I’ve consulted with a great mix of
weight-lifters, runners, workers, dancers
and footballers who present with heel
and foot pain and one cause I always
find is that they have a weak foot
core. Their deep muscle stabilisers are
all overstretched, weak and greatly
overpowered by big prime movers.
Even the big prime movers such as the
calves, the tibialis anterior (shin muscle)
and the peroneals aren’t even operating
at proper strength and flexibility! There
is a great imbalance in the leg muscles,
foot arch and core, which must be
addressed as soon as possible.
Can you imagine, conducting a 300kg
power lifting deadlift with a weak foot
core (i.e. weak leg, foot and ankle
muscles) – a weak foot foundation?
Ouch! Would you load a semi-trailer/
large truck that has flat tyres with heavy
cargo? No way!
HOW TO STRENGTHEN YOUR
FOOT CORE
Strengthening the foot core involves
exercises such as toe towel scrunches,
marble/pen toe pick-ups and toe
spreaders. Unfortunately, you can’t
isolate these foot core muscles in these
exercises so that would mean that
you would be using your big leg/ankle
muscles also, but that’s absolutely fine!
The research does recommend using a
technique called ‘foot doming’, which
can be done sitting or standing. Foot
doming involves turning your foot out to
give your inside arch a lift and while in
that position, do an arch crunch! To do
an arch crunch, bend your toes down
while in the foot dome position, make
sure you don’t scrunch your toes. To see
this in motion, watch my YouTube video
called “Strengthening and Protecting
your Feet from Injuries : Establishing a
strong Foot Core“.
Although the foot core still remains an
incomplete theory, I believe it could
clarify future assessments, protect,
prevent and strengthen the feet so that
they will ‘stand by you’ your whole life.
To be sure, we can only wait for more
evidence and results from further
continued investigations, but if this
article has made you more mindful
about the importance of feet training,
then I’m happy! I can’t wait for the day
when I go to the gym and see everyone
there strengthening their leg and foot
muscles!
McKeon, P.O., Hertel, J., Bramble, D. & Davis, I.
(2014) The foot core system : a new paradigm for
understanding intrinsic foot muscle function. Br J
Sports Med (10).
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