I’ve posted before about foot fitness and I can promise I’ll do it again. Feet are so important and yet so neglected. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an elite athlete or just a ‘regular’ person, you’ll benefit from giving them your attention. Today, let’s take a closer look at their anatomy and function.
Foot Anatomy
The human foot includes 26 bones, 33 joints, and over 100 tendons, muscles, and ligaments. This complex structure works to support our entire body, helps maintain our balance, propels us in multiple directions, and absorbs impact. Like our partners, we want them to be both strong and sensitive. 🙂
- Strength: The Achilles tendon, which attaches to the calcaneus (heel bone) is the strongest tendon in the body and can withstand over a thousand pounds of force.
- Dexterity: Toes help with all that sensitive fine-tuning required for both balance and performance. Once you get them fit, they can have exceptional fine motor skills. A college roommate of mine could even turn doorknobs and open doors with her toes.
Even (or maybe especially) if we don’t open doors with them, we rarely think of how much work our feet do every single day, all day long. We hardly ever consider foot fitness – the ability of our feet to perform optimally and how that can help our overall function and performance.
When it comes to the lower half of our bodies, most of us focus on the hips and knees, with squats, lunges, leg presses, and various cardio workouts. We may throw in some calf raises, but that’s the closest we get to the foot.
Functional Movements of the Foot
Take off your shoes and look at some of the basic ways your foot can move. The ankle can flex and extend and also invert and evert (turn in and out). The toes can flex, extend, and spread wide. Using the toe muscles, we can also change the position of the arch, making it curve up or flatten down. Mindful strengthening of these muscles provides better alignment for the knees and hips, resulting in improved performance and, for those with problems, decreased pain.
Balance
Leave your shoes off and stand up. Hold onto a chair or put a hand on the wall if needed. Now, close your eyes. Focus on your feet and you’ll feel all those muscles subtly working to keep you balanced. This is even more pronounced when you stand on one foot. Those incremental adjustments need to happen all day long, whether you notice them or not. And you can help them perform better.
Foot Exercises
Use this workout to mindfully increase your foot fitness:
When you walk, your feet bear about 1.5 times your body weight. When you run, that goes up to 3 or 4 times your body weight. In fact, it’s estimated that our feet support several hundred tons over the course of an average day. Help them bear that load with focused exercise.
"The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art." -Leonardo da Vinci
Self-Care
Take care of your ‘works of art’. In addition to strengthening, provide self-care in the form of gentle massage.
Your Achilles tendon may not need to withstand a thousand pounds of force and you may prefer to open doors with your hands instead of toes. Still, keep your feet fit for all they do throughout your day!
