8 simple exercises to strengthen your feet and calves

Movement expert, founder of the School of Healthy and Smart Fitness Newyorkfitspo Victoria Borovskaya prepared a lecture especially for Zozhnik on how the feet affect the entire human body, and also showed 6 effective exercises from her author’s course.

You can also watch the lecture itself in this video, and a set of exercises for the feet in the video below.

Before jumping directly into the conversation, answer a few questions for yourself:

Do you have pain in the lower back or neck?
Do your knees ache?
Does discomfort in the hip joints bother you?
Do you have headaches?

If you answered yes to at least one question, then here is my urgent advice: take a close look at the condition of one small but important part of your musculoskeletal system - your feet.

Calf muscle strain

Stand at arm's length from a wall or other fixed support. Hold onto the wall with one hand. Bend the leg you are working on at the knee, and grab its toe with your free hand. Pull your toe toward your heel until you feel a stretch in the front of your shin. Hold the stretch for 15-30 seconds. Repeat 3 times.

Use a massage mat

With a special massage track, on the surface of which there are artificial pebbles made of hard plastic or massage elements made of Altai birch, you can achieve amazing results:

strengthen the ankle joint and prevent flat feet;
activate the work of internal organs;
improve lymph and blood circulation
partially prevent varicose veins;
reduce swelling;
relieve cramps and heaviness in the legs;
relax, relieve stress and improve your mood.

Ankle resistance

Sit on the floor facing the door. Using a loop, fasten one end of the expander to the toe of the leg you are working on, and the other end to the door. Move away from the door until you feel enough tension. Keeping your leg straight, pull your toe towards you, stretching the expander. Slowly return to the starting position. 2 sets of 15 times.

Strengthening the arch and ankle

A large set of exercises from Anton Suzdalev, a master of sports in cross-country skiing and a master of sports in athletics.

Collecting towels. Place a towel on the floor and sit on a chair. Place your foot on the near edge of the towel. Using your fingers, rake the towel towards you, then straighten it back. In this case, the heel should not come off the floor. Do the exercise 10 times. The exercise can be performed with each foot in turn or with both feet at once.
Ball rolling. You can use a tennis ball or a special massage ball . The available tools include a rolling pin, a bottle and other objects that are convenient to roll. Sit on a chair, place the ball on the floor and roll it with the ball of your foot.
Stand on one leg . Aimed at strengthening the ankle muscles, useful for running, cross-country skiing and team sports. To make it more difficult, you can use a balancing pad .
Exercises with fitness bands . Gymnastics for the ankle and foot muscles with resistance.
Other dynamic and static exercises without the use of apparatus. The video explains everything in detail.

Play sports, move and travel! If you find a mistake or want to discuss the article, write in the comments. We are always happy to communicate.

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Balance and balance exercises
A set of exercises for skiers from the Atomic school

Achilles strengthening

Standing behind a chair (needed for support), feet shoulder-width apart. Rise up onto your toes and hold this position for 5 seconds. Then slowly lower yourself down. The exercise will be more effective if you do not hold on to the back of the chair while doing it. As soon as the exercise is no longer difficult for you, try performing it exclusively with your working leg. 2 sets of 15 times.

Foot exercises for runners

A set of exercises from Dmitry and Ekaterina Mityaev - leaders of trail running in Russia and founders of the trail running school.

The exercises are based on jumping on your feet; to perform them you will need a step platform or other stable platform. The amount and duration of exercise is individual for everyone. When performing exercises, push off with your feet without involving other muscles. This set of exercises can be performed on a flat surface, but the load and effectiveness will be less.

Ankle inversion

Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you. Cross the ankle of your healthy leg over the one you are working on. Wrap one end of the resistance band around the developing and healthy leg (as shown in the photo). Hold the other end of the resistance band in your hand. Rotate the leg being worked out inward and upward. This movement will stretch the expander. Return to the starting position. 2 sets of 15 times.

Ankle strengthening exercises

How to strengthen the ankle, how to strengthen the foot and avoid injuries? Below are the simplest and most accessible exercises for the ankle, as well as exercises for the feet that can be performed at home.

Walking on your toes

You can start with small segments. It is useful to complement walking on your toes by walking on your heels, on the inside and outside of the foot. You can also use toe jogging during your warm-up or short bursts of jogging during your recovery runs.

Jumping rope

It is better to start jumping on a surface that is not too hard. In this case, jumps should not be high, and the landing should not be on the heel. The exercise helps to develop the arch of the foot and pump up the muscles of the arch of the foot. While jumping rope, coordination, balance and a sense of balance will also develop well.

Elevated toe raises

You can use a threshold, step, etc. as an elevation. The starting position is to stand on your toes so that your heels are lowered to the floor and lower than your toes. The exercise begins with a slow rise on your toes, followed by a lowering. The exercise is performed 30-40 times.

In addition, you can use simple exercises to strengthen the ankle and exercises for the ankle ligaments.

Video

Effective exercises for feet with flat feet

Heavy loads, incorrect shoes and excess weight can cause flat feet. This set of exercises for the feet is effective in combating this common disease.

Insert cotton balls between your toes and squeeze them as hard as possible.
Roll and move a small rubber ball with your foot over its entire surface.
Walk on your toes, raise your arms up.
Walk on your heels, on the outer arch of your feet, with your hands on your waist.
Use an uneven surface and walk with your feet firmly planted on it.

Exercises are performed for 20-30 seconds.

Why do you need to strengthen your lower limbs?

