Strengthening Your Feet

“SPENDING JUST FIVE MINUTES ON YOUR FOOT CORE” can stabilize your body. That is the headline that recently got me rethinking my exercise warm-up. Today we look at strengthening your feet.

The abs-focused headlines are ubiquitous:

• “Exercises to improve core strength.”
• “The Best Core Exercises for All Fitness Levels.”
• “Strengthen Every Muscle in Your Core With These 19 Trainer-Approved Moves.”
• “26 Core Exercises Top Trainers Swear By.”

But today, we focus on another core, your foot core.

Exercise: Strengthening your feet

Writing in Born to Run 2: The Ultimate Training Guide, Christopher MacDougall, and Eric Orton offer practical advice for runners. You will find everything from healthy recipes to tips for running with your dog to anything that helps you run joyfully.

The guide also contains the following:

• Training regimens to help get you in shape and achieve your running goals
• Corrective drills to perfect your form
• Helpful shoe guidance
• Suggestions for discovering a running community

The authors create an integrated action play — the 90-Day Run Free training schedule — to give you the elements for running, whether you want to do a 5K fun run or a 100-mile ultramarathon.

“The job of feets is walking, but their hobby is dancing.”
― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words

Let’s get back to improving your foot core. MacDougall and Orton remind us that a strong foot core can be essential to dodging injury. A strong foot core can provide a stable connection to the ground and promote awareness of how we use our feet.

I am not a runner, but there are lessons for me. Feet activation can improve my stability through the ankles and up through my knees and hips. Moreover, optimal leg movement can help me better use my hamstrings, quadriceps, and gluteus muscles to move well.

Here are three exercises that Born to Run 2 offers to improve our foot core:

1. One-leg barefoot balance. Balance on one foot, specifically on your forefoot on a hard surface, with your heel slightly elevated. You should feel strong in the arch of the foot. Use a chair, wall, or partner to help stabilize when needed. Don’t turn this into a calf raise exercise; there is no up and down movement with the foot — stabilize in place. Aim for 30 to 90 seconds for each foot or until you fatigue. You may feel it in your feet, calves, or buttocks.
2. Side lift. Balance barefoot on your right forefoot. Use a wall, chair, or partner to stabilize, if needed. While your right leg is straight, raise your opposite leg sideways, as if it were half of a pair of scissors opening). Raise the left leg as high as possible while maintaining level hips. Return to the starting position. Aim for 15 to 25 repetitions, remembering that this is not a range-of-motion exercise for the moving leg; rather, it is a stabilizing exercise for the stance leg. Repeat with the opposite leg.
3. Knee lift. Balance on your right forefoot. Keeping your right leg straight, slightly raise your right heel. Lift your left knee in front of you as high as possible, then return to the starting position. The movements should be controlled and slow. Focus on the non-moving, stance leg. After 15 to 25 repetitions, switch to the opposite leg.

Take five minutes to improve your foot core.

The information I provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you seek medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information in this blog.

Thank you for joining me in this look at strengthening your feet.