Chloe Clark – Guest Blog
Hello and welcome to my guest blog for Faye at Medipod Clinics. My name is Chloe Clark, and I am a Sports Massage Therapist and the Director at Astral Fitness.
This month I would like to address how to have strong feet, muscularly speaking.
Shoes are fantastic at protecting our feet from the outside elements. However too many of us rely on them for everything. A lot of women will only wear shoes with a heel on them which can interfere with your body’s proprioception.
What is Proprioception?
Proprioception is your body’s ability to sense movement, location, and action. Walking in shoes can often create a barrier, a cushioned barrier, between the feedback your feet would normally gather from the ground. This feedback is vital in how your feet and ankles move, how your knees, hips, spine, shoulders, neck, and head move.
How do you overcome this and not cause temporary, or permanent, damage to your feet?
You can start by walking around barefoot at home and in your garden. Be more aware of what you are standing on. Do not assume you will not damage your feet just because you are at home.
Walking Around Barefoot
I sincerely believe that walking around barefoot is one of life’s simplest pleasures. Providing your feet are issue free, start with ten minutes a day barefoot in your house. I recommend starting indoors, in the spring or summer, so that your feet do not get cold.
Next, if you can walk about barefoot enough to know that your feet can handle being completely flat to the ground, and you don’t experience calf pain or fatigue by existing this way at home, then you could investigate shoes that allow you to continue this way of walking while outside the house.
I highly recommend Altra Shoes as they have a wide range of cushioned and lightly cushioned shoes that provide a wide toe box to allow your toes to spread and widen and move freely, they mostly have a zero drop, which means flat to the ground with no heel. If you need arch support, I recommend either custom orthotics from Medipod Clinics, or built in arch support as found in Birkenstock shoes and sandals.
There are also the hotly debated Vibram toe shoes, with individual pockets for each toe to move independently. These have a lot less cushioning; you can feel everything through the shoe – every bump lump and stone… these can be quite uncomfortable and take a lot to work your way up too, and probably only good for those with years of barefoot walking experience.
Not Strong Enough?
But what if your feet don’t feel strong enough to transition into those types of shoes?
There are exercises. Of course, there are exercises! That special magical work that prevents and cures most bodily ailments, EXERCISE.
The top exercise for getting stronger feet is to simply walk and exercise in general more, and if possible, in bare feet. We are not suggesting cardio in bare feet, but yoga, Pilates, resistance bands, dumbbells even, if you’re careful of where you put them. Every move you make during a workout will add to how your feet are able to adapt to different positions and loads. If you lift heavily during squats and deadlifts, you will already know that it is optimum for the whole body to do so in bare feet. So why not the rest of your workout?
Walking over lumpy ground like at Burbage Common or at Bradgate Park, in shoes, is a great way to train your ankle and foot mobility and strength. Taking up a martial art requires bare foot work, and this will also increase strength.
Exercises
Targeted exercises for your feet though are a little different, but these can either be incorporated into your normal workout routine, or when you’re sat relaxing in front of the TV. Simple scrunching and spreading of toes is a good one to get started. You can practise lifting just your big toe up, then just your little toes up, this can be challenging, but worthwhile. Calf exercises are an excellent partner to foot exercises, and the simple yet effective calf raise can be done seated at the same time as your feet exercises.
Want some inspiration for more exercises? Go here, or Email [email protected] and ask, and she will send you her top exercises for your feet, no obligation*.
If your feet are aching and need a little help before you get started on strengthening them, please do pay myself or Jen a visit at Astral Fitness and receive a great sports massage as well as personalised advice.
Until next time,
Chloe and Jen.
Astral Fitness
Greene King Stadium, Leicester Road, Hinckley, LE10 0NQ.
Thank you for reading – Chloe Clark – Guest Blog.
Faye Vogiatzoglou
Clinical Director
*Generalised foot exercises sent are not to be taken as a diagnosis or definitive advice for your particular foot condition. Your email will be added to my weekly mailing list. You can unsubscribe at any time.