In this presentation, Dr. Ira Meyers describes and demonstrates a series of Nine Nifty Exercises that can help you to stretch and strengthen your foot and leg muscles. Maintaining a regular routine of exercises like these can help you to improve muscle health and prevent injuries.
Basics
• All strengthening exercises require use of a rubber tube or theraband, or something equivalent
• All strengthening exercises start with both feet together
• The heels remain together and the forefoot of each foot is then moved away from the other
• Separate feet slowly and bring back to start position slowly (total time per repetition is about 2-3 seconds).
• Do 10 repetitions of each exercise
Peroneus Muscle/Tendons
• Peroneus longus and peroneus brevis muscle/tendon
• These are the 2 muscles on the outside of the foot and leg
• Start with heels together and separate at the forefoot
1 - Peroneus one
• Feet Start together with toes facing toward the ground
• Separate at the forefoot
2 - Peroneus two
• Same as Peroneus one, except feet start with toes facing upwards
3 & 4 - Posterior Tibial Muscles
• Start with one foot crossed over the other
• Separate at forefoot
• For exercise number 4 reverse positions
5 & 6 - Anterior Tibial Muscles and Calf Muscles
• Start with one foot on top of the other
• Bring one foot toward your head (for trie anterior tibial muscle)
• Bring the other foot toward the ground (for the calf muscle)
• For exercise 6, switch feet
7 - Calf stretching
• Start with knee straight and rubber tubing/theraband around the foot
• Gently pull the foot towards you. Hold for 3 seconds
• Repeat 10 times
8 - Achilles and Plantar Fascia Stretching
• Same as calf stretching, except bend your knee
• You should feel more of a stretch in your achilles and on the bottom of your foot
• To better isolate the plantar fascia, pull on your big toe using your hand instead of the rubber tubing
9 - Strengthening the Small Muscles of the Foot
Toe curls
• Place a towel on the ground and slowly pick it up with your toes.
• May be done sitting or standing
• If you can't pick the towel up, slowly crunch your toes to try to move the towel (about 2-3 seconds).
• Do this exercise 25 times twice daily