Your feet contain 25 percent of the bones in your entire body and play an essential role in mobility. Yet far too many people fail to keep their feet healthy, resulting in insufficient motor skills and a lack of muscle strength in the feet. Perform a few simple foot exercises to help strengthen weak feet and ensure proper body support while standing, walking or running.
Toe Stretch
While seated, lift your foot and point your toes as straight as possible for five seconds. Now flex your toes and hold for five more seconds. Finally, curl your toes and hold for five more seconds. Repeat the same point, lift and curl stretching sequence up to 10 times with each foot. This stretch works to loosen and strengthen the foot muscles and also helps treat hammer toes.
Toe Lift
Take a comfortable standing position and attempt to lift only your big toe. Now lower the big toe and continue down the foot, lifting each individual toe in succession. Once you get to the little toe, work your way back to the big toe. This exercise will take some practice, so try not to get frustrated if you experience difficulty moving your smaller toes by themselves.
Toe Grip
This exercise turns an ordinary sock into a training tool. Drop the sock on the floor and attempt to pick it up using your foot. Grip the sock firmly with your toes and lift it from the ground. Hold the sock in the air for 10 seconds and release. Repeat the same exercise fives times with each foot. Use your toes to pick up marbles or other loose items to improve motor skills and muscle strength.
Toe Extension
A common rubber band can be used to add resistance to your foot exercises. Wrap the rubber band around your five toes, then spread your toes, extending them as far apart as possible. Hold the extension for five seconds before relaxing. Repeat with each foot at least five times. To strengthen the big toe, loop a rubber band around the big toe of each foot and pull your feet apart, holding the stretch for five seconds before relaxing and repeating.
Barefoot Walking
Walking barefoot can be a highly effective foot-strengthening exercise. Wearing shoes actually diminishes foot strength, constricting the foot and alleviating it of much of its natural function. Walk barefoot in sand to strengthen the muscles in your feet. The unstable sand forces the foot muscles to continually respond to the changing surface.
