This Little Piggy…

Move Your Toes

Toes should move! Stand and shift weight from toes to heels and end up with weight more mid-foot. Flex your ankle (pick up your toes), spread your toes as wide apart as you can and lay them down. Repeat 5-10 times.

This Little Piggy Went To Market: See where your toe connection is! Put one foot flat on the ground. Try to lift only your big toe and keep the other toes flat on the ground. Next try to lift the other toes leaving just the big toe down. Now…here’s the fun part! Can you pick up each toe and place it back down one at a time? You may have to use your hands to hold down or lift some toes at first. Eventually, your brain and toes should sort it out and you can move your toes on their own!  Practice!

Move Your Ankles

ABCs: My go to ankle exercise takes us back to primary school. Sit and rest one shin over your knee (or hold your leg out with a bent knee) and start writing! Write out your A-B-Cs – this gives you motion in every plane/direction and changes directions frequently. I prefer cursive but you could do all caps too. I usually feel my ankle start to fatigue around Q. I recommend everyone over 50 do this daily.

Go Barefoot

Give your feet some opportunities to move, be grounded and react to forces. Of course, don’t go nuts on painful surfaces but at home, on the grass, maybe in your office even – ditch the shoes and connect!

Grounding, also known as earthing, is the act of walking barefoot on the earth. Grounding is thought to help with sleep regulation, pain reduction and even less stress with reduced cortisol levels.

Summer Time No-Nos

Sorry guys – as much as you can – ditch the flip flops. Go barefoot if you can or wear thin soled shoes. When we wear flip flops our toes grip the shoe to hold your flip flop on your foot. Not only have you lost a good shock absorber, but your poor toes are working on overdrive. They can lead to arch and heel pain and affect your gait patterns.  

Release Work

I love MELTing! The feet balls are absolutely heavenly to treat foot and leg issues. The simple routine can transform your foot health! Not familiar with MELT, reach out to me to learn more! Or snag this set that comes with instructions for at-home use!

Grab a tennis ball and lightly stand on one foot to allow the other to be massaged by the ball. Start with light pressure and work different areas of your feet and end with a nice toe to heel roll out. Freeze a water bottle for plantar fasciitis pain and roll out each foot. You can also use the center of a dumbbell to roll your foot.

Release your calves! Use a stair to gently lower your heels for a stretch. Stand up and hang out for a bit on an inclined surface. Stand in a lunge with your arms against a wall. Use a broomstick to roll the calves out.

Roll your shins! Kneel on a soft foam roller and use your hands on the floor in front of you for support. Gently roll back and forth to massage your shins.

Balance

Stand on one leg for 30+ seconds. Start at a time you can manage and work up. Start on a hard surface and challenge yourself later with softer surfaces (a cushion block, bosu ball, rolled up yoga mat). Try closing your eyes. Our balance is so important to maintain as we age to protect us from falls and injuries.

Assessment

Let’s chat about a simple heel raise. Stand in front of a mirror and raise up onto all 10 toes. Do you come up straight? Do your pinky toes take a lot of the weight, letting your big toe joint raise up? Do your heels spin outwards? Practice being parallel (maybe even stick a yoga block between your ankles as a reference guide) and raising up on all toes. Then practice in Pilates Stance (fist distance between big toes) and your heels will stay together. Keep your shoulders over your hips and don’t try to tip your body forward to get up.

Start to pay attention to your feet and your whole body will thank you!