To walk longer with better balance and less pain, it's crucial to have strong feet. Your feet are the foundation of your body, and weak feet can lead to instability in other parts of your body. Here are some simple exercises foot exercises for walking that you can use to increase stability and decrease pain.
Understanding Foot Mobility
When you walk, your feet naturally go through a cycle of pronation (flattening) and supination (arching).
While modern shoes help control excessive pronation, relying too much on them can weaken your foot muscles.
To combat this, we’ll start with mobility exercises.
Foot Mobility Exercises for Walking
Arch Mobility Exercise
Grab the bump in the middle of your arch with your thumb. Wrap your hand around the foot and pull the whole foot down.
This helps push the bone back into the arch and stabilize it.
Toe Mobility
Flex your toes downwards and upwards. For your big toe, ensure you have at least 70 degrees of extension.
Pull down on the metatarsal while lifting the big toe to achieve this.
Hold for 30 seconds, repeating a few times.
Toe Flexion
Pull all your toes down to help with flexion. If you can flex them easily, you might not need this exercise.
Pull down on your big toe and each little toe to enhance arch stability.
Toe Spreading
Spread your toes out by pulling the big toe to the side. Use your finger to create space between the toes.
Hold this for a few minutes.
Consider using toe spreaders to maintain toe separation.
VYCE PrimalStep Toe Separators - Doctor ...
$4.99 ($2.50 / Count) (as of February 16, 2025 07:30 GMT -06:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)Active Toe Spreading
After passive stretching, try fanning your toes out actively. This helps strengthen the muscles that support your arches.
Strengthening Foot Muscles
Next, we’ll focus on the muscles that support your arches:
Intrinsic Muscle Strengthening
To strengthen the small muscles inside your foot, place your foot flat on the ground.
Shift your weight to the outside of your foot to lift the arch. Grip the ground with your toes without curling them.
Extrinsic Muscle Strengthening
Sit in a chair and scoop your toes inward to strengthen the tibialis posterior muscle, which helps control pronation.
You can also use a towel to assist in this movement.
Improving Ankle Mobility
Maintaining ankle mobility while keeping your arch is essential:
Calf Stretch
Dome the arch of your foot, then step forward as if taking a step, ensuring your heel remains on the floor.
Hold this stretch for at least a minute.
Walking Practice
Now, let's put everything together to enhance your walking:
- When walking, allow some pronation to occur as you load weight onto your foot.
- Ensure to push off with your big toe to propel yourself forward, focusing on walking more on the outside of your foot.
- Grip the ground with your toes to control excessive pronation.
Walking Shoe Recommendations
While barefoot walking is excellent for strengthening, sometimes you need to wear shoes. Look for:
- Zero Drop: No downward angle between the heel and toe.
- Wide Toe Box: Allows your toes to spread naturally.
- Fan-Shaped Forefoot: Prevents your toes from being jammed together.
Here are some brands of shoes that meet those criteria.
Altra Torins
I personally wear Altra Torin running shoes.
While they're not technically barefoot shoes, they have a wide toe box with a fan-shaped forefoot that allows your big toe to post out.
Additionally, they have a zero drop angle from heel to toe to simulate barefoot walking.
ALTRA Men's Torin 7 Road Running Shoe, B...
25% OffXero Barefoot Running Shoes
Xero Shoes are truly barefoot walking and running shoes. As the name implies, they also have a zero drop angle, and they also have a fan-shaped toe box.
You can see from the profile that the Xero Shoes Prio Barefoot Running Shoe has a much thinner sole than the Altra Torin.
This makes it more like barefoot walking, but also offers less cushioning for higher impact activities such as running.
Xero Shoes Barefoot Shoes for Men | Prio...
5% OffVivobarefoot Primus Lite III
Vivobarefoot also makes minimalist shoes to simulate walking barefoot. The Vivobarefoot Primus Lite III has a thin, breathable sole with a wide, fan-shaped toe box and zero drop.
Vivobarefoot Primus Lite III, Womens Veg...
9% OffConclusion
So those were the 8 foot exercises for walking. By incorporating these exercises and choosing the right shoes, you can improve your balance and decrease pain when walking.
However, dealing with foot problems can sometimes be overwhelming.
If you live in the St. Louis area and need help to walk more confidently and more comfortably, tap the button below to request an appointment with one of our specialist physical therapists.