It is difficult to walk on wet sand because the water fills the spaces between the sand grains, reducing the friction that helps to maintain balance while walking.
Dry sand is made up of grains that don’t hold together too well, but when it’s slightly damp, a small amount of water forms liquid bridges that stick the grains together and make it compact. However, when it becomes too wet, this water completely fills the spaces between the grains and eliminates those liquid bridges. Without these bridges, the sand loses all its cohesion, becoming softer and more unstable under your weight. Your foot then easily sinks in, the footing is poor, and walking requires more effort. This is what makes your stroll along the beach much more tiring than on dry or slightly damp ground.
When the sand is wet, a thin layer of water fills the small spaces between the grains, creating what is called the capillary effect. This phenomenon causes the water to act like a sort of temporary glue, holding the grains together, but also your feet stuck to the sand. As a result, when you walk on it, your foot pushes the water outwards and creates a zone of partial vacuum just beneath your sole—an effect similar to a small suction cup. This translates into that familiar feeling of having your foot slightly sucked and held with every step, complicating your movement on the wet sand.
The wet sand significantly increases the friction under our feet: the grains, stuck together by water, resist pressure much better, which requires more effort to move forward. Imagine walking on a carpet where the tightly woven fibers slow down each step: that’s exactly it. This increased resistance also limits the fluidity of movement and forces the leg muscles to work harder, quickly leading to a feeling of fatigue. The foot moves less easily, the gait becomes heavier, and simply moving forward clearly requires more energy than on a hard, flat surface.
When you put your foot on wet sand, a large part of your energy disappears directly into the sand instead of propelling you forward. Unlike a hard surface, like a sidewalk, the sand does not bounce back your strength; it dissipates it by moving the grains and compacting under your weight. This means that your muscles have to make an extra effort to compensate for this loss and move forward anyway. As a result, walking quickly becomes tiring, as your body constantly fights against this energy absorption.
Wet sand forms a surface with hollows and bumps that change each time we press on it. The foot never really lands flat; it must constantly manage an unstable surface. With each step, the sand deforms, compresses, or slips slightly, forcing the muscles to work harder to maintain stability. This irregularity also requires the body to continuously adapt, creating a difficulty in coordination and increasing muscle fatigue. Walking on this uneven surface thus requires more effort than on flat and stable ground.
Wet sand often appears more stable at first glance, but its instability mainly comes from the variable mix of sand particles, water, and air bubbles beneath your feet.
The sideways walking crabs (also known as fiddler crabs) use the texture of wet sand to easily create their burrows and tunnels.
Walking on sand requires about 2.5 times more muscle energy than walking on a hard surface, making it an excellent sport for toning the lower muscles.
On some beaches, there is "singing sand," where the grains rub against each other to produce a distinct sound when you walk on them.
Indeed, there are certain shoes specifically designed for walking on sand. These shoes generally offer better weight distribution, a wide sole to prevent sinking too deeply, and a material that enhances grip on wet and unstable surfaces.
Absolutely! Walking barefoot on an uneven and unstable surface like wet sand forces the small stabilizing muscles of the foot to work harder. In the long run, this strengthens your arches, improves balance, and contributes to better proprioception.
Yes, absolutely. A very fine and homogeneous sand will have lower cohesion when wet, whereas coarser sand or sand mixed with gravel will tend to hold together better, providing more support and thus potentially making it easier to traverse.
Walking on wet sand places greater demands on the muscles and joints due to the instability and increased resistance. Thus, while it can be beneficial at times for strengthening certain muscular areas, intensive practice or engaging in it without a warm-up could indeed increase the risk of injuries or cause joint pain.
The damp sand contains a certain amount of water that, due to capillarity, creates a sort of suction effect around the foot, making extraction more difficult. Moreover, this presence of water reduces the cohesion of the sand grains, facilitating their vertical movement when you walk.
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