A word from the Professor

Oh hello there. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Professor Ludwig Von Drake. I have given Jeff the day off, because I wanted to chat with you about something you might find interesting. Have you ever thought about how weight loss can help reduce stress on your joints? What? You haven’t? Oh my my my my even the loss of a single pound can make a big difference. Especially when it come to your feet.



When you run your body weight determines the amount of force being transferred into your feet. Forces of 2 to 3 times you body weight will impact your joints with every footfall. So let’s split the difference, call it 2.5 pounds and have some fun with math shall we? Here are our friends Jeff, Jonathan, and Bryan.



Now this post is a reedit of a Tundra post which originally ran in May of 2008. So I’m just going to use Jeff for todays example. I’m leaving this picture in because hey its always great to see old friends.

Now back to the topic at hand. A few weeks ago Jeff stepped on the scale and discovered that since running Disney last year he had gained 17 pounds. The very thought was depressing at first, made even more so when he looked back on that 2008 post when he was down to 200lbs. Stepping on the scale a few weeks ago he was heavier than he had even been. As Jeff began jogging again he could not help but think about the difficult road ahead. But rather than wallow in despair he's been trying to focus his mind on reaching small goals and looking for every little victory. One of the victories he enjoys is monitoring his heel strike numbers. So here’s where Jeff started and where he was as of last Friday.

252lbs x 2.5 = 630lbs of heel strike force
246lbs x 2.5 = 615lbs

That 6 pound loss is made sweeter when you think about 15 less lbs of force jamming back up from your feet and into your shins and knees.

Jeff's weight last January…

235lbs x 2.5 = 587.5lbs

His weight in the past few years…

190lbs x 2.5 = 475lbs

Logically on the flip side Jeff gained 62 pounds and 155 pounds of heel strike force since his best weight. The good news is that Jeff is currently working on reclaiming his previous stats but remember, these numbers can add up or drop fast. Just think about how much easier runs will become if your willing to keep an eye on the scale and doing something about it.

So get out there and make good choices today.