By Alexandra Andersson, D.C.
Updated: October 24, 2023
Flat Feet, High Arches, or Deconditioned Feet?
Most people think flat feet are bad and high arches are desirable. However, whether you have flat feet or high arches doesn’t matter. What matters is how well you can connect to and truly use your feet.
From a young age, many of us get into the habit of putting our shoes on in the morning and leaving them on all day, every day. We train our bodies, but we forget to train our feet. We don't think about the fact that our feet, like any other area of the body, can lose condition and strength. In fact, most people have deconditioned feet!
The Importance of Strong Feet
As runners, it is extremely important to maintain the condition of our feet. The feet are the first thing to contact the ground and the structure that dictates how the rest of our body will handle the impact of running.
A huge factor in our ability to run injury-free is how well our feet connect to the ground and absorb the impact force of each step. The force of running can be 3 to 4 times that of our body weight, and our feet determine how our entire body absorbs that force by communicating with our ankles, hips, core, and spine. Our feet are truly our foundation, and if they're faulty, we’re guaranteed to have problems throughout the rest of the body.
When examining how well a foot functions, it is useful to consider the height of the arch. A high arch generally means we are dealing with a rigid and locked foot; it generally needs more mobilization work. A flat foot, by contrast, generally means we are dealing with a more unstable, unlocked foot; it usually needs more work on stabilization. In both cases, however, we will want to boost the intrinsic foot strength and the feet and toes' connection to the rest of the body by doing the following exercises:
Foot Strengthening Exercises for Runners
Tripod
The "tripod" is a stable reference position to ensure equal distribution of body weight through three points of your foot (heel, big toe, and pinky toe). We will use this position as the starting point for some of the other exercises.
• Create three points of contact with the ground: your heel, the ball of your big toe, and the ball of your pinky toe.
• Strive for an even distribution of your weight on those three joints.
• Push the big toe into the ground to activate the arch.
• Maintain an even balance from left to right.
• For overpronated feet, corkscrew your ankles and legs out.
Foot and Toe Connectivity
The goal of the Foot and Toe Connectivity exercise is to move each toe independently of the other while maintaining the tripod position. Both high-arched runners and those with flat feet will benefit from this exercise, and it can be practiced anywhere, even in shoes.
• Start with a tripod position.
• Practice lifting the big toe while keeping the other four toes on the ground.
• Practice lifting your other toes while keeping the big toe on the ground.
• Pick up all five toes.
• Feel contact at the balls of your feet, then lower only the big toe.
• Pick up all five toes.
• Feel contact at the balls of your feet and lower the four lateral toes.
• Pick up all five toes.
• Feel contact at the balls of your feet, spread the toes wide, then "piano" down each toe one by one.
Releasing Plantar Tissue
Using a ball, you can work to release the connective tissue in the feet. While this may seem similar to foam rolling, you should not actually be rolling. Instead, for accurate release, specific points should be pinned and held for about 20 seconds. If it’s too sensitive when you start, push more gently at first or use a bigger ball.
Points of focus:
- Ball of foot- just relax your body weight into the ball
- Middle of arch- relax here while lifting and spreading the toes
- Heel
- Outside part of the mid-arch
- Inside part of the mid-arch
For more information on Dr. Andersson and her practice, visit Alta Health and Performance.
