Put Your Best Foot Forward

Did you know that April is foot health awareness month? So let’s talk about your feet. It’s been a long winter. Your feet have been locked in stiff winter boots, skates, ski boots, etc., for long enough. But before you slip into sandals or flip flops, you’ll need to unlock stiff joints, and stretch and strengthen the hundreds of muscles, tendons, and ligaments in your feet and ankles.

The feet and ankles also contain one-quarter of the bones in the human body, dozens of joints, and a network of blood vessels, nerves, skin, and soft tissue. “These components work together to provide the body with support, balance, and mobility…The human foot combines mechanical complexity and structural strength. The ankle serves as foundation, shock absorber and propulsion engine.” (1)

Try this simple exercise: take off your shoes and walk around with “stiff” ankles - i.e., lock your ankles so they can’t flex your feet as you take each step. How does it make the rest of your body feel? Can you walk quickly? When your ankles lose mobility, as is wont to occur when your feet are constantly encased in footwear, it slows down your walking speed. As you slow down to account for ankle stiffness, it changes the alignment of your weight-bearing joints and impacts your posture. All of a sudden, muscles aren’t being used the way they should be - i.e., for the job they were designed to do. This shift in muscular roles can lead to pain and injury in other parts of the body.

When your feet and ankles lack stability and balance, the muscles, tendons, and ligaments lack strength or flexibility, or both. Tendons and ligaments are connective tissue; tendons connect the muscles to bones, while ligaments connect bones to other bones. Connective tissue has less “give” - i.e., potential flexibility - than muscles. If you over-stretch tendons and ligaments, you risk injury and a lengthy healing process. 

“Once a muscle has reached its absolute maximum length, attempting to stretch the muscle further only serves to stretch the ligaments and put undue stress on the tendons…ligaments will tear when stretched more than 6% of their normal length. Tendons are not even supposed to be able to lengthen. Even when stretched ligaments and tendons do not tear, loose joints and/or a decrease in the joint’s stability can occur (thus vastly increasing your risk of injury).” (2) 

Earlier this year, my son injured his foot playing basketball. What we originally thought was a broken bone was actually a partial lateral ligament tear. Good news and bad news: the good news was that it wasn’t a complete ligament tear, while the bad news was a slow recovery time and an increased risk of re-injury for the next 1 to 2 years. Six weeks that included crutches, two types of foot braces, multiple appointments, and daily rehab exercises got him to a 90% return of strength and mobility in his foot. And he’s 13 years old. The older you are, the longer the recovery time after an injury.

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Have I convinced you about the importance of exercising your feet and ankles? Good. The following exercises will work all the joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments to improve your balance, stability, and mobility. 

1. Balance: Visualize a triangle under each of your feet - one corner under the ball of your foot, another corner under your heel, and the third corner below your baby toe (see picture at the beginning of this post). Stand equally on each point in the triangle and pull up in your body. Now lift one foot off the ground, keeping your other foot balanced on that triangle. Switch to the other foot. Repeat 6 times. If you go off balance, try not to grab for a chair or wall  (unless you feel like you are going to fall over). The act of “going off balance” helps improve balance, as the nerve cells send the message to your muscles to hold you upright. And with anything, the more you practice, the better you will get.
2. Toes: Keep your feet flat on the ground and lift your toes up. Flatten your toes, then curl them under. Repeat 3-4 times.
3. Foot Flamingo: Keeping your toes flat on the ground, arch your foot up and down 3-4 times. Arch your foot and lift it off the ground, pointing your toes before returning the toes to the ground, the foot is still arched. Repeat 3-4 times. Arch your foot and slowly drive your heel into the ground, as if you’re squeezing an orange underneath it. Repeat the entire sequence on the other foot.
4. Ankle Flexion: Slowly point and flex your foot, trying to point further and flex further each time. With your foot pointed, flex your toes, then slowly flex your foot. Keep your toes flexed while you point your foot, then your toes. Repeat several times. Slowly circle your foot one way and the other way. Try to quickly “flick” your foot towards the ground 8 times, then quickly flick it towards the ceiling 8 times. Repeat the sequence on the other foot.
5. Alphabet: Use your foot to draw the letters of the alphabet. Repeat on the other foot.

For help with these exercises, you can always watch this video:

Exercises for Your Feet and Ankles

At least once a day, you should lose the shoes and love your feet. Your entire body will thank you for it. And you’ll thank me later.

References: 
1. http://www.healthcommunities.com/foot-anatomy/foot-anatomy-overview.shtml
2. http://web.mit.edu/tkd/stretch/stretching_3.html