At Foundation Movement Fitness we always talk about quality movement. There are about 8 basic movement patterns, one of which is gait pattern which means how you walk. This is often times a really overlooked aspect of movement though it’s very important. So let’s talk about it!
Part of gait pattern is foot health.
Your feet have ~26 bones, 30 joints, and 30 muscles in and associated with each foot depending on how you count those originating from the leg.
Either way there is a lot going on in there! We know we have to take care of the muscles in our shoulders and hips but how often do we remember to take care of those in our feet?!
It seems that feet are typically ignored until there is something wrong with them like someone breaks a bone, injures their ankle, pulls a muscle, or develops plantar fascitis or other chronic foot pain. Whether you have already sustained a foot injury or not, let's talk about how to take care of your feet and keep them happy and healthy.
There are three exercises I want to bring up that are super simple and you can start them today! They are as follows:
Ball Massage: This is one of my favorite things to do. One of those things that hurt so good if you know what I mean! For this one you’ll need some sort of ball. The smaller and more firm the object the more intense the soft tissue release will feel. A tennis ball is probably the lightest thing you could use followed by a lacrosse ball, a golf ball, a mini rubber ball or a marble. Any of these work fine but you’ll probably be best off with the mini rubber ball which we use in the office and you can buy a pack of them on amazon easily. Once you’ve acquired your ball just go ahead and roll the bottom of your foot! Take your time and get into any spots where you feel a lot of tension. You can completely control how much pressure you use by pushing your foot softer or harder on the ball.
Calf Raises: Another super simple and great way to work on your foot health is to add in a little ankle stabilty. There are a variety of ways to do calf raises. The most simple is just standing on both feet and using a wall to support your balance. From standing flat, go up to your tippy toes and then back down to the floor. It’s important to make sure you go all the way up and not just halfway to get the full benefit. You should really feel the burn at the top! To progress these you can do single leg, slow eccentrics ( lowering slowly), and add a deficit ( past the ground, standing on a box or step).
Toe Yoga: Toe yoga probably sounds a bit funny but it’s actually really hard. The idea is pretty simple. Just stand with your feet flat on the ground and you’re going to alternate between raising just your big toe off the ground and then just your last four toes off the ground. When doing this it’s important that the whole rest of your foot and non-participating toes stay completely on the ground to get the full benefit.
Now that we’ve done a few exercises, let's talk a little about how to care for your feet by simply taking off your shoes and playing!
Shoes play such a big role in foot health and wearing poor shoes all day can be super detrimental to your long term foot health. An ideal shoe mimics the foot as best as possible - relatively flat sole and no heel lift, big toe box, and a toe box that is on the ground and not lifted multiple inches off the ground. What’s even better than an ideal shoe is no shoe at all! That’s right - spending time barefoot is truly one of the best things you can do for your feet.
Kick off your shoes!
So, it’s time to kick off your shoes and close your eyes! Yes, to catch up on sleep but ALSO to challenge and strengthen your feet.
There are two concepts called kinesthetic awareness and proprioception. We work on this in the office all the time. In basic terms - it’s balance! And your body’s awareness of where you are in space during movement. When you close your eyes, you are taking away one of your body’s main ways to sense where you are. Therefore your other senses will be on much higher alert and working harder.
Now taking your shoes off offers the opposite effect. You’re inviting MORE senses because your feet have an amazing amount of sensory receptors, many of which shoes block due to the amount of material they put between your skin and the ground. So this way you’ll have lots of extra information and feedback from the ground giving you body and muscles lots to work with. So just try it out and see what happens for you! Some of the best places to do this are out in nature. Anything from the sand on the beach to the grass in a park - grounding in nature will do wonders for your feet.