How strong are your feet?!
CrossFit is an absolute GAME CHANGER.
5 WOD’s each week.
5am start for 6am class.
Every. single. day.
I love it.
I know the demands of CrossFit and I can tell from what I see as a Podiatrist you NEED strong feet.
They are absolutely essential to your lifting, running and gymnastics.
The impact of CrossFit on the feet should not be underestimated!
Test your Foot CORE – NOW!
This is my favourite when it comes to foot strength. Did you know the foot core needs to be strong? Just like your abs and core. The feet are no different. With lifting and jumping a strong foot core is ESSENTIAL.Have a go at these simple tests to see how well your foot “core” muscles are switching on!
TEST ONE – Toe Spread
- Stand up
- Try and spread all the toes apart. You should see a gap between each of the toe spaces.
- Hold for 15 seconds
Is one foot easier than the other? Can you do it?
TEST TWO- Big toe up, other toes down
- Isolate big toe up and other toes down
- Hold for 15 seconds
- Can you master the movement?
TEST THREE – Big toe down, other toes up
- Isolate big toe down and other toes up
- Hold for 15 seconds
- How did you go?
This is one simple test of foot core strength.
Imagine if your fingers did this and you couldn’t actually control them moving – then you tried to do a handstand. Uh oh! That would be tricky.
Now, think about us walking on our feet all day every day. Running too.
We need coordinated toes and strong feet! They are 100% essential for every CrossFit Machine!
Important Points
- You NEED a strong foot core to be a CrossFit MACHINE!
- Toes MUST be coordinated for ultimate stability with lifting
- Practice these exercises every day and you’ll see the results!
Did you know that your big toe can improve your lifting?
Although toes usually forgotten about and we don’t wan’t to look at them much, they actually play a huge role with our balance! True story.
Our toes keep us stable and help us to balance, especially the big toe. Those without a big toe (in cases of trauma and amputation) have very poor balance. Similarly, those with a very stiff big toe joint that doesn’t flex much are at a high risk of falls.When our big toe is working as it should it adds a HUGE amount of stability and mobility to our lifting.
How on earth does this tie on with CrossFit?
Big toe touching ground = better balance = arch activation – BAM!
The big toe forms a TRIPOD of stability for lifting
- The big toes forms a tripod which is a stable base for lifting
- The tripod includes 3 main areas of contact – big toe, little toe and heel
- When all 3 contact the ground there is the ultimate stability for lifting!
Big toe ALWAYS, ALWAYS contacting the ground
Please don’t let us see your big toe flapping in the wind during squats and deads. The big toe MUST be contacting the ground at all times. Big toe test!
- Squat whilst looking into the mirror
- Look at the big toe – does it lift or does it stay plugged into the ground
- If it lifts, try plugging the big toe into the ground
- HELLO stability!
A big toe that functions = a stable arch = POWER!
A stiff big toe puts more pressure on the plantar fascia and other arch muscles. So… if we can get more movement through our big toe it means we can get better RANGE – this means more squat depth! YAHOO!
More mobile big toes equals
- Greater squat depth
- Less risk of heel pain
- Arch muscles can switch on easily
Important Points
- Perform the squat test
- Keep big toe PLUGGED into the ground with lifting
- We can improve big toe function to get more stability with lifting and more depth with your squat!
