The Surprising Truth About the Skip in Your Step

A little joint in your foot allows you to walk around upright and run long distances.

By Matt Hrodey
Jun 2, 2023 9:00 PMJun 5, 2023 1:43 PM
Foot x-ray
A human foot X-ray. (Credit: kravka/Shutterstock)

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The skip in the human footstep – the flexing of the arch with each step – does little to help carry the body forward, a new study has found. Instead, it serves to keep the ankle upright, so that we walk in the characteristic way of human beings and not like other apes.

The finding overturns conventional wisdom and may help in the treatment of people whose arches have become rigid due to illness or injury.

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