Every day a person walks about 5-6 kilometers, often without even thinking about the comfort and quality of the shoes he has chosen, and subsequently complains about the appearance of bumps, various deformations, without even thinking that these symptoms may have serious consequences for everything body.

Therapeutic and prophylactic exercises for the legs are an effective remedy for compression of the nerves between the toes, and is effective for the prevention of neuroma and compression of the bursae in the area of the heads of the metatarsal bones, as well as arthritis.

Specially selected exercises for the feet and ankles improve blood circulation and joint flexibility, strengthen muscles, which will ultimately affect the beauty and strength of the legs.

Running: how to strengthen the muscles of the feet and legs?

Why is it important to strengthen your feet and leg muscles with special exercises if you are a runner, and how exactly to do this, says Nike running club coach Olga Smirnova. And Yulia shows. To run correctly and, most importantly, without harm to the body, it is very important not only to stretch and strengthen the muscles of the whole body, but also to deliberately work on the muscles of the feet and legs.

“The foot is very important in running,” says coach Olga Smirnova. “Thanks to her, you can make good progress in the training process. But often in runners the foot is “off” and its functions are taken over by the calf muscles. Plus, if the foot has a dropped arch, this leads to overstretching of the Achilles tendon, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles - and special exercises also help to cope with this. It is important to strengthen the muscles of all legs separately - lunges and steps from this complex help with this.”

A set of exercises to strengthen the foot

How to do it: start the exercises with 20 repetitions and gradually increase to 40.

Why do it: In running, the foot and push-off force play a very important role. Even after pumping up the largest muscles (hamstrings, quadriceps, glutes), you will not be able to achieve noticeable results if you have weak feet.

You can pump up your foot with these easy jumping exercises. It is better to do them where there is shock absorption - a rubberized stadium track, a forest or a park.

Jumping on the curb with both feet

It is important not to land on your heels and be constantly on your toes - both on the asphalt and on the curb. We have more than 100 muscles, ligaments and tendons on our feet, so it is important to work, pump and energize each of them. When performing this exercise, try to push off the surface as quickly as possible (this is very important when running).

Alternately running onto the curb at speed

We jump onto the curb with one foot, stand on the other, then also jump back one by one. A very useful exercise for balance and coordination. When performing it, it is important not to lower your heel onto the surface, thereby we once again work out and pump up the calf muscles.

Jumping onto a curb on one leg

This exercise is much harder than the previous ones, but even a small number of approaches will increase the push-off force and the strength of the calf and soleus muscles.

Jumping over the line

On one leg:

With this exercise, we engage even more of the small muscles of the foot that work when jumping to the side. The most important rule when performing this: you need to try to jump as high as possible without bending your leg, almost on a straight leg.

On two legs:

And back on each leg:

Lunges

Classic lunge

We make sure that the knee does not go further than the toe, the back is straight, and the arms work together with the legs.

Backward Lunges

Similar to classic lunges. When performing the exercise, we lunge back, transfer the weight from the front leg to the back and do the next lunge. When we shift our weight, it is on one leg, which also strengthens the arch of the foot. Here the back surface of the legs and biceps of the thigh, gluteal muscles are worked out, and coordination and balance are improved.

Squat Lunges

When performing advanced lunges, it is important to ensure that your head is at the same level and only your legs move. It is necessary not to straighten the knee joint and not to rise on the toes. This exercise is done in order to maximally load the quadriceps and the front surface of the thigh. The exercise is performed at low amplitude and in a half squat.

Lunges with calf raises

Transition from one foot to another with the toe raised. The exercise helps to engage the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles and give them a load; uses a lot of muscles.

It is important to ensure that the knee does not extend beyond the toe, otherwise the patellar cruciate ligament may be damaged. Keep your torso upright - do not lean forward or lean your hands on your knee, so as not to increase the load on the hip and knee joint. It is better to keep your hands behind or on your belt.

Jumping with squats up on straight legs

The main rule: during a squat, the knees should not go beyond the toes, otherwise the knee cruciate ligaments can be damaged. It is important not to bring your knees inward: this is one of the main mistakes girls and women make when performing all squats and jumps.

You need to land not on your toes, but on the entire surface of your foot. This is an exercise with a focus on explosive strength, which involves not only the foot, but also the back of the legs, biceps and biceps femoris and buttocks. We make the final push with the front surface of the foot and the big toe, which is very important.

"Frog"

Usually the exercise is performed in a full squat, but this is quite traumatic for the cruciate ligament of the knee joint, so we offer a lightweight version.

It is important to squat so that the back of your thigh is parallel to the floor.

We perform the exercise without stopping and straightening, the knee should not go beyond the toe. It is important to land on your entire foot, not on your toes. In this way, we develop explosive power, which will improve our speed and average running pace.

Note Yuli: and we do all the jumps not on asphalt.

"At the bench"

Stepping onto a bench

The quadriceps is most involved during this exercise.

Make sure that your knee does not extend beyond your toes. We stretch the gluteal muscles, and then squeeze them - thanks to this, our muscles work as much as possible. We alternate legs to develop coordination and balance.

Getting up from a bench on one leg

This exercise is popular among track and field athletes, especially sprinters. During execution, the gluteal muscles are well worked out, the back of the thigh and all internal muscles are activated.

It is important to ensure that the knee does not go beyond the toe, and the heel of the foot, which is hanging in the air, does not touch the floor.

Stepping backwards with a lunge

This exercise is designed to maximally engage all muscles. When stepping onto a bench, the front surface of the thigh and gluteal muscles work. The back of the thigh is engaged. Hand position is like when running.