You've got yourself a nice little exercise routine that you are happy with. You use an elliptical trainer, which burns up the calories and keeps you in shape. The only problem is that when you have been on the machine for 20-30 minutes, you start getting numb feet. What can you do?
First of all, you'll be relieved to hear that you are not alone. There are plenty of other people that have had this problem, but most do not mention it. It feels like your feet have 'gone to sleep' or that you have the sensation of 'pins and needles'. You maybe familiar with this if you have been standing in one place for a long time or you go to sleep on your arm and your arm 'goes dead'.
The cause is the same as in these cases. The odd sensations come from the nerves in that area of the body. This is in response to a lack of blood circulation. Essentially the body is trying to tell you to get more blood to the area. It seems funny that you should have a lack of circulation when you are exercising but this can happen if you feet are kept in the same position on the machine. It's a bit like standing still in one place for a long time.
There are a number of things that you can do to combat numb feet on your elliptical. First try to vary your foot position as you use the machine. You could use a 'heel to toe' action that varies the pressure on different parts of the foot. You can also split your workout up into sessions of going forwards and in reverse. This also has the advantage of using different muscles.
Some people have found some relief by loosening their shoelaces or removing their trainers altogether and just exercising in their socks. Different machines can also be of benefit. Ellipticals that have articulating footpads allow a more natural movement of the foot that can help blood flow. Some people have also found that using a machine with an incline ramp also seems to help.
By using these tips you should be able to get back to enjoying your elliptical trainer workout without the inconvenience of numb feet.
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