Performing the Fortnite Floss Dance In Real Life May Harm Your Knees
These days, Fortnite is as famous for its pop culture references and dance emotes as it is for its fast-paced Battle Royale action. One which has particularly caught on is the “flossing” dance. But did you know that performing the floss dance in real life might wreak havoc on your knees?
Doctors Are Warning Against the Fortnite Floss Dance
The floss dance isn’t originally from Fortnite. It became famous last year following an episode of Saturday Night Live when a teen named Russell Horning performed it. As he was wearing a backpack, he became known as the “Backpack Kid.” You can check out the video below:
The dance is incredibly simple. You just swing your arms together from side to side in front of and behind your body. You move your hips in the opposite direction of your arms. Once Epic Games added the dance to Fortnite, it became even more popular. By now, it is associated as much with Fortnite as it is with the Backpack Kid.
Recently, the Mirror posted a pretty dramatic article warning that the dance may be unhealthy. In the article, a doctor named Ed Thompson explains, “Flossing involves a very lateral movement from left to right, but the knee is made to move in a hinge motion. This movement isn’t normal so can cause pain. When people come into my practice complaining with pains in the inner knee, they believe it’s because of dancing. When I press them on the dance moves they use, it tends to be flossing.”
To be fair, a lot of other styles of dance are very hard on the body, particularly the knees. Ballerinas for example frequently complain of issues involving their knees and other joints. These problems can compound over a lifetime of dance, leading to chronic pain and function issues.
The lesson here thus isn’t really that flossing is “bad.” It can be hard on your knees, but so can other forms of dance. So you don’t need to stop flossing altogether. You just need to remember that like many other things, flossing is best in moderation—at least in real life. In Fortnite, you can floss all you want! Keep up with our other Fortnite news.