The Heel Pump will literally save your life

And that doesn’t mean the shoe either. What is the heel pump? Well that’s a question Susan. Heel pumping is what we at icareimove consider to be the law. If you can do anything in exercise prevention, it would be heel pumping.

So what is heel pumping exactly? Another good question Susan. An extremely common occurence when someone transfers from lying to sitting or sitting to standing is when someone feels faint, light headed or dizzy. The term is called vasovagal syncope. In our language it means the blood moving around the body hasn’t got back to the heart and brain quick enough.

Sounds terrifying but actually this is a job for the second hearts! But we only have one heart! That’s right Susan, the lower limbs, especially the calf muscles have a very important job as by pumping the heels, this gets the calves to contract and push blood quickly back to the brain so you don’t feel dizzy. Because they have such an important role they were given the name The Second Heart as a reward. And face it, no one likes to feel dizzy. It can be dangerous and falls could happen.

So how can we train the calf muscles to contract?

Well Susan, simple ankle joint moves can begin to stimulate the lower limbs, even tip toe walking can make a difference. We love calf raises with fingers against a wall for support and rising and lowering. Maybe changing postions of the feet too, such as toes out or toes face in.

Our bodies are so clever and as we travel along the ageing journey our bodies aren’t so shiny but they have experience and memories. If I were Queen for the day Susan I would insist that everyone learns to heel pump and heel pump every possible moment. One day heel pumping could save your life