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Healthy Feet, Happy Feet
Welcome to our brand new feet series, where we talk about keeping your feet healthy and happy.
How Healthy Feet Looks Like
Our feet are one of the most important parts of our bodies. They bring us where we want to go, keep us healthy with physical activity, and allow us to move freely During my initial personal training session with a client, I will often conduct NASM Overhead Squat Assessment to assess their dynamic flexibility, core strength, balance, and overall neuromuscular control. For example, a client’s feet turn out when they squat indicate tightness in their soleus, later gastrocnemius, and bicep femoris and probably some weakness in their medial gastrocnemius, medial hamstring complex, gracilis, sartorius, and the popliteus. Watch this video assessment below if your feet turn out when you squat.
In my opinion, one key thing most people need to do that can improve their posture, increase performance and reduce any risk of injury is being aware of their feet. Our feet are the foundation of your body, many posture issues can be linked to issue beginning at the bottom of our feet. Like a building, if the base is unstable, the top will be affected especially you begin to load the top with weights and add movements like barbell squat.
You can visually examine the health of your own feet by looking at your toe-spread. Check out the video below as I explain more on how a healthy feet should look like.
Common foot problems
Bunions
Also known as hallux valgus, this deformity appears as we lose the strength in our core, hips and feet, and the whole body weighs onto the inside of the ball of the foot with every step you take.
Hammer Toes
The four smaller toes of the foot sometimes get stuck curled up and under. The toe is bent at the middle joint, so that it resembles a hammer. It usually develops over time due to arthritis or wearing ill-fitting shoes, such as tight, pointed heels.
Overlapping Toes
Your toes cramped up together and this is very common if you wear narrow toe box shoes that have very little to none space for your toes. I see this is most of my clients as they are unaware of their feet muscles and how to activate their all the muscles at the feet.
A healthy feet is when all five of your toes are spread apart and there are spaces between them which if you were to put your fingers through each of your toe and your fingers can pass through with ease. Your big toe should aligned with your heel and neutral arch which you can see from the side. This is the ideal feet posture for your daily movement and provide your the stability and mobility for your strength training.
Are Toe Separators Useful?
If your big toe is bent inward toward your second toe, this indicates that your feet are not in a healthy form. You are most certainly suffering from foot, ankle, and possibly knee discomfort. This is related to a lack of foot strength and stability.
This is where Toe Separators come to play, as it is able to get your feet back to its healthy, strong, shape and stable shape by correcting the toes to its right position. Check out this video to learn more.
You can restore your toes to their proper anatomical position by wearing toe separator. The first thing it does is create space between your 5 toes and help you connect with your feet even more. Once you slowly begin to feel your feet, you can distributes the force of body weight more evenly over the surface of your foot.
Your Next Step
I invite you to start paying attention to your feet by first taking a picture of your feet and see how does it look. Doing some 10-15 repetitions of toe raises throughout the day will slowly activate your feet muscles and create space between your toes. Have a look at your shoes and try to wear wide toe box shoes as often as you can, you may also train barefoot if your gym allow or at home. Get yourself a pair of Toe Separator to wear and strengthen your feet.
Read more: HOME WORKOUT EQUIPMENT UNDER RM100 ON LAZADA!
