I really don’t like feet.  I don’t like the looks of them.  I hate wearing flip flops and I hate looking at other people’s feet in their flip flops or open toed shoes.  It just isn’t my jam.

I’ve become more open to the idea of tolerating feet the more I’ve learned about them.  Not that I went out trying to become a podiatrist, but in my never expanding quest for knowledge I have learned in my studies that having some great feet could really help you out in ways you never imagined.

You have a ton of nerve endings in your foot that help stimulate various functions of your body.  You also have a bunch of little muscles in your feet.  Your feet are your initial bases of support.  If they aren’t right for whatever reason, it immediately throws off the rest of your body.

It goes right up the chain.  First to your ankles, then your knees, to your hips, and on up.

For example, if you have knee pain it might not necessarily mean a problem with your knee.  It could be an issue in your foot that locked up your ankle, and because of that ankle lock-up caused an issue in your knee.

Sometimes athletes can’t run faster because their ankle is too tight.  It doesn’t allow for the proper movement on the ground and the jarring impact can lead to many different types of injuries.  Among them knee pain and plantar fasciitis.

The question is, how do you strengthen your feet to eliminate these issues?

Here are a few remedies that might wake your feet up and eliminate not just shin pain, but other injuries such as shin splints or worse, stress fractures:

  • Manipulate your big toe each night. Just spend some time moving it around and make sure it isn’t locked into a particular position.  The big toe is a driver for a lot of things and the better it is, the better off you will be as a whole.
  • Find a wooden spoon. Dorsiflex your foot and toes as best you can.  Take the handle and press down into your big toe, moving the handle all the way down to your heel.  This type of manipulation is like a foam roller for your feet.  You could also step on a golf ball or hard ball, but the wooden spoon will do.  Press hard.  If it jerks your head in pain, then press just below that point of intensity.  Just move up and down your foot from big toe to heel for about 20-30 seconds.
  • Before and after an activity, try to do some barefoot movements. Meaning, maybe run around for 5 minutes barefoot.
  • If you can’t do that, then find about 30 feet and get barefoot. Walk on your toes as tall as you can, up and back.  Do that once with your toes pointing straight ahead, once with the toes turned out, and once with the toes turned in.  3 times total.  Then repeat that, but walk on your heels.  So 3 more times.  Keep the feet dorsiflexed as best you can.
  • Finally, doing some of your practice barefoot is becoming more and more common. A lot of college track programs are implementing barefoot warmups on a daily basis.  You are also seeing European soccer teams that are scrimmaging for 15 to 20 minutes barefoot.  Only a couple times a week, but it is enough to stimulate the feet to allow them to move more naturally.  Thus, your whole body has better alignment.

I think the more you do this, the better your performance will be in your sport.  Also, it will help eliminate a lot of nagging injuries that might be occurring in your lower body.  Don’t knock it until you try it.