As a human kinetic technologist, Martijn knows better than anyone how the human body works. In his blog he talks about the importance of exercise, stress on the body and the consequences of this:
A body is a well-oiled machine. Sometimes you might think not when you get up after sitting in one position for a long time. But a body is incredibly efficient and ingenious that works very well with itself. Take my daughter: she has a foot that turns inward when walking. You might feel like you want to get that foot right, because that’s “better.” But her body has ensured that she goes through life without any complaints in a very efficient way. Intervening in that process would most likely lead to complaints because you would then disrupt the interaction. And you don’t want that.
It is always about giving the body as much freedom of movement as possible. You should fix it as little as possible. You should actually see that in all designs that the body has to use. A computer mouse was once designed without considering the natural positions of the joints of the hand and wrist. It fixes the joints from hand to shoulder with all the associated complaints: a mouse arm. A mouse arm is a direct result of fixation. Do you have any complaints? This is usually due to underload and fixation. Fixation can also sometimes be necessary in order to be able to move as much as possible. Someone with a spinal cord injury can benefit from fixing the hips and lower back so that other parts of the body can be moved as well as possible. Then it serves a very good purpose.
A body does not wear out, at least not by itself. Physical overload can lead to complaints. Then you break something. You make it stronger under load. Underload makes it softer. And then you again have a greater risk of overload. The load on hips and knees makes your hips and knees stronger. This can never lead to wear under normal load.
A body usually gets complaints in the direction in which it has not been trained or used. Those complaints are therefore a signal to move and to move precisely that part of the body that you should pay more attention to. That is always our starting point when designing our products. Continue to use, utilize and train the body in its entirety as much as possible. In a natural way. Then you can also keep moving as much as possible. No new complaints arise. And builds your body on its strength and resilience. And it remains a well-oiled machine. In its own natural way.