Foot Exercises for Functional Fitness
Your feet are the foundation of your body and involved in everything you do while standing. When your feet are strong, you are more stable. When your feet are flexible, you move with greater ease.
That's why it's important to take care of your feet by strengthening and stretching them regularly. Here are some exercises to keep your feet functioning well. Perform these exercises barefoot or in socks, without shoes. Aim to do the exercises at least three times a week. You can do them daily if you'd like.
Alphabet
- Improves ankle mobility and strength for better balance.
- Sit in a chair and raise one foot off the floor. Imagine your big toe is a pencil and move your ankle, up, down, across, and around to "write" each letter of the alphabet in the air. Repeat with your other foot.
Towel scrunch
- Strengthens the muscles on the bottoms of your feet to support your arches.
- Sit in a chair with a hand towel on the floor. Starting with your toes at one edge of the towel, curl your toes so the towel bunches up under your feet more and more with each curl. Scrunch the length of the towel two or three times with each foot. You can do both feet at the same time or individually.
Toe point
- Stretches the tops of your feet.
- Sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Lift your heels off the floor and roll up onto the tops of your toes, like a ballerina, feeling the stretch on the tops of your feet. Hold for 3 to 5 seconds. Do 4 to 6 times.
Toe stretch
- Creates space between your toes to counteract all the time they spend squeezed together in shoes.
- Sit in a chair and place your left foot on your right knee. Interlace the fingers of your right hand with the toes of your left foot, as if holding hands. Hold for 30 to 60 seconds. Slowly release and repeat with your right foot and left hand. Do one time with each foot.
For more information on staying active as you age, make everyday tasks easier, and even improve your game, check out Discovering Functional Fitness: Exercise, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.
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