Our feet are connected to almost every other part of the body, and have a massive impact on the way you move – your knees, hips, spine, shoulders, and even breathing function can be affected by the way your feet move during those 10,000+ steps a day we are all encouraged to take!
In the Mobility Assessments we conduct at Peachi PT our focus starts with the feet… How strong your arches are, how they move when you walk and what happens to your ankles when you complete an exercise like a squat or lunge.
Why?
Because the arch in our feet is incredibly important – it aligns our ankle joint with our knees, hips and spine. If there is a misalignment at ground level, the way load is placed and spread through the body is altered with every step or movement. This not only hinders our body’s ability to move well and causes muscle imbalances to develop, it often leads to pain and injury in the rest of our body.
I can’t stress how essential it is for everyone to wear runners suitable for their feet when exercising! Sometimes the shoes you need to support your feet are not the bright or pretty-coloured shoes you had your heart set on, but comfort and your body should definitely be a priority over pretty in this case, right? And yes, buying good footwear can hurt the back pocket, but it is 100% worth it when you think of all those future osteo, physio or chiro appointments you are avoiding 😉
What does your footprint say about you?
You can get an idea of how your feet could be affecting your movement by trying a ‘wet foot test’ Simply wet the bottom of your foot and step firmly on to a flat surface to make a footprint and compare it to the image (Figure 1).
– If you can see very little print connecting your heel and toes, you have a high arch (known as supination).
– If you can see around half of your arch in your footprint you have a neutral arch.
– If you can see most, or all of your foot printed you have very low arches or flat feet (know as pronation).
If you want to find out more about the way your feet and body move or you want help correcting an issue you have get in contact with us, book a Mobility Assessment and get your body moving better!