Short Foot: Lift Your Arch With the Muscles Inside Your Foot
Keep your toes long and flat and pull the ball of your foot back towards your heel, so the arch lifts. The small muscles inside your foot hold it there, the job they do with every step.
Strength · Feet · 2 min read
Why it works: Chapter 23, Stiff people work harder for every stroke
How to do it
- 1
Sit with your feet flat
Sit on a chair, barefoot, feet flat on the floor under your knees.
- 2
Keep your toes long
Let your toes lie long and relaxed on the floor. They stay that way the whole time.
- 3
Shorten your foot
Pull the ball of your foot back towards your heel without curling your toes. Your foot gets a little shorter and the arch lifts.
- 4
Hold, then let go
Hold for five seconds, breathing, then release. Ten times on each foot.
- 5
Stand, then stand on one leg
Once you can do it sitting, do it standing, then standing on one leg, where your arch has your whole weight to hold.
Watch for
- Toes curling or gripping the floor. The long muscles from your shin take over, and the small ones inside your foot rest.
- Rolling onto the outside edge of your foot. That lifts the arch by tipping the foot, not by shortening it.
- The ball of the foot or the heel lifting off the floor. Both stay down; only the arch rises.
Questions
What is the short foot exercise?
A foot exercise where you pull the ball of your foot towards your heel without curling your toes, so the arch lifts. It works the small muscles inside your foot that hold the arch up.
Does the short foot exercise help flat feet?
It works the muscles that hold up the arch. Whether it changes the shape of a flat foot over time is not settled, and a flat foot that does not hurt needs no fixing.
How long should you hold the short foot?
Five seconds, ten times on each foot, a few minutes on most days with the other foot exercises.
Why does my arch cramp?
Those muscles are rarely asked to work hard. Stop, spread your toes, and do fewer next time; the cramps fade as they get stronger.