Pencil Pick Up and Towel Scrunches: Foot Strength For Runners

As a follow on ‘Musical Toes’ (which seemed to generate much interest), here are two more examples of exercises designed to focus on the more intricate muscles of the lower legs and feet.

As mentioned in the ‘Musical Toes’ video, although many runners dedicate time to strengthen muscles of the upper legs (quads & hamstrings) and hips (glutes) less of us focus sufficiently on the lower legs. By lower legs, we are not referring solely to the calf muscles (gastrocnemius & soleus) but also the important extensors (lift up) and flexors (push down) of the big toe and other four toes. In times of injury and/or pain, exercises specifically aimed at loading these muscles can be key to reaching full recovery and avoiding pain relapses.

The mental focus required to perform ‘Pencil Pick Ups’ and ‘Towel Scrunches’ is by no means coincidental as part of rehabilitation of these muscles often needs to involve the performing of skilled, coordinated movement. Following injury, the communication pathways between the brain and the injured tissue are often ‘dampened’, i.e. it becomes harder to perform intricate movement. This is known as a loss in proprioception, and is thought to be a source of pain unless rectified properly during rehab. As was the case with ‘Musical Toes’, ‘fun’ and ‘engagement’ plays an important role in restoring proprioception so grab yourself a pencil and towel and start challenging yourself!

* * * Visit sportinjurymatt.co.uk for in depth articles on running injury management & prevention. * * *

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