September 26

7 Exercises to Do Everyday for Foot and Ankle

7 exercises to do everyday for foot and ankle health is for folks who want to reconnect with their feet.  Feeling good & enjoying life to the fullest really does depend on your feet to get you from moment to moment! The effects of these exercises will surprise you.  Taking care of them is easy and doesn't require going to the gym.

Read more. Article 1: Foot and Ankle.

We start from the bottom and work away up and back again! Ready to do this?

What foot and ankle health means:

Foot and ankle health means injury prevention. Feet and ankles that are healthy are pliable and in control.

Expert Insights

  • When you have the mobility in your feet and ankle and you can control movement of the joints, you can move around and through any obstacles with ease.
  • You will reduce shock to the rest of the body and decrease wear and tear on all of your tissues with healthy feet and ankles.

Why foot and ankle health is important:

Keeping our feet and ankles healthy is the key to keeping all of our joints safe for the ages. 

Expert Insights

Our feet and ankles:

  • Propel us through space,
  • Create the base of support in balance.
  • Absorb the shock from the ground in every step. 

Keeping our feet and ankles pliable and coordinated will lead to a better experience in every move we make every day for life.

How foot and ankle health relate to parts of the body above.

Having mobility in ankle, dorsiflexion and power in ankle, plantar flexion is how we propel ourselves through space.

Expert Insights

  • The more force we create in our foot and ankle the farther and faster we can advance in gait.
  • Our foot becomes our rocket booster for the knees and hips in the walk or run.
  • Control around the Outside and inside of your ankle will improve the alignment of the knee and hip to prevent wear and tear on the tissues and joints further up the body.
  • When your feet and ankles are in line with the center of your knee and hip, they can adapt your alignment no matter the direction you choose to move your body.
  • The result is efficient and graceful movement that feels good and looks good.

When you know you have improved foot and ankle health:

The most obvious signs that indicate you have improved foot and ankle health is in the feel of your feet.

Expert Insights

After doing the 7 exercises in this article,  focus your  attention on your feet and your ankles and look for feedback like this:

  • Do you feel more confident in your footing?
  • Has your balance improved? 
  • Do you have a spring in your step?
  • When you get up in the morning do your feet feel supple and mobile?

Less obvious ways to notice improved foot and ankle health are paying attention to how much control you have over your feet and toes. 

  • Can you pick up your big toe all by itself?
  • What about your little toes?
  • Are you able to spread them out further than before?
  • Do they feel both pliable and strong at the same time? 

Remember it's a journey and every little bit of extra control and pliability will help your feet and ankles tremendously. Best news is that it's not a long journey. You can feel the benefits in a week or less! 

The 7 Exercises to Do Everyday for Foot and Ankle

Toe spreading, flexion and extension

  • Lie on your back
  • Pick up one thigh into the air, foot just above the other knee
  • Grab onto the back of your thigh and flex your foot all the way back
  • Spread your toes as far apart as you can
  • Press through the ball of your foot keeping the toes spread apart
  • Point the toes
  • Flex just the toes, spread them out again
  • Flex the full foot again
  • Repeat

Watch Toe Spreading, Flexion And Extension

Toe spreading foot circles

  • Start lying on your back.
  • Pick up your thigh, bring it towards you.
  • Let your foot be just higher than your other knee.
  • Grab onto the back of your thigh, spread your toes out as much as you can,
  • Keeping your toes spread out, make ankle circles all the way around,
  • Repeat several times in this direction,
  • Switch directions,
  • Spread your toes out as you make the ankle circles
  • Repeat on the other side

watch Toe spreading foot circles

Toe spreading and arch massage

  • Grab your foot with both hands and give it a few squeezes.
  • Using your two thumbs press your fingers into the tissue just in front of your heel
  • Move your thumbs toward your big toe knuckle
  • Move your thumbs towards the middle of the foot at the heel
  • Press into the tissue and move your thumbs toward the middle knuckles
  • Work your way across the foot. 
  • Next grab your big toe and your second toe and move them back and forth in splits
  • Do the same with each pair of your toes moving toward the pinky
  • Take your thumb and your pointer finger, grab the front and the back of  the big toe knuckle and give it a little jiggle.
  • And then the second knuckle, and the third
  • Hold onto your foot, spread your toes out,
  • Release and repeat all of that on the other foot.

watch Toe spreading and arch massage

Alternating toe lifts

  • Stand on two feet with your feet hip distance apart.
  • Without moving your ankles, press your big toes into the ground and lift up your four little toes.
  • Then switch, big toes lift four little toes go down.
  • Alternating big toe and little toes
  • Repeat several times.

watch Alternating Toe Lifts

Alternating toe splits

  • Start by shifting your weight to one foot and lifting the other foot into the air
  • Then stick your big toe forward and your little toes back so that you're making a split with your big toe and your second toe..
  • Bounce gently to increase the stretch between your toes.
  • Switch to have the big toe go back and the little toes go forward in a split.
  • Again bounce gently to increase the stretch between your toes.
  • Repeat several times.

watch Alternating Toe Splits

Foot rollovers

  • Stand on two feet
  • Begin by shifting your weight to one foot.
  • Then push the ball of your foot into the ground to lift your heel
  • Then press the toe pads into the ground to lift the ball of your foot.
  • Roll over the top of your foot.
  • Press the top of your foot into the ground to come up onto your toes..
  • Roll to the ball of your foot,
  • Then put your heel on the ground. 
  • Repeat this several times on each foot

watch Foot Rollovers

Calf Raises

  • Stand on two feet with straight legs
  • Start by lining your pelvis, your ribs, and your shoulders over the arch of your feet.
  • Continue shifting your weight forward as you lift your heels,
  • Keeping your ankles and heels in line with your second and third toe.
  • Slowly lower your heels back down.
  • And repeat 3 to 5 times

watch Calf Raises

Making the Connections

  • Your body is a remarkable collection of interdependent parts, each with a specific role by design. 
  • You'll have the most fulfilling experience in your body when you see to the health and well-being of the individual and inseparable parts.

Take a few minutes to explore the connections from head to toe, parts above and parts below! 

Ready to Take Your Body Back?

There is no reason to not feel great in your body all day everyday even when you sleep!

  • You're never too old
  • It's never too late

You can take your body back, one part of the time.

The entire "7 Exercises to Do Everyday" course is available FREE right now for registered users. 

Reasons To register

  • Get entire 7 exercises series in one  place
  • track you can track your progress by marking lessons as complete
  • downloadable  trackers to suit your style:  printable PDF to hang  on the wall, or Google doc online tracker
  • personalized reminders and recommendations (When Subscribed To email updates)

Mark's Experience (Age 60)

before 7 exercises to do everyday for foot and ankle

I remember when I could spring out of bed, and it didn’t feel stiff or uncomfortable getting into my day. Now it’s gotten to the point where I believe if I don’t find my way back to that I’m going to regret it. 

That’s why I made a commitment to do these 7 exercises every day for x weeks 

After 7 exercises to do everyday for foot and ankle

In one week, I have rediscovered a feeling that I had forgotten simply because it slipped away so gradually. As I’ve begun to restore the pliability of my feet, and the mobility of my toes, I am suddenly aware of all 5 toes, and especially the power of the big toe.

I quickly realize that I’ve been missing the power of my big toe for years. I’m now feeling the power and the load distributed across all 5 of my toes and the ball of my foot instead of just on the outside edge.

It’s really exciting to feel this, and to experience positive proof that the only thing wrong with my feet and legs was that I had stopped using them. And more importantly, that using them, again almost immediately began restoring my lost practical function.

This win for my feet, is the beginning of a rebirth for every part of my body and the party I’m having reintroducing all the parts to one another!

Thank you Katrina for these amazing 7 exercises to do every day for foot and ankle health and giving me the power to ensure the quality of my life as I get older.

Julie's Experience (Age 43)

before 7 exercises to do everyday for foot and ankle

I had been waking me up in the middle of the night multiple times a week with heel pain. And I was beginning to get cranky and impatient from lack of sleep. I was desperate for solution to help with the heel pain so I could get the sleep I desperately needed as a single parent.

Thankfully, a friend told me about 7 exercises to do everyday for foot and ankle health. I was so excited to have a possible solution and committed to doing these 7 exercises every day for at least 2 weeks. 

After 7 exercises to do everyday for foot and ankle

During the first week, I only woke up one time with heel pain, and during the second week, I didn’t wake up at all!

I love these 7 exercises for foot and ankle health! I do them every day, I sleep through the night with no more heel pain. I don't know who's more grateful to Katrina, me or my son!

Thank you Katrina and Fitstreams.club

Ready to Take Your Body Back?

There is no reason to not feel great in your body all day everyday even when you sleep!

  • You're never too old
  • It's never too late

You can take your body back, one part of the time.

The entire "7 Exercises to Do Everyday" course is available FREE right now for registered users. 


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About the author

Katrina Hawley

Veteran studio owner, senior Polestar Educator and adjunct staff at the in the Dance Division of the Hartt School at The University of Hartford. When not teaching clients, other teachers or dance students you will find Katrina playing with her cats Uncle Louis and Sadie Grace, hiking, cooking or listening to political podcasts while playing games on her phone.

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