Toe Yoga- Why You Should Get On The Bandwagon

Photo by Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash

Toe Yoga- why you should get on the bandwagon

By Martha Theirl, PT, DPT, SFMA L-1

The foot is the base of the body. It has contact with the ground, stabilizes us, and supports us throughout every movement. It’s important- very important. When was the last time you thought about your feet? Went barefoot outside or even in the house? Tried to pick something up using your feet and toes? If you’re like most, the last time you thought about your feet was when you bought a new pair of shoes, or after a long night in heels (amiright, ladies!?).

In the US, we tend to be shod the majority of the time. Our shoes are narrow at the toe and front of the foot, which over time squeezes our toes to align with the shoe shape. If you take a look at baby feet you’ll likely see a marked difference between what their feet look like and your own.

Wearing shoes all the time also decreases our foot’s ability to feel the ground, adapt, and stay strong. Maybe you start having some ankle or knee pain, or foot pain with jumping. There are many reasons these aches may arise, but the foot may be involved.

Embracing being barefoot and allowing your foot to do the work will help with overall foot and leg strength. Enter toe yoga and the tripod

The Tripod

The tripod describes the three places on your foot you should be able to maintain contact at all times while standing. They are under the ball of the 1st toe, under the ball of the 5th toe, and in the middle of the heel. Ideally, you want even pressure under all three points of contact when standing or statically lifting (ie deadlift, squat).

The Big Toe

The great toe is twice the size of the other toes for a reason! It helps absorb and translate force and we use it when we push the ground away in running or walking. It needs a lot of motion – up to 55 degrees- during walking.

Photo from My Foot Function

Foot Strength

Feet that are strong move well. There are a lot of muscles and tendons that support all our movements. So how do we strengthen them? Two ways-

1.     Intrinsic muscles: muscles that are only in the foot. We use exercises such as short foot and adductor hallicus pull ins.

2.     Extrinsic muscles: these are muscles that are actually in the calf or lower leg but have tendons that go all the way down to our toes. Exercises include heel raises, foot raises, toe raises and ankle stability exercises.

Sounds great, I’m in… how do I get started?

See these videos to help you.

1.     Short Foot: Three points (tripod) of contact in the foot. Draw tension into the arch by raising it up using the muscles in the arch and keeping the toes flat on the ground. Think about drawing the ball of your foot towards your heel. Try to keep the ball of the foot in contact with the ground.

2.     Big toe raise: Tripod foot and pressing toes flat into the ground. Keep the tension in the arch and raise the big toe and slowly lower.

3.     Little toe raise: Tripod foot and pressing big toe flat into the ground. Keep tension in the arch and raise all the other toes, keeping the big toe down.

So toe yoga? Yup! Move those feet! Start with a few and see how it goes. Building foundational foot strength can go a long way in supporting your body and movement.

Have fun! Be resilient to the finish.

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Have Questions? Need a consultation? email martha@q4pt.com or fill out our contact form and we will be in touch shortly.