5 exercises that your Resilient Health Team love!
Written by Dr Courtnay Wood (Osteopath)
The muscles of your knees and feet, along with your glute (buttock) muscles are your lower limb stabilisers. They place a crucial role in supporting your lower back and keeping you upright while standing and walking!! Sometimes when we have pain or discomfort in our lower back it is coming from fatigue in these muscles that help to hold us up.
These 5 exercises can help to build knee and foot strength to support the gluteal muscles, lower limb and more locally at the knee and foot.
1. Knee VS Towel
Sitting on the floor with legs out straight in front
Place a rolled-up towel under your knee
Without lifting your heel off the floor, push your knee straight down into the towel so that your quadriceps muscle contracts
Ensure the inner part of your knee contracts first before the outer aspect
You can play around with foot positioning if you are struggling with this, tilt your toes in or out or point them further up towards the ceiling to isolate the inner thigh more effectively
Hold for 6-8 seconds and repeat
2. Calf Raises
Progression 1
Seated
Feet flat on the floor
Slowly raise your heels off the floor, rising onto your tip toes
Hold for 3 seconds and repeat
You can do this two legs at a time or when you’re confident try one leg at a time
Progression 2
Standing facing wall
Place both hands on the wall for support
Plant feet firmly on the floor, point toes forwards
Slowly raise your heels off the floor, rising onto your tip toes
Hold for 3 seconds and repeat
You can do this two legs at a time or when you’re confident try one leg at a time
Progression 3
Standing on a step
Plant both feet firmly on the floor with your heels hanging off the back of the step
Slowly raise your heels off the floor, rising onto your tip toes
Slowly return to your starting position with your heels below the level of the step
Hold for 3 seconds and repeat
Try two legs at a time and when you’re confident try one leg at a time
3. Isometric Clams
Sidelying
Bend your hips and knees at a 45º angle
Engage your core
Pushing down into the ground with your bottom leg, slowly lift the top knee towards the ceiling while keeping your feet together
Hold for 10 secs to begin with and slowly build up to 1 minute
Repeat on the other side
4. Intrinsic Feet Muscle Exercises
Towel Toe Curls
Seated with a hand towel on the ground by your feet
Place one foot on the towel
Keeping your heel firmly planted on the floor and using only your toes, scrunch the towel up
Concentrate on scrunching through the arch of your foot
Continue to scrunch until the towel is in a bundle under your foot
Repeat on the other side
Big Toe Lift Off
Seated
Feet firmly planted on the floor
Push your four small toes into the ground and simultaneously lift your big to off the floor
Hold for 2 seconds, relax and repeat
Note, you will feel the outside middle aspect of your foot tightening and scrunching
Small Toes Lift Off
Seated
Feet firmly planted on the floor
Push your big toes into the ground and simultaneously lift your four smaller toes off the floor
Hold for 2 seconds, relax and repeat
Note, you should feel the inside arch of your foot tightening and scrunching
5. Foot Tripod & Correct Standing Posture
Standing planting your feet firmly on the ground
First!
Concentrate on finding an even weight bearing distribution between both feet in 3 points – the ball of your big toe, the ball of your little toe and the centre of your heel
Notice your quadriceps, inner thighs and gluteal muscle activating now to hold you up!
Next!
Gently draw your shoulder blades in towards your spine and down your back slightly and draw your chin back over your neck to lengthen through the back of your neck, imagine someone is pulling your head towards the top corner of the ceiling (behind you).
Yay! Now you have correct standing posture!
The more you bring your awareness into this, the more your body is able to adapt and produce a new postural habit.
SO! Take a breath!! Pause and check in on this as you have a moment to "be in your body".
See you in the clinic!
The Resilient Health Team
*Sketched images commissioned from @thejaquesstudio