Most people probably don’t spend a lot of time on big toe workouts. You’re on your feet and toes all day, surely there’s no need to exercise them specifically, right? Wrong. Your feet and toes affect every joint above them and if they’re not functioning well, the rest of your joints will also suffer.
Gait and Posture:
Gait, in short, is the pattern of our walking. The first part of your body to hit the ground when standing or walking is your feet. Weak foot muscles and poor mobility in your foot causes your knees and hips to adjust to make up for the altered movement. Our feet are well designed to absorb shock, move to help with balance, and sense the ground beneath us. When they haven’t been given a chance to move and receive information the way they are meant to, we can lose these abilities. The way our feet contact the ground affects our posture and can cause pain in our bodies. Commonly, poor control of the foot muscles can lead to knee pain and back pain. Spending 5-10 mins a day doing things like lifting the big toe, spreading your toes, or flexing muscles in the arch of your foot, can make a drastic difference in the way you move.
Shoes:
The shoes we wear obviously affect how we walk and what we feel. Shoes with thick soles keep our feet far from the ground and limit our ability to receive feedback about the surface we’re on. Thick soles also change the way we take a step which changes how our muscles shorten and lengthen to take the next step. Many shoes force our toes to squish together or prevent them from being able to spread when we step. This changes how we balance, and it keeps muscles in the feet in an unnatural position. This is not to say we shouldn’t be wearing shoes; shoes protect our feet and keep us warm and dry. We should, however, be aware of how our footwear affects our bodies and take the necessary action to counteract that. Practicing daily foot and toe strengthening movements and spending time in our bare feet are easy ways to help our feet stay strong. Strengthening and stretching our leg muscles can also help us control our movement while we walk.
Fall prevention:
Strong feet and toes are crucial in fall prevention. When we lack strength in our big toe, specifically, the risk of a fall increases immensely. Taking a step requires lifting the toes so that we don’t trip on them, and balance requires flexion through our big toe. When the muscles that control these movements are weak, or tight, one wrong move or uneven surface can lead to a fall. Spending time practicing good foot health now, can save us from a lot of pain in the future. As we age, we gradually lose some sensation from the nerves in our feet. As you can imagine, being able to feel less as you step, makes it harder to walk with confidence that you won’t fall. By exercising, we provide some circulation to those nerves and can help keep them working a little bit better.
What can you do?
Knowing what you know now about the importance of health feet and a strong big toe, it’s time to put that into action. Start with 5-10 minutes a day of lifting your big toe up, spreading your toes, and turning on muscles in the bottom of your feet. An inexpensive tool to up your foot health game is toe spacers! Start by spending a few minutes a day walking around your house wearing toe spacers and increase the time as you notice improvements. Another focus should be ankle mobility and calf strength. Practice pointing and flexing your ankle and turning your ankle in and out with control. Seated calf raises are also a great movement to strengthen the soleus, a muscle that takes on a lot of force when we walk or run. Don’t hesitate to reach out to a Kinesiologist or Physiotherapist to ask questions or get an assessment of your foot health.
If you have any questions or would like to explore further, please book a free, no-charge online appointment with either myself, Evelyn Merriman, BKin, RKin, or another Kinesiologist or in Kitchener or Waterloo at CARESPACE. We are happy to listen and are here to help!
