Good Posture Begins with Your Feet

November 14, 2016

    With strong posture the body aligns itself over the feet to  provide incredible stability. This is how healthy movement begins. Just like the foundation of a building must be stable to support walls and a roof, the feet must be stable to support the legs, torso, spine and head. If your feet are weak, they are unstable. When the feet become misaligned  the ankles, knees, hips, back, and shoulders follow. Misalignment creates dysfunctional movement which causes pain and injury. 
    By performing these exercises you will help strengthen the essential muscles of your foot and leg, you will challenge postural muscles, and train your foot and lower leg to stabilize. By doing these exercises 3 times a week for 8 weeks and adding them to your weekly exercise regime you can  help to maintain healthy movement for your entire body.



 Single Leg Stand

    Stand on each foot for one minute. Try to keep the inside ball, outside ball, and heel of the foot in contact with the ground for the entire minute. Do not use your opposite leg to stabilize.

Single Leg Stand on Unstable Surface
    Stand on a stability disc with each foot for one minute. Again remember not to use your opposite leg to stabilize.


Heal Raise

    Standing with your forefoot on a platform, press through the ball of your foot lifting your heel as high as you can. Then drop our heel making sure as you press, you don’t roll to the outside of the foot. Do 2-3 sets of 12-15

Foot Circles 
 
     From a seated or standing position, clench your toes and do 30 circles in each direction 10 times.