The perfect exercises to do to ease your foot pain
You never realize just how much your feet do for you until they’re causing you grief. As you age, you may notice this phenomenon more frequently. Since the muscles on the bottom of the foot can get inflamed from various daily occurrences, taking care of your feet even when they’re not in pain can help offset instances of pain in the future.
“Our feet might be the most forgotten piece of our kinetic chain in regards to prep work, exercise and recovery,” Chelsea Long, MS, CSCS, tells Livestrong. “Most of us — coaches and physiologists, included — don’t think to foam roll, strengthen or stretch our feet until we experience acute soreness or pain.”
Working with the fascia on the bottom of the foot can help ease pain and reduce inflammation, if that’s the issue. Start with a frozen water bottle or roller ball and massage your foot back and forth, Prevention recommends. Similar to foam rolling your legs, back, and arms, using a tennis ball or other instrument can help keep your feet healthy. If you spend a lot of time on your feet or wearing uncomfortable footwear, rolling your feet out may relieve discomfort — not only in your feet, but also up your calves and hamstrings, Livestrong explains.
Focus on your core to ease foot pain
It turns out that foot pain doesn’t just start in your feet. In fact, it may have more to do with your posture and your core than you might think. Juliet Kaska, a professional trainer, tells PureWow, “Giving extra focus to the muscles in the abdominal region has lots of upsides. We stand up taller, our balance improves, our coordination improves and we experience less pain in our back, hips and knees when we properly engage our core muscles.”
When the core isn’t working efficiently, it can lead to imbalances on either side of the body — and thus cause foot pain. Kaska, who is also a health and wellness expert, recommends simple, functional movements that engage various sides of the core. Per PureWow, begin by balancing on one foot while activating your abdominal muscles for 15 seconds, then do this on the other side. Perform a few rounds of this throughout your day to help offset any imbalance throughout your musculoskeletal system.
Adding this exercise to your daily routine may lead to decreased foot pain, especially when combined with stretches and various recovery tactics. Make sure to give your feet the TLC they need and recruit your core to help take some of the pressure off!
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