The importance of foot strength

                        The importance of foot strength

As a personal trainer, I hear a lot of concerns about the strength of the lower body. If someone wants to do sports or simply they want to stay active, most customers want to have a strong lower body. Therefore, personal trainers often create training programs for lower body using a complex of exercises for the legs / hip. However, a careful review of these programs expose a lack of focus on an important aspect of the lower mechanical chain body - the foot.

Why walk so important?

Although the strength of the legs and hips can not be ignored, the weakness in the foot will result in a mechanical imbalance. The foot is the first contact with the ground. Therefore, the foot will dictate how the force will be reflected in the mechanical chain (the foot to the leg, and finally on the trunk). In fact, the structure of the foot supports the task of machine translation. The bones and muscles of the legs are long and bulky. On the other hand, the bones and muscles of the foot are usually small and close. For example, the mobility of the cuboid and cuneiform bones small, cube-shaped forming the middle of the foot allows the foot to change shape. The ability of the foot to change shape allows the lower part of the body to adapt to any surface, and thus, results require the string so that the rest of the leg can maintain the same pattern of mechanics. This allows us, for example, to perform relatively well on a variety of surfaces from concrete to grass or even sand. Thus, as we run on the sand, for example, the foot will change shape to the next step while the rest of the mechanical leg, such as the knee will remain relatively constant.

Why the foot rarely included in the exercise program

The foot is rarely taken into account by personal trainers and fitness coaches when designing exercise programs. One reason is that the foot is quite unpredictable compared to other structures in the body. As discussed, the foot can change shape depending on the surface, the phase of the process, or the equilibrium level. Therefore, it is difficult to assign a year and be certain that the exercise will make these muscles. On the other hand, a personal trainer can predict that the shoulder be fairly accurately when a client makes a shoulder press with a set of dumbbells. The foot also changes shape in response to changes in inertia. For example, a basketball player who needs to quickly change direction will use his hips to push in directions they need to go. The bones and muscles of the foot will have the task of making fine adjustments necessary to stay in balance and dictate what hip muscles will do to maintain balance. Once equilibrium is reached, the hips will do the job of moving the player in the designated direction.

The other reason why the foot is excluded from an exercise program is more evident. Again, the foot muscles are small and are designed for specific types of work. There is little immediate satisfaction gained by working the muscles of the foot. The burn on the glutes and quads is what customers want and when they pay to hire a personal trainer. In terms of calorie production (a reasonable concern when the goal is weight loss), quads and glutes are better bang for the buck.

Foot mechanics

Although the walk is quite unpredictable, the feet follow two distinct mechanical way: pronation and supination. Pronation is the ability of the foot to absorb the force. As we plant the foot on the ground, the foot will take a "spider web" like structure. In a word, the foot begins to remove and therefore increases its planting area. Another important element is the planting of the big toe. The big toe creates a pivot around which the rest of the foot can absorb weight. Interestingly, as it happens, the small muscles of the elongated foot. This allows the foot to store energy, similar to the action of an arc when stretched.

When supinates foot expresses the stored energy stored during pronation. The cuboid and cuneiform clasp closer narrowing the foot. The tight sealing parallelepipeds and cuneiform strengthens the integrity between the metatarsals and the calcaneus. Therefore, the foot becomes a rigid lever off which can propel the body.

How to train up

We must understand that the foot muscles are formed whenever we make feet / hips exercises while the feet are planted. However, to further emphasize the foot, are a good option exercises on one foot. These include one leg squats and one leg raised. Another good option is the rotation of the trunk while standing on one foot. While the trunk is slowly turning the foot will respond either by abduction or adduction. This movement of the foot abduction / kidnapping help pronation / supination continuum.

1 of the trunk leg rotation

-Stand on one foot

-Extend your arms to shoulder 90

-Keeping the foot stable and planted, slowly turn from side to side

There are many traditional exercises such as shoulder presses, chest presses cables, cable and rowing. These exercises can be performed on one leg. What is essential that the chosen exercise is performed under the absolute control. The foot is designed to help us stay balanced. If resistance exercise is too heavy and the body is out of balance, the foot is losing the battle and it is simply to recognize and untrained. The resistance should be increased only if a customer can perform a given exercise for 15 repetitions while remaining in perfect balance.

There are some exercises that can be run directly on the muscles of the foot. I really like using foot strip removal with clients who have difficulty in pronation. This exercise will strengthen the abduction of the foot that will help launch the mechanics of pronation.

Band foot abduction

-Sit on a chair

Tie-one end of the strip around a table leg

-Wrap the other end around your foot, make sure there is little resistance to the starting position by pulling your foot toward the midline of your body

-While holding the heel on the floor (pivot), start SLOWLY move the foot against resistance and away from your body (and table)

To enhance supination, you can perform the "walk year supply of the band" This exercise is essentially contrary to the exercise mentioned above.

Band foot abduction

-Sit on a chair

Tie-one end of the strip around a table leg

-Wrap the other end around your foot, make sure there is little resistance to the starting position by pulling your foot from the midline of your body

-While holding the heel on the floor (pivot), start SLOWLY move the foot against resistance and towards the midline of your body

Another good exercise to work the muscles of the foot is complex grabbing a towel. This exercise is often used in physical therapy. However, it can be a great warm-up routine before the lower body.

Towel grabbing

-Sit on a chair

Place a towel in front of you

Barefoot, first remove the towel curling your toes on one foot at a time.

-To add resistance, place a weight on the end of the towel

Other treatments for foot

There are several bodywork techniques for the foot. Most of these techniques focus on massage and / or reduce muscle tension foot. In my view, however, the most effective treatment for a foot muscle activation technique (MAT) developed by Greg Roskopf. MAT offers a very thorough evaluation to identify limitations in the ranks of foot movement. Furthermore, a specialist in MAT has the tools to increase the efficiency of contractile muscles of the foot. Treatment should give a foot that is more stable and better prepared for the exercises described above.