written by john c ashworth, ma
Never have I paid so much attention to my feet than at the current time in my life. Even as a world class soccer player at age 16, I spent very little time considering the importance of my feet. I guess you could call it the bliss of youth. Today, I still work with a small number of personal training clients, and spend the majority of my day working as a car salesman. A career that keeps you on your feet most of the day. I love all of the activity, but as I said at the beginning of this article...Never in my life have my feet felt so important to me.
The topic today for my Fitness Friday segment with Leigh Mills tonight on NBC is inspired by something I learned quickly while spending my days as a car salesman on my feet. My feet are now my livelihood. And I know the same is true for many of you who work in jobs all day that keep you on your feet. This is great for your overall fitness, but can be demanding of your feet. And your feet are a lot more important than you might realize to the health of your back and joints and your body as a whole.
Your feet are often the source of the back pain, knee pain, and other imbalances you might be experiencing in your body right now. Your feet provide your foundation. As a result, even the smallest imbalance or shift in how you are carrying your body weight as you walk around all day, can have a lasting ripple effect on the rest of your body.
In fact, I'm experiencing this today, which is why I thought it would make a good topic for Fitness Friday. As I continue to recover from my recent move, during which I performed a lot of heavy lifting, a lot of balancing, and a lot of walking up and down stairs, my feet are tired, sore, and tight. This disruption in my foundation has caused an imbalance in my entire body that has traveled up my lower leg, moved in to my hamstrings, and on this tight Friday morning is causing a very nice headache. It's definitely time to ice my back, stretch my legs, and take care of my feet. Following is a simple routine I've implemented daily for my feet since starting my new career on my feet all day. I hope you get as much benefit from it as I do...
**Note: this routine can be done at any time during the day. I also find it extremely useful at night before I go to bed as it helps me relax, ground myself, and calm my nerves.
- Massage your feet. If you've ever had a foot massage, you know what I'm talking about. But you don't need to pay the BIG BUCKS to benefit from a good foot massage. Do it yourself. I have two favorite techniques. The first one involves the use of a tennis ball or other hard round object on which I roll the bottom of my foot. A minute or so on each foot is a good place to start. You don't want to over do it, especially if those muscles are tight down there.
- Stretch Your Calves and Hamstrings. The knee bone is connected to the hip bone, is connected to the thigh bone...you know the old song. Stretching the backside of your entire leg will allow the fascia and muscles in your heels and on the bottoms of your feet to loosen up as well. For your calves specifically, my favorite stretch is to place the balls of my feet on a stair and then just let my heels hang and stretch downward. If you add a forward bend during this move you will hit all three - your feet, calves, and hamstrings.
- Moisturize your feet. I know. You're thinking, "What? how could that possibly help my feet, hamstrings, low back and knees, John?" Because even the smallest crack, wart, cut, or dry patch on the bottom of your foot can leave you compensating and changing your gait pattern (walking pattern) in a way that causes imbalances in other parts of your body. My favorite lotion for this purpose is "Burt's Bees Almond Milk (pictured below)." This is a beeswax hand creme. I spend a lot of time in the pool, and I have to work hard to prevent the bottoms of my feet from drying out. Because I've had it happen where I get a crack on the bottom of my foot, right where my pinkie toe connects to my foot, and suddenly I'm walking around all day in an uncomfortable way and befoer too long, my hip and my back are out of whack!
- Strengthen your feet and lower leg. Most people have both tight and week feet and lower legs. As a result, strengthening them will help provide more balance. Below is a video that includes a simple "starter pack" of exercises for your feet and lower legs. Warning! Don't over do it. If you do, you will end up creating tightness and soreness that will last for days. Baby steps...(no pun intended :)https://youtu.be/S13le7sZBVY
- Put your feet up. Any time you can take 5-10 minutes during the day and get your feet up, you are going to benefit immensely and in many different ways. Lie down on your back, get your feet on to a chair, close your eyes and start breathing more deeply. You will be amazed at how this energizes your entire body. It also gives your body a chance to drain more blood back from your lower legs, where it has a tendency to pool. That blood can then get back to your heart more efficiently, then over to the lungs to get oxygenated, and then back to your lower legs and feet with fresh nutrients.
Let me know how it goes...
