Where my toes gone?!

[talonne]

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why all of my toes go numb after using the elliptical for about 15-20 minutes. I usually go for 30 minutes, so the rest of it is spent wondering if I'm actually doing damage to my toes...

Comments

[babyjami]

do you notice if your heel is on the pedal while you are doing it? it's possible you are raising your feet without your realizing and cutting off proper circulation to your toes.

[talonne]

I do raise my heels off the pedal... and I never thought anything of it. I thought it was normal, like raising the heel of your rear foot when walking!

[babyjami]

i think the reason we do that while walking is because we have to lift our feet of the ground to move forward, plus it would just be awkward movement for our bodies if we didn't and just had flat feet while walking. it might depend on your elliptical but you shouldn't have to raise your feet off the plane because you are moving the plane with you. (but it might be our conscious doing so).
try being aware of your feet next time and see if you can keep your feet on the plane. if this continues you may have to switch to an exercise bike for a while, then try the elliptical again.