FOOT STRENGTH, BALANCE AND STABILITY
It was wonderful to see a recent article on the Apple news feed “5 Foot and Ankle Exercises to Improve Your Balance and Stability” by Rajpal Brar. The foot is often neglected from a muscular perspective. It would be exceedingly rare to even hear your podiatrist speak of muscular strength, but not at From the Ground Up Podiatry!
Our intrinsic foot muscles, which are the muscles that generally span the arch on the underside of the feet, are sandwiched in four layers from just underneath the plantar fascia on the bottom to the bony underside on the top. From an evolutionary perspective, these muscles were once the engaged units that provided dexterity to our primate ancestors, which allowed them to use their feet as a functional tool.
Today, most modern humans have done almost everything in their power to make the foot as weak as possible. From shoewear that constricts function, to walking surfaces that are hard and flat, we have turned our feet into structures vulnerable to overuse injury.
Podiatrists have traditionally used orthotics to heal foot ailments. These may help as they effectively adapt your foot to the hard flat surface you likely exist on much of your life, but they can also limit the true potential of your foot.
A strong foot is a foot that is more robust to the challenges it faces on a daily basis. As the article points out, our feet can take 3-4x the weight-bearing load of our bodies. This load strain can be focused towards certain areas of the foot and ankle, making overuse injuries possible, if not likely.
The article highlights 5-foot strengthening exercises that can be performed. These are a fantastic start. There are many more ways to incorporate foot strengthening into your daily life but give these a try to start! Many people that do this effectively create a stronger foot that is resistant to overuse injury, bunions, hammertoes, and foot arthritis! See below the changes of a 40y/o woman made in a few years of foot strengthening by various means. Notice the improvement of the mild bunions, tailors bunions, hammertoes, and the stronger appearance of the foot overall.
Dr. Dennis Claire, DPM