The Importance of taking care of your Feet: It starts from the Ground Up

Ever stop to smell the roses? Well, how about you stop and listening to your feet? What are they saying? More importantly, are you listening? You may not realize it but your feet are a direct link to the rest of your body. Healthier feet can help fix some of the imbalances in the body. Simply put, it starts from the ground up.

Think this improved arch will make daily
               activities easier and exercise more enjoyable?        

Unless you have some weird foot appreciation (like me. Hey, this is a no judgment zone) or you are a podiatrist, you probably don’t consider your feet very much, if at all. However, your feet are responsible for supporting your entire body weight (thank you Captain Obvious). Not only that your feet act as shock absorbers when you walk. What if your feet aren’t able to provide the shock absorption your body needs? This will result in discomfort. Rather than feel this discomfort, the body will ask another part of the body to pick up the slack. What was once a foot dysfunction became a calf, knee, hip or back problem because of this vicious cycle of compensation. See my point? Keeping that in mind, should you be doing more than walking? If you are running, jumping, or squatting (or all of the above), it might be little wonder why you are experience pain. At the heart of the problem (more like at the bottom) your feet are a big reason why. My friends, fitness comes before health only in the dictionary.

Remember, the body is designed to be mechanically efficient. I said it’s designed to be efficient, that doesn’t necessarily mean you are practicing movement efficiency. And the inefficient movements create compensatory patterns within the body’s desired mechanical design.

If we look at the foot a little more closely, it has: 26 bones, 33 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments. The structure of the foot is meant to form an arch. Technically, the foot has three arches: medial longitudinal, lateral longitudinal and transverse. Now if the foot is more flat, you can understand why this presents a challenge on the body because of the mechanical compensation throughout the body.

Instead of trying to fix the problem, we ignore it. Ever stop to think about the cranky knee or tight calf or hamstring and what’s causing it? That’s a warning signal from your body that something isn’t right. Think your foot has something to do with it? Well, let’s say you take that flat foot and cranky knee and have it try to back squat with heavy weight. Since we already know the feet is having difficulty handling it's own bodyweight, what chance does it have to succeed with more weight? My friend, you are now playing a dangerous game of Russian Roulette (you might’ve gotten through this session without injury but without fixing it, I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time).

What do your feet look like?

I get it, it’s not sexy to work on your feet. Feeling good and relieving discomfort isn’t as big a priority for most, while having big arms are. It’s semantics! In all my years, I’ve never heard someone say, “Damn, look at the arches on that dude”! (I lie, I actually did comment to a guy once, it didn’t roll off the tongue very easily). So what do we do, we pump up the arms instead because we want bigger arms so we can impress the cute girl on the elliptical. Makes sense. However, great arms don't last, but the ability to move well lasts your entire life.

Whatever the cause of your feet problems, weight issues, poor movement and exercise habits or injuries, it can be corrected (unless it is a medical condition). Here are my suggestions:

Consult a foot specialist about minimalist training shoes

• Spend 10 minutes either at the start of your day or the end of your day (or both) to give some TLC to your feet. 
• Massage the arches manually and roll the arch on a golf ball (again, this does not take the place of massage therapy but rather it is supplemental body maintenance). 
• Now, when you walk, try not to let your feet revert back to it's initial flatter state. For more foot drills, please read this excellent blog from Breaking Muscle, http://breakingmuscle.com/natural-movement/building-on-quicksand-how-and-why-to-strengthen-your-feet.
• Invest in shoes/sneakers that help in your foot rehabilitation.

The body is a mechanical wonder and capable of wondrous things. But it starts from the ground and works it way up the body. Show your feet some love and you will be rewarded in all aspects of life. Best of luck in your training!