As runners we mostly just want to get out there to run and put in the distance we need for our training, but besides just running we need to take care of our feet. So today I want to talk about that and give you some useful and necessary exercises for you to do to make you a better runner and to also make sure you can keep running.
Strength training is there to make you stronger and better as a runner, but also to prevent you from getting injured. So the strength training is a very important part of your run training and if you want to improve, if you want to grow and if you want to keep running you have to do strength training.
Today I just want to focus on the feet and give you some very easy to do exercises that won’t cause you to break a sweat, but will help your running and will help prevent injuries.
The first exercise is a simple one, you can do this standing up, sitting down or even laying in bed. Stretch out your leg so that your left foot is off the ground, point your toes down as far as you can go, hold it there for
5 seconds then point your toes up as far as possible, hold that for 5 seconds and repeat this 10 times. Then you switch to the right foot.
Second exercise is in the same position, but instead of pointing your foot statically, you make a circle with your foot, go clockwise 10 times and then counter clockwise 10 times. And don’t forget to do the other foot.
The next one is a bit harder because you need something heavy to put your foot under that won’t move. A couch, a cupboard something like that would work. You put your foot under it and try and lift it with your foot, this puts pressure on your foot for a few seconds and then you release. The item shouldn’t really move, so if it does find something else that is heavier. What I do sometimes when I don’t have anything around to put my foot under is I just put my other foot on top to give that resistance. Repeat 10 times and switch your feet.
Now these are exercises that you can do pretty much anywhere and they don’t take a lot of effort, so you should try and do these every day.
A great thing that you can do for your feet while you’re running is to run on uneven ground, like on a trail or a path that has little rocks and pebbles. This way when you put your foot down every time you set it down a little bit differently, your foot has to adapt to the ground and this will stimulate the muscles in your foot.
Standing on one foot is another great way to stimulate the different muscles in your foot. By trying to find your balance you can feel your foot trying to adjust and use other parts of your foot to make sure you don't fall over. If you keep this up for 1 minute per foot it's a great exercise to make your feet stronger.
Another great way to stimulate the muscles in your foot is to use a very sophisticated piece of equipment called a tennis ball. By rolling it back and forth under the bottom of your foot, you massage and stimulate your foot. So not only can this be relaxing and a relief after a run, it also stimulates the muscles and makes your foot stronger.
Now for me even knowing I have to do all these things it can sometimes be tough, because I forget or I put it off and end up not doing the exercises. So what I have found works for me is what I also use for running and for a lot of other things. I make a schedule. It is very simple, because it is the same for every day and because I know what I need to do all the schedule says it ‘foot exercises’ for every single day of the month. But of course you still need to fit it in to your schedule during the day, now the way I work this out is that I have conditioned myself to look at my schedule several times a day to see what I need to do that day and once I’ve completed a task I change the colour to blue. Now since I want to have every task for that day to be blue as soon as possible I make sure I do my exercises and finish the tasks I know don’t cost me a lot of effort but need to be done. So just like with the running, it’s important to make a schedule to keep you on track and this way you’ll be able to look back at what you’ve done.
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