Everyone hates their flat feet. They also love to blame all of their postural dysfunctions and muscular weaknesses on their “poor little” flat feet. Ironically enough, this is the complete opposite of the truth. It is actually the muscle weakness, mostly in your pelvis and trunk, along with the faulty postural alignment, that have caused the feet to flatten as they have. The muscles that are most responsible for this type of foot presentation are actually your hamstrings and inner thigh muscles. I know! Who would have thought!
Another beef I have with the “flat feet myth” is that people believe they have too much “pronation” of their foot. They believe their feet are overly-pronating, but this could not be farther from the truth. A flat-footed person actually does not know how to properly pronate their foot. The flat foot presentation is simply a compensation for someone that has a very high arch, and because of weakness of the hamstring and adductors, the heel collapses laterally (outward) which causes the mid-foot to collapse medially (inward).
So I know you’re asking yourself, what should I be doing to get more hamstring and inner thigh strength, to reverse my flat foot position. The answer to this could be 1000 different exercises. But I will give you my favorite:
Start off by placing your back foot on a wall and begin to balance on the front foot (which would be the flat foot side). The front foot should be about 2 feet away from the wall. Now once you feel balanced over that front foot, go into a hinge position of your trunk over your pelvis (similar to a deadlift position). You should feel your glute begin to engage and your hamstring should feel like it’s stretching. At that point, begin to rotate your trunk towards the same side as the leg that is forward (ex. If your left leg is the front leg, then turn your trunk towards the left).
This should begin to engage your inner thigh. If it doesn’t, simply press your thigh slightly inward with intentional force and you should begin to feel that inner thigh working. You should also feel your inner arch lifting up and almost like a balancing act over your shaky foot. It’s totally ok, try to balance in this position and stay as calm and steady as possible. If you need a stick or hold onto a chair for balance, you can, but it’s best if you learn how to balance in this position, without any support. Lastly, you hold this position and begin to breathe. Take 10 deep breathes and then take a much needed break. Repeat this 4 times a day and watch your flat feet rise up to higher levels!
Comentários