How important is your feet' health, this area is always overlooked. Ankle sprains are the most common injury and are usually left to rest with ice with no rehabilitation, most dysfunction we see within the body usually stems from our feet. This can be due to injury, limitations in the feet due to tight muscles, the shoes we wear and not taking care of them.
What are the things you can do to improve your feet' health. Below I will go through each movement in the video.
I. Shoes are a big one, finding wide-toe shoes, that are flexible in the sole. This gives room for your big toe to spread (the big toe is utilized to aid in balance and stability something very important as we get older). I use minimalistic shoes for proper movement of the foot and ankle joints. This will help me run faster, jump higher and reduce my risk of injury.
II. Rolling the feet out, you can use a ball ( lacrosse ball, golf ball, even a foam roller). When rolling if you find a tender spot I would like you to stop and hold the position on that tender spot for 30 seconds. After the 30-second I would like some small movements around that spot. Roll the toes (you can do this sitting) on the heel I would like you to push down (to your own limitation) and do what feels comfortable, it might be a little tender.
III. You will take that ball now and knee on the ground. Place the ball on the big meaty part of the calve and sit for 30 seconds. I would like you to find your breath, breathe through the nose and out through the mouth. You can move the ball around and find other spots that will help give you relief.
IV. Toe Stretch, you can utilize the ball or your hands to stretch the toes as well for this if kneeling is just too much pressure. Kneeling on the ground with a toe stretched out, you don’t have to sit all the way back, if partially kneeling is enough of a stretch please do so. It's about what helps and relieves your body.
V. Kneeling with flat feet slightly lifting the knees off the ground. Go to your ability, and what feels best for you. If you can’t do this one that’s okay.
VI. Ankle stretch, you can do this in a split stance or standing close to a wall. Make sure to go to your range of motion. Keep the foot planted on the ground and keep the heel on the ground.
Now that you rolled the feet, and dynamically stretched the feet. What’s next? Balance and stability are next. Now I only listed one movement for balance if you are interested in a few please comment below.
I. Single leg bodyweight deadlift. Now, this is more advance, try just standing on one foot for a few seconds, and keep building onto that. Then once you got up to 20-30 seconds see if you can balance with your eyes closed for a few seconds, try for 10 seconds. Once you mastered this send me a message and ill give you another one to work on 😊
II. Next is strength, when we strengthen muscle, what happens is our bodies produce more neurons, the more neurons we create, the better communication we have with the muscle to the brain. Take a mini band ( you can usually get them in a few resistance, go with the easy one first). Put the band around your feet and rotate the foot outwards or away from the body. For the next one, you will rotate the foot slightly on the outer part of the ankle.
III. Now lastly the toe scrunch, we can’t forget about those toes, take a towel and place it on the floor and try and scrunch up the towel with those toes.
Thank you everyone, and take care of your feet. If you have any questions please comment or send me a DM and I can help you.
Much Love Richelle
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