Strong and Flexible Feet

There are so many benefits to having strong and flexible feet.

Photo by Danie Franco on Unsplash

I am a fit and flexible 67-year-old woman. I am lucky because I've always loved exercising. As I've grown older, I've discovered that I need to work out more to maintain my current fitness level. As one who has exercised consistently for more than 50 years, I now ascribe to the following fitness principles:

• Do equal amounts of cardio, flexibility, and strength training each week.
• Consistent moderate exercise is key.
• Always include warm-up and cool-down segments for every activity, which is crucial to help reduce muscle soreness and the risk of injury.
• Do two out of the three modalities every day. The three modalities are cardio, strength training and flexibility.
• Choose one day for recovery where activities are lighter. In my case, this is Sunday.
• For cardio, include as much variety as possible and choose activities you enjoy. For me, cardio includes kickboxing, step aerobics, cardio dance, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT, which is 60 or 120 seconds of intensity followed by 30 seconds of rest), and Tabata (20 seconds of intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest). It's essential to have a mixture of steady-state cardio and interval training.
• Every workout should include exercises where you are working on foot strength and flexibility. Foot exercises can be part of a warm-up, a cool-down, weight training, or flexibility.

Why is it important to focus on foot strength and foot flexibility?

Your feet are the foundation of your body, providing support, balance and mobility. Feet contain more than 100 muscles (25 percent of your body's total muscles), along with 28 bones and 30 joints. Your foot muscles must be strengthened and stretched, like the biceps, hamstrings, shoulders and abs.

You will have multiple problems and an increased risk of injury if you neglect your feet or constrict your foot movement by wearing stiff shoes or shoes with pointy toes or skinny heels. Many common injuries, such as knee pain, tight hip flexors and lower back stiffness, are exacerbated and sometimes even caused by foot problems. Strong and flexible feet absorb more impact, so your hips and knees will receive less impact.

Focusing on foot-specific strength and mobility exercises during every workout, such as the drills described below, is absolutely essential. Strong feet are needed for balance, which is a crucial skill that also needs to be incorporated into every workout, as I explain passionately in this article:

Every Workout Should Include Single-Leg Balancing Exercises

As we get older, there is an increased risk of falling and injuring ourselves. One-third of people over sixty-five and half of people over the age of eighty-five will fall every year. While that may be an alarming statistic, you can significantly reduce the risk of falling through foot strengthening and mobility exercises since the muscles in our feet can save us from falling. It takes just a small increase in toe strength to significantly reduce the risk of falling.

So, how do you build strong feet?

Spend time daily without shoes, so your feet do the work, not the shoes. Always go barefoot when you do the flexibility part of your workout, whether it be yoga, pilates, stretching, etc. I practice yoga (in bare feet), focusing on techniques to build foot strength and flexibility.

I started a yoga practice about fifteen years ago at the suggestion of my adult daughter, Bree. We joined a gym together and met up regularly for yoga classes. I was stiff from years of a cardio-focused workout regimen, timid and wobbly. The delight I experienced rolling out my yoga mat next to my daughter overshadowed my ambivalence about spending an hour clumsily doing an activity I didn't enjoy.

Slowly, I saw my foot strength and flexibility improve. Fast forward fifteen years, and I have strong feet and excellent balance. The key to success is patience and consistency. Over time, I grew to love yoga and consider it a crucial part of my healthy lifestyle.

Recommended Exercises to build foot strength and flexibility

• Forward Plank. Start in a basic plank position. Rock forward on your toes until your shoulders move past your hands. You can either rock back and forth (rocking plank) or hold the position for one minute.

The author demonstrates a forward plank.

• Roll over the toes transitioning from upward-facing to downward-facing dog, and stay in that rolled-over-the-toes position for at least five seconds.

The author holds the rolled-over-the-toes position en route to the downward-facing dog position.

• Toe Squat. Start in a hands-and-knees position. Walk the hands forward. Then, rock forward, tuck toes (including the pinky toe) and sit back on heels. Initially, stay in Toe Squat for 10 seconds and slowly build up to three minutes. This stretch heals the symptoms related to plantar fasciitis as it stretches the plantar arch at the foot bottom and activates all of the foot muscles to keep them flexible, healthy, and strong. Although it may be uncomfortable initially, you will grow used to the sensation and eventually begin to enjoy it. Seriously, I love to toe squat!

The author demonstrates toe squat.

• Goddess pose with elevated heels. Goddess is a static plié squat. Separate your feet three-to-four feet. Turn your toes outward 45 degrees, and bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Track your knees over your second toe, and avoid your knees caving inward or bowing outward. Draw your shoulder blades back and downward, lift your chest, and tuck your tailbone. Now, focus on your feet. Don't let the inner arches of your feet collapse. Press your heels into the floor and lift your arches. Begin by holding the pose for 30 seconds and slowly increase it to two minutes. Once the basic posture is mastered, lift your heels and balance on your toes.

The author demonstrates the Goddess Pose.

• Wall sit with weights — heels up. I love the wall sit. A correct wall sit position includes right angles (90 degrees) at your hips and your knees while your back is flat against the wall with the pelvis tilted forward. I added this exercise to my strength training regimen and hold a 10-pound weight on each thigh with raised heels for one minute.

The author demonstrates a weighted wall sit with elevated heels

• Curtsy Lunge. Cross one foot behind the other while your hips remain square and facing forward. Keep your back toe tucked and lunge down, holding the pose for one minute on each side. Optional light or medium weights can be added.

The author demonstrates a Curtsy Lunge

• Balance poses (with the raised leg forward, backward and out to the side) are terrific for strengthening your feet. Remember the extended leg, whose foot should be flexed with all toes splayed out.

The author demonstrates forward & backward standing balance poses

A few notes about proper footwear

I have used custom orthotics for at least 20 years. Since I do a lot of high-impact activities, these custom insoles assist with stabilizing the arch of my foot and cushioning impact during landing. This is a very individualized decision that varies depending on your situation, but it is something to consider.

The following statement is important: the toes are meant to splay out. The widest part of a natural human foot is across the ends of the toes. I highly recommend wearing shoes with a super wide toe box. A wide toe box lets your foot spread out while resting naturally.

To learn more about me, my workout schedule, and my workout environment, check out this Medium article:

I am "Refocused, but not Retired."