THEY’RE THE MOST NEGLECTED PART OF YOUR RUNNING BODY, YET FINE-TUNED FOOT MUSCLES HELP TO STABILISE YOUR BODY, AID EXPLOSIVE MOVEMENT AND HELP PREVENT INJURY

WORDS: ELSA SMITH

FOOT HEALTH

Foot health: have you got it nailed?

When we think about getting strong for running, most of us think about strengthening our legs, core and glute muscles. But just as important are your feet, which are the first and last part of your body that touch the floor when you run.

“If you consider our feet contain over 100 muscles and over a quarter of the body’s joints, then you get some idea of just how important they are for running”, explains Rachael Woolston, founder of the virtual coaching community girlsruntheworld.co.uk. “If you are after a personal best or want to avoid injury, then making sure your feet are conditioned and flexible is as important as looking after your core and glute muscles.”

TOE YOGA

Roughly 85 per cent of our foot control is generated from the big toe, but you also need to be able to control the movement between your forefoot and rearfoot. If you don’t, it can result in plantar fascia problems, shin splints and more. To test your control, try this: “Standing in bare feet, try to raise the big toe of one foot while keeping the other toes down, then put your big toe on the floor and try to elevate the other toes without allowing the arch to collapse”, explains Jay Dicharry, running biomechanics expert, in his book, Running Rewired, (VeloPress, £19.61, amazon.co.uk).