Why you need to strengthen your feet

Foot conditioning is underrated. Here’s why you should be doing it:

Your have foot aches or pain.

Your foot posture is bad,

eg you over pronate/supinate, (you have flat feet or they roll out too much)

your toes scrunch up or maybe you have bunions.

Like all other areas of the body, rule of thumb is, if it hurts, it probably needs strengthening. Certain conditions and structural damage aside, If the muscles don’t have the mobility and strength for the load they are under, they will start telling you through uncomfortable symptoms.

The answer to these problems lies in not only strength, but also, mobility. The amount of each you need depends on your feet. If you have super floppy flexible feet + ankles, then you need to do most of your work on strengthening. If your feet are super rigid + stiff, you’ll need lots of mobilising alongside your strengthening exercises. For example, in the case of plantar fasciitis, if you only do calf raises and no stretching or massage ball rolling, you’ll more than likely end up making things worse. It needs strength to get better, but if it’s too tight and lacks the right amount of flexibility, the inflammation from the lack of stretch will continue.

You have problems in other places higher up

Everything is connected. If one part is out of whack, it can have a flow on effect to the other parts. So even if your feet don’t seem like the problem, they could actually be the problem. Think of it like a house. If you want it to stay up, it needs a solid foundation. Your feet are your base of support, so it’s important that they can in fact support you. When they have good alignment, that flow on effect moves up through your knees, hips, back etc.

Injury prevention

Super simple. Improve your body’s function. This means doing exercises relevant to your sport, work or activities (eg. physical jobs such as construction, healthcare or even holding your back up straight sitting in your office chair). Make sure you have enough strength and flexibility for the load of work/sports etc you do, as well as making sure your movement is well aligned. Do this and you’ll decrease your chances of hurting yourself, whether it be injuries or developing chronic symptoms, conditions etc. Your foot function needs to be included.

You dance or play a sport that requires running + jumping

Ballet in particular requires high levels of foot control and endurance. Each time you brush through a tendu or transfer your weight, your feet play an integral role in how well that happens. As you move in to turns and jumps, it only amps up the amount of power and endurance required. Especially as a dancer increases their hours of practice in or out of the studio, if your feet aren’t strong enough for the amount of work they are doing, that when your risk of injuries go up.

Obviously I’m a bit biased towards ballet, but it’s the same story for running, walking and jumping. They all require strength and movement from the feet to propel you forwards. The better aligned and strengthened they are, the more power you will have in your movements.

Liken it to trying to play tennis with really weak shoulders. You could strengthen your shoulders by continuing to play, which could work. But if it made your neck and shoulders flare up, then you would be wise to work on your posture and strength off the court to help you feel less ouchie and make you game better. If you wanted to go pro or play every day for fun, then you would ideally build/maintain even more strength to support you in doing so.

Just like a shoulder, a knee, a hip, your core etc, your feet are no different in that they need conditioning too. So whether the goal is fixing or preventing problems, taking your performance to the next level or just simply because you like the feeling of having a body that works well, it is well worth the time and effort.

Now that it’s on your radar, go get to work on those lower limbs.

So how do I do this?

Calf raises + toe exercises. These will help build up the strength in your calf and foot muscles.

Wearing toe separators. These help stretch, align and strengthen your arches simply by wearing them around the house or while you train.

Stay tuned for part II