i wonder if anyone else here at vizzed does this.



both stances come with they're own pros and cons and either can be good depending on the situation.

digitigrade (for humans it would be considered walking on the balls of your feet or as some might say, tip toes): you can move around more quickly and silently

plantigrade (how most people walk, keeping the feet flat against the ground): better stability and...well, compared to how i walk let's just say it usually sounds like my aunt and uncle are stomping when they walk. lol

as for me, i prefer digitigrade stance usually (i tend to keep my heels a couple inches off the ground) but as pointed out above, it depends on the situation. most of the time i walk digiitigrade because i prefer it and it feels more natural to me. when doing something like yard work for example where you need to carry heavy things sometimes, plantigrade is better. aside from being more stable, plantigrade can help reduce potential back aches/pain doing that kind of heavy lifting as opposed to digitigrade.

i've been walking digitigrade for several years now and aside from what i've already said i don't have many issues with it. there are however some problems you'd notice immediately if you try walking this stance for very long though (at least until you get used to it as i have). probably the biggest would be knee pain. your knees will hurt a LOT until you get used to it after that would be maintaining your balance and not swaying left and right when walking but that can be remedied with practice (try standing on one foot in digitigrade stance for over 1-3 minutes. you'll probably fall down or just lose your balance fairly quickly.).

one thing to note is i don't spend ALL my time on the computer hehe i do get up and do several simple exercises(pushups, squats, balancing on one foot, etc. easy simple stuff like that aka just get up and MOVE AROUND. its not hard and takes very little time really. ) off and on so its pretty easy for me to keep walking the way i do without many problems.

I have to walk in the style of "digitgrade" because I have short tendons in my legs.. Which means I pretty much walk around on my tiptoes all day.. day... It's pretty painful and it really does make your legs muscular especially your thighs... The only thing that seems to do is make it impossible to wear skinny jeans... and it can make your body look out of proportion... Also people tend to notice you by the way you walk as you kind of bounce.. Rather than walk naturally.. Its not something that's ever bothered me truth be told.. But it has caused chaos with my spine and most shoes give me foot cramps very often

@sonicmuffin: i don't see anything unnatural about walking like that. its up to you how you want to walk. as for the shoes and back pain, well, i'd count those as a couple of the cons to walking digitigrade. :/ i can do hardly any heavy lifting and then my back starts to really ache after just a few minutes (maybe if i knew some good exercises for the back or something...). heck, just leaning over then standing back up again tends to do that too after a few times, both are quite annoying. if i had any good ideas for a solution to those problems when walking digitigrade i'd gladly share them.

@yoshirulez!: heh, yeah, its a LOT more silent than plantigrade where your heel is usually hitting the ground first (depending on how you walk), and much faster.

pushups, squats (both or one leg at a time), practicing things like punches and other fighting moves for fun, granted i don't do all that much, simple exercises like that have left me quite fast. >.> (can easily do 4-6 punches/second. just think how fast i can move my hands/arms ) i could stand on one leg digitigrade with the rest of my body mostly horizontal and not lose balance. all that helps my legs, balance, and makes me QUITE fast but...it doesn't help my back! thats pretty annoying as i'm sure you guys could imagine. then again, my knees no longer ache (heck, i hardly ever have to pop my knees anymore nowadays) and i can move around FAR better than before i ever started walking this way and doing all those exercises so i've no complaints on that.

treos : its not up to me how i walk, i could possibly walk plantigrade for a few minutes at most before my tendons in my legs and ankles feel like their going to tear apart... for me its not a choice lol

well, even if you could walk this way, its not for everyone. i mean, the pros are nice but the cons can be annoying and rather painful at times.

and on that note, i am SO glad my aunt talked me into swapping out my old mattress for the one we had set up in the spare room here. its a lot firmer and a LOT less squeaky and best of all, my back feels much better now and doesn't get to aching quite as easily which is awesome.