Foot strength for runners
You might think runners would have strong feet -- but you'd be only partly right.
I have a very short piece about foot strength for runners in today’s Globe:
During a one-hour run, your feet push off the pavement about 10,000 times – enough of a workout to build some pretty impressive foot muscles, you’d figure.
“Considering the countless miles that runners put in, most think that they have very strong feet,” says Matt Ferguson, the president of Vancouver-based Progressive Health Innovations. “And they do – but only for one motion.”
Running does wonders for the muscles involved in plantar flexion – pointing your toes toward the floor – but leaves a host of other small muscles throughout the foot and ankle weak. The result is an increased risk of common running injuries like plantar fasciitis, shin splints, Achilles tendon problems and even ankle sprains… [READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE]
The article takes a brief look at a few difference ways of strengthening your feet, ranging from barefoot running to old-school soup-can-in-a-sock exercises to fancy new gadgets like the AFX Ankle Foot Maximizer.
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