Have you looked at your feet, like really looked at your feet?
Did you know that 25% of the 200 bones in your body are found in your feet and those bones create 33 different joints in each foot?
PLUS, there are 19 muscles, 10 tendons, and 107 ligaments in each foot!
Your feet are extremely important. Not only are they necessary to complete activities of daily living, but they can also show other underlying health conditions. For example, sore toe joints may be a symptom of rheumatoid arthritis. Those annoying foot cramps might be a cause of dietary deficiencies such as calcium, magnesium, or potassium. But, foot cramps could also signal that you're slightly dehydrated or exercising too much. Or, if you're foot tingles or has numbness- it could mean diabetes. Check out https://healthcare.ascension.org/Blog/2017/05/Your-feet-give-health-warning-signs for more information.
Now that you have a general understanding of why you should be paying more attention to your feet, let's dive deeper into how you can improve your foot health.
- Free your feet
- With the quarantine, don't wear shoes. Not wearing shoes lets your feet move in their natural position. It also allows your toes and joints to spread out and move in ranges that were restricted with shoes.
- Stretch!
- Many have issues related to dysfunctional feet such as bunions, plantar fasciitis, weak arches. Thus, just like your shoulders or hips, you should take the time to stretch your feet. Below are some ideas on how to:
- Rolling a lacrosse ball on the bottom of your feet (https://youtu.be/636EQMF2tME)
- Stretching the feet(https://modernmonkeycrossfit.com/foot-and-toe-mobility/)
- Mobility. Check out these mobility ideas from Dr. Jen Esquer on her Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-yP6BcjO71/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link).
- Many have issues related to dysfunctional feet such as bunions, plantar fasciitis, weak arches. Thus, just like your shoulders or hips, you should take the time to stretch your feet. Below are some ideas on how to:
Give your feet some love. They deserve it too.
Coach Karina- CF L1, USAW Sports Performance Coach, BS-Kinesiology
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