By Kim Fraser
Let’s talk about the feet. Even as a physiotherapist, it took me many years to realize how much the foot mattered as a runner. I would often see runners come into the clinic with a hip injury and, as part of understanding their history, I would ask about other injuries. Often, they reported an old foot injury that never fully resolved.
I started to connect that sometimes an old foot injury was creating the new hip injury. I realized I was onto something and that is when I started to say…
“The foot and hip are married.”
The foot is broken down into three parts. We have the heel and the ankle joint (the hindfoot); the middle of the foot (the midfoot); and the bones of the toes (the forefoot). As a runner, we want to land predominantly on the midfoot and then roll onto the first and second toes to propel forward.
I often see runners standing or running on the outside border of their foot and not rolling into the inner midfoot and onto those first two toes.
Let’s stand up. Do you stand on the outside borders of one foot or both? During your next run pay attention to if you push off onto those first and second toes.
Often the midfoot is quite stiff. When it is, we tend to stand and run on the outside borders of our feet and therefore do not push off as we should. This can ultimately affect how the knee and hip aligns with each step. If that foot is not moving well, I often find the knee and hip are not moving well either.
So what can we do to keep that foot moving? The number one exercise I give is using a small rubber ball, perhaps from the dollar store, to release the undersurface of the midfoot. I emphasize small as a bigger lacrosse ball will be too big to work on the little joints and muscles of the foot.
Sit on a chair with your weight slightly forward and your elbows on your knees. Place the small rubber ball under your forefoot or midfoot. Lean forward and allow your foot to sink into the ball. Keep still focusing on softening around the ball rather than rolling it around. Move onto the next spot when you are ready. Aim for 4-5 spots on each foot. There tends to be one foot stiffer than the other… mmm is this the same foot as that nagging hip and knee injury? Possibly!
Kim Fraser is a physiotherapist and the owner of Still Physio on Broadway. Kim focuses on the Mindful Runner specializing in running mechanics and performance for new to elite runners. When Kim is not in the clinic she is teaching other health-care providers and has created The Elite Experience, Educational Courses for the Healthcare Provider in Sport Performance. If you would like to learn more from Kim and The Elite Experience, please contact her at kim@stillphysio.ca or visit stillphysio.ca/the-elite-experience
