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Arching the Foot :- Start Position
- Do this sitting or standing in bare feet.
- Place your feet on a towel
Arching the Foot 1: Towel scrunch with balls of toes
- (Keeping the balls of your toes on the ground and your toes long and relaxed):
Draw the balls of your foot back towards your heals, thus forming the arches.
- Hold, and release.
- Repeat 10 times.
Arching the Foot 2: Towel scrunch with toes included
- As above but this time the toes scrunch the towel as well as the balls of the foot
- Repeat 10 times.
Comments
We don't wear boxing gloves on our hands all day so why do we wear heavy restrictive shoes?
The feet are capable of complicated movement and sensory feedback! - consider:
- The human foot has 33% of the number of sensory nerve endings that the human hand has -
an incredible number! (See Homunculus diagram).
- The sole of the foot has approximately 50 named muscles grouped in four layers!(1)
(Scroll right>>>>....)
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Arching the Foot:
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Start Position and Action
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The Homunculus:
The size of the body part represents the number of sensory nerve endings that it
contains. Note the size of the feet. Feet have a lot more nerve endings than we give them credit for!
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Watch Points
- Make sure that all five foot arches are forming, and that the foot does not
role in or out.
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Fallen foot arches in the human foot
The author has argued elsewhere that shoed feet are responsible for many of the
musculoskeletal ills of modern humanity(2). Just two comments will be made here:
- Orthotic inserts are used (successfully but they do compromise speed and agility)
to treat a variety of musculoskeletal conditions.
If the human foot could use some of its 50 or so muscles to form the natural arch
for itself, there would be no need rely upon shoe inserts.
Link between the fallen foot arch and the fallen pelvic floor?!!
The pelvic floor and foot arch may be designed to contract together - try this:
- Stand with feet parallel and knees slightly bent
- Form the foot arches as strongly as you can while drawing the arches together
- Did you feel a lift in the back passage and or the private parts (that's a lift in the pelvic floor!)?
Reference
- Keith L Moore, Arthur F Dalley: Clinically Orientated Anatomy; Fourth Ed.
Publ. Lippincort Williams and Wilkins Baltimore, Maryland 21201 ISBN 0-683-06141-0
- Bruce Thomson:
Engage Gluteus maximus!
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