In much of daily life and during many sporting activities the foot is the body's only interface with the ground, so it is no surprise that poor foot health can have ramifications throughout the entire body. The good news is you can train the foot and its muscles and joints, as you do any other group of muscles and joints, using strength-training exercises.
Mobilizing the Foot
The foot goes through a complex series of movements to enhance the efficiency of movement. Foot motion falls primarily into two categories: pronation and supination. The feet must pronate, or roll inward, to reduce the force from ground contact and then shortly thereafter roll outward, or supinate, to form a stable platform from which to produce force. An athlete must have a great deal of range of motion in his big toe joint in order to supinate properly. A pronated foot posture can lead to pain and dysfunction at the knee, hip, lower back and even the shoulder. Two primary problems contribute to pronation: poor foot strength and poor ankle mobility.
Use a golf or tennis ball to massage your foot, loosening up the muscles and connective tissue. Stand up, place a ball under your foot and roll it back and forth for one minute on each side.
Foot Strength
The foot has four layers, all of which have muscles capable of supporting the posture of the foot, and many of which show atrophy when locked in a pronated posture. Janda's "Short Foot" drills can play a vital role in strengthening foot muscles, which will reduce loads on other joints of the body. Once the athlete demonstrates command of the short foot, she can progress to exercises that involve maintaining the same foot posture during dynamic activities like squatting and lunging. Some may derive benefit from using unstable surfaces like balance discs and wobble boards.
Trainers have their athletes perform barefoot exercise to strengthen the feet. A typical program begins with barefoot walking and progresses to barefoot striding and then brief barefoot jogging. Use caution while getting used to barefoot running; while some soreness is normal, excessive soreness is a sign that you are doing too much, too soon.
Ankle Mobility
When the ankle has limited range of motion, the foot turns outward and begins to pronate to get enough range of motion to walk normally. This compensation results in weakening of the foot and further restriction at the ankle and big toe. You can address poor ankle and toe mobility using your own body weight and a wall. Stretch the big toe and calf muscles with wall stretching and by pulling the big toe toward your shin and holding for 15 to 30 seconds. Ensure that your ankle is functioning properly in dynamic movements with ankle mobilization drills. You can do these exercises during the warm-up of your regular workout. Do two to three sets of eight to 12 ankle mobilizations.
References
- "Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports PT"; Foot and Ankle Characteristics in PFPS; Christopher Barton, PhD; May 2010
- "Clinical Biomechanics"; The Adaptation of the Foot to Heavy Loads: Plantar Foot Pressures Study; Meir Nyska, PhD; April, 1997
- "Core Knowledge in Orthopaedics: The Foot and Ankle"; Christopher DiGiovanni, MD; 2007
- "Clinical Sports Medicine"; Peter Brukner, MD and Karim Khan, MD; 2000
- "Dynamic Chiropractic"; Propriosensory Methods for Pelvic Stabilization; Craig Liebenson, DC and Jerry Hyman, DC; July 17, 1995
