Most of us are walking around with weak, underused foot muscles, because modern shoes and smooth indoor floors have made our feet passive.
We often only think about our feet when they start to hurt (i.e. plantar fasciitis) or when they stop looking like healthy feet altogether. Think bunions, flat arches, that pinky toe