The Importance of Strong Feet & Ankles
The Importance of Strong Feet and Ankles
Too often, when we think about training or rehabbing, we look at the body from the knee up. But two of the most important structures are often ignored, your feet and ankles. Just as the foundation of a building must be strong enough to support the whole structure, your feet and ankles should be the solid foundation of your body. Here are the main benefits of foot and ankle strength and how footwear can play a role in supporting (or not supporting) that.
Improved Stability for Injury Prevention
There are 26 bones, 33 joints, 29 muscles, and over 100 ligaments in your foot. With this complexity, strength, stability, and mobility are critical. When we walk, there can be as much as 8x your body weight in force production on your feet. That can increase to as much as 11x your body weight when you run. A solid foundation at your feet enhances your balance and allows that force to be properly distributed. Thus, avoiding injuries and falls.
Better Proprioception
Your foot is the first part of your body that can give you feedback from the ground. There are numerous cutaneous receptors, muscle spindles, and joint proprioceptors on or in our feet that communicate with our vestibular system (sensory system that helps with balance and spatial orientation). Weak and immobile feet and ankles will cause these sensory receptors to become dormant. Properly training feet and ankles will increase circulation to sensory nerves, which in turn causes increased nerve fiber sensation. An increase in nerve fiber sensation gives our entire body feedback to what is happening when our foot encounters the ground. This can lead to less pain and injuries.
Increased Endurance
As we always preach, the body is a single, connected unit. If there is a weak link in the chain, it affects the entire system. The first link in that chain is your foot. Strong feet and ankles can delay fatigue and improve conditioning during prolonged activity, because it promotes proper form and posture, decreasing stress on other joints and muscles.
The Role of Footwear
A research study (Roa, U.P. and Joseph, B.) done in 1992 on 2,300 children, ages 4-13, examined static footprints and how footwear affected the development of the medial arch. It showed that in the group of children that did not wear shoes for most of the day, less than 3% had flat feet. In the group of children that wore shoes, that number increased to 10% with a significant difference between what kind of footwear that was worn. Closed toed shoes were shown to have more of a prevalence of flat feet. Closed toed, narrow shoes inhibit the toes from splaying and limit the movement of the overall foot. Imagine wearing hard mittens on your hands for 12 hours every day. Your hands and fingers would be impacted, and mobility would be hindered. This can happen at your foot when wearing narrow and bulky shoes for a long period of time. Now, I’m not saying you go barefoot in stores and to a formal dinner. But, if you find yourself in footwear that can hinder mobility at your foot and ankle, make sure you train properly to counteract that. Personally, I train in minimalist shoes (Vivo and Xero being my go-to brands). Now these may be uncomfortable for some. There are three things to consider in shoes for training for getting maximal strength and mobility: a wide toe box, a low heel-to-toe drop, and a smaller profile in the heel. These three factors will enhance the strength, mobility, and stability of your feet and ankles. Like I said, if you are conditioned to cushiony and bulky training shoes, making this drastic change could be uncomfortable, but consider easing into these types of shoes.
So, remember to train the entire system, from head to TOE (literally). Your entire body will benefit from it because your foundation will be strong, stable, and mobile.
As always,
GIVE YOUR BODY WHAT IT NEEDS, WHEN IT NEEDS IT.
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