I work retail. Sometimes my job is to stand on a post for a few hours. Sometimes, I gotta walk around the store for hours. And my feet hurts more when I’m standing on one spot than when I’m walking around.
In: 57
Actively standing on spot, or still, takes more energy and often has more muscles being contracted, opposed to when the body is in a resting state or naturally in movement. In short it doesn’t feel more tiring but it is more tiring.
Same reason as sitting still in the same position for too long will eventually hurt. Your organic body isn’t meant to be a statue. So if any part of your body has to maintain a certain position, or in this case if your feet have to constantly support your body weight without even lifting them to walk, they simply get worn out from the pressure.
Humans , and many other animals/mammals, were made to RUN. Like all day. Like all week like all your life your body was made to run run run. We were definitely not made to stand, evolutionarily speaking that is. You are using muscles that your mind has other ideas for and your brain is telling you to do something else. Or if you want to use big words to sound sciencey we could say the motor outputs are not receiving enough stimulation from the mind’s motivational centers (think the Pallidus and Striatum) to continue standing there and doing tasks with no immediate rewards.
Static vs Dynamic load on your muscles.
When you walk around, you use different sets of muscles for different motions like moving your legs forward and backward or balancing on one leg as you take a step. As you use one set of muscles, the other set gets a tiny break.
When you’re trying to remain still (standing or holding something in place), you’re likely using the same group of muscles for a long time without breaks. Naturally, this one group of muscles will get tired much faster.
Our body is designed for constant movement.
For example your leg muscles not only move your legs but also help to pump blood upstream every time they squeeze.
So when you stand still blood in your legs move slowly, meaning less nutrients is supplied to muscles and waste is removed at slower pace.
Your feet get a small break while walking because you are lifting them in the air during a step, there are no breaks for your feet when standing still. These small breaks add up fast.
Latest Answers