybe a little, I’ve had a pair for maybe 4-5 years or so. Back when I was street performing I would wear them all the time or now in the summer sometimes.
  • Will doing toe raises help? Yes. Back in high school I used to do these a lot. I played basketball and wanted to be quick and able to jump. I think these strengthened my feet.
  • Will foam rolling help? Indirectly it could as the surrounding muscles may have an effect on your flat feet. I have been rolling on my tight IT bands, calves and glutes because I saw a few videos on Youtube that suggested tight muscles there and in your calves could cause you to be duck footed.
  • Will doing box jumps help? Yes. Box jumps are a good full lower body exercise. They will work your feet up to your glutes. I noticed my feet felt stronger when I was doing these.
  • Will doing squats help? No. Squats are primarily an upper leg and glute exercise. They don’t work your feet. Box jumps are a much better full lower body exercise that will work your feet+.
  • Will jumping rope help? Yes. Although it tends to other one of my knees.

Here’s a little more yoga that I did on the beach.

Deadbeat

I’ve had in my mind that over the next year or so I will do 12 or more creative video/music types.  And here is one that I completed recently.

Well, it’s never really completed, but it’s enough for now. I got tired of working on it. Because I had some problem with the clipping and then I would lower it and it was fine in the software (old Garageband) and then export it and then it was distorted and I went round and round with that.

And just decided it’s good enough for now considering my computer and software is like 11 years old.

Maybe be too many tracks for Garageband.

But anyways here is the slow version.

I started off with a song that was one of my favorites from when I was around 12-13 and then took a bit out of it. I changed the speed and then created a new loop and added some samples from elsewhere.

Then the video I had lying around for a long time which seemed kind of fitting and a few pics of old paintings I did. I actually have a bunch of video, kinda creative stuff lying around that I plan on using in the future.

Deadbeat.

I’m black

If I said, “I’m black” you’d think?

More on that later…

You know I was reading the other day that Google search results are biased. True, everyone is biased including the search engine and what it chooses for you.

Why does it choose the sites that it does?

I’ve learned a lot about that since I started a website about 10 years ago.

But some say Google is politically biased. Google owns Youtube and I’ve heard stories of people’s videos being taken down because they discussed sensitive PC topics.

I think I also read most news media sites out there are left-wing leaning. So that’s maybe something you want to ask yourself.

How objective is this news that I am reading?

I found the article mentioned below about Joe Rogan.

I don’t bow hunt or find myself interested in everything Joe Rogan is or agree with everything he says, but I am interested in many things that he is such as:

  • health
  • jiu-jitsu
  • yoga
  • nutrition
  • psychedelics
  • comedy
  • art and music
  • learning
  • etc.

I think the coolest thing about him is that he’s himself. He’s not pretentious and he can talk about a diverse range of topics including some stuff that’s “taboo” for many.

He’s like a normal guy. He’s not uptight, swears and smokes weed on his show with some of his guests.

He has had many guests on his show like 1,400+ people including: actors, musicians, psychologists, scientists, astrophysicists, fighters, and a whole lot of people with interesting stories.

Some recent shows:

  • Tony Hawk (He’s like 52 and still skates awesome!)
  • Jordan Jonas (Lived alone in the wilderness for 77 days with 10 items)
  • Edward Snowden
  • Mike Tyson
  • Dr. Rhonda Patrick
  • Bernie Sanders

And speaking of Bernie…

I saw this post I mentioned earlier on Vox where the writer Zack Beauchamp quotes Joe Rogan from a video.

I was completely open and liberal about it — until there was a case where a man who had been a man for 30 years became a woman for a little less than two years and then started MMA fighting women. Beating the fuck out of these women, and then not proclaiming that he or she used to be a man … if you ever watch the fights, she wasn’t winning because she was skillful. She was fucking manhandling these women, it was ugly.

Then Zack says…

“This very short paragraph contains all the classic tropes of transphobia: a denial of the authenticity of trans people’s identity, an insinuation that they’re a threat to cis folks, and a claim that they’re using their gender identity to somehow get ahead in life.”

Haha…

I remembered that video. I’ve heard him talk about that and I don’t think that is transphobia. That is just being objective. He’s an MMA commentator and black belt in BJJ and Tae kwon do.

Give him some credit.

He knows something about athletics and fighting.

Why do they have female and male divisions for all kinds of sports?

Is that sexism?

There’s a reason.

Men are typically bigger, stronger and faster. That’s not a mentality that’s a reality.

Men and women have different hormone levels and biological differences.

“Cis”

Hehe…

Call yourself what you want, but don’t tell people what to call you or try to make some rule as to what you should be called.

Your idea is just an idea (or idealogy) and who is to say you are right? There are many people out there in the world that don’t think like you.

And something I read once that I thought was pretty insightful.

Don’t believe everything you think.

That Vox article suggested that since Joe Rogan had some “right-wing” people on his show like Alex Jones, Ben Shapiro, etc. that he was a bigot.

But he’s had a lot of people on his show that aren’t considered “right-wing” not only Bernie Sanders, but Andrew Yang (thumbs up from me), and what’s her name…

Tulsi Gabbard.

A lot of people with different viewpoints.

IT’S MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY.

That’s how I see a lot of feminists, SJW’s or “activists” think. They’re religious.
“It’s still a totalitarian way of thinking… If people don’t comply you’re going after them. That’s everything against being a liberal progressive thinker. Exactly.” – 2 people referring to SJW’s
It extends to food too.

The my way or the highway diet

What?

What’s the most politically correct diet? Would it be the vegan diet? Because you might as well be a savage if you are eating animal products.

But the vegan diet includes carbs and according to the keto (ketogenic) folks…

“CARBS AREN’T FOOD.”

Someone actually replied to me once with that comment. I said to go look up the Blue zone diet.

Food is one example and…

Religion is another

I once read that “brands” are like religions in a book by Martin Lindstrom. The same part of the brain that lights up with religion is associated with brands (on an MRI).

Your political party, favorite supermarket, sneaker brand are like your religion.

So maybe “keto” is a religion and feminism is a religion and ___ is a religion too.

Different people think differently.

Joe Rogan has had vegans, people on the ketogenic diet, atkins diet and carnivore diet on his show. So I say give him some credit for not excluding or censoring people who are not in “his circle” whatever that may be.

“All forms of violent extremism are rooted in this form of in-group versus out-group thinking.” – source

Oh and by the way…

If you were born with a penis and think of yourself as female or want to be called ___.

Or, if you were born with a vagina and think of yourself as a male or want to be called ___.

Then I am black.

And 30% Asian despite whatever my genes say and the fact I might look like a white man.

Nope.

I am not white.

Better make a new box for my ethnicity on that application. I am still working on what I’ll call this new ethnicity.

Hehehe…

It was a joke hope you got it.