Fitness and Sport

Pilates: Foot Review

In honor of summer, and the fabulous Riva Preil, we will use this blog to echo Riva’s advice on summer footwear. We all know that flip-flops are, in theory, the perfect summer shoe. They are light, they are airy, and they are very inexpensive. However, flip-flops provide absolutely no support for our feet.

In an earlier blog, I mentioned the importance of having tone in the muscles of our feet. If the muscles of our feet have good tone, the bones of our feet can maintain the proper structure they need to balance our legs, pelvis, and spine. However, if you absolutely need to wear your flip-flops, do the following exercise daily to maintain proper muscle tone in your feet.

You can do this exercise either sitting or standing. In addition, you will need a small ball, preferably the size of a tennis ball.

Place the ball of your foot on the ball and anchor your heel to the floor (photo 1). Lift your toes off the ball, and then lower them again attempting to wrap your toes around the ball. Repeat ten times. With each repetition, the ball of your foot should spread wider and extend further over the ball.

After ten repetitions, maintain your toes wrapped around the ball. From here, begin to rotate your foot from right to left (photo 2). Attempt to keep this motion in your ankle, rather than your knee or your hip. Do this action ten times.

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Next, roll the ball forward and backward under your foot while you point and flex your foot (photo 3). This will help you maintain the proper heel striking rhythm that Riva mentions in her blog. Repeat this action ten 10 times.

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When you have finished with one foot, stand on both feet and observe the difference between each. Hopefully, the foot your exercised feels more grounded, yet, light and supported.

Get help now from a pelvic floor therapist.

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