9 Exercises for
_________________________
How often do we ignore the signs of dysfunction in our bodies? Joints that don’t move gradually become frozen. The muscles and tendons around them atrophy and before we know it, what was once a supple body now moves, looks, and feels, well, different. We sometimes take our bodies for granted. We only notice that something’s off when it starts having problems or can no longer do the things we loved to do.
These exercises were compiled with you in mind.** There are many simple techniques that can be used to help alleviate pain or discomfort from bunions and bunionettes. Whether you’re just beginning to suffer from bunions or you’ve had them for a while, these videos will bring you ideas for the things to try to help relieve inflammation, increase mobility, and build strength in your feet.
- If you have any comments or questions specific to your experience with these exercises, you can contact me at dayna@theagilelifestyle.com
- If you have a comment that you think might also help other participants, please take a moment to scroll to the bottom of the page and leave a comment. Please be sure to include the exercise name if applicable 😀
**We are not medical professionals. We have created these programs as a means to help with pre-injury prevention and post-injury recovery. These are not meant to be done while injured. Please talk with your doctor if you have any concerns.
Using your thumbs and fingers, massage your entire foot from the heel to toes. Pay special attention to tender areas that need less pressure and tight ones that need more. As you massage through the foot, return to these places to see if the tenderness or tightness has been alleviated by massaging other areas of the foot.
Using a hard ball like a lacrosse ball or baseball, place one foot on the ball with as little or as much weight as you need. Roll the ball under your foot in circles, forward and backward, side to side, making sure to massage the entirety of the bottom of your foot.
(This can also be done with a tennis ball, however, they tend to become soft very quickly and you want an evenly hard surface to massage against.)
Sitting in a comfortable position, wiggle one finger between each of your toes one at time to provide a little stretch between your toes. As your toes allow, insert more fingers between your toes until you can interlace your fingers between your toes. Massage into your toe base with your finger tips.
Standing against a chair or wall for balance, press the top of your toes and foot into the floor behind you, pointing your foot away from your standing foot. Press your foot into the ground as you roll from the inside of your foot to the outside, continuously pointing your foot away from your body.
This can be done standing or sitting. Find your range of motion in your toes and the front of your foot by pressing your foot up onto the ball of your foot, rolling it around to the top of your toes and stretching out the areas that may feel tight or “stuck”. This is an unweighted exercise, so explore where your toes can move.
Depending on your stability and situation, these can be done sitting or standing. Rock to one side, bringing your weight into the outside edge of one foot and the inside edge of the other. Rock to the other side and repeat, rocking back and forth.
Try playing the “floor piano” with your toes! Lift and lower your toes separately from the others. Try from big toe to little toe, little toe to big toe, lifting just your big toes or just your smaller toes. Be creative!
Starting with your feet at the back edge of a small towel, keeping your heels pressed into the floor, pick up the front of one foot at a time to reach your toes forward and grab more of the towel. Scrunch is up under your feet with each toe grab until you cannot reach any farther.
Sit or stand with your feet hip-width apart, slide your foot forward with each toe pressing out, trying to keep as much of your foot on the ground as possible as you press out and then reverse on the way back in.
I hope you found some great exercises that you can continue doing to help with your foot self-care. You may have noticed that the videos include sets and reps for each of the movements. Each of these videos were pulled from our more comprehensive course, Building Resilient Feet & Ankles. Here, you’ll find an entire program geared toward bringing healthy movement to your feet and ankles.
Take a moment to check it out and use the coupon code ANKLES upon checkout to get $5 off your order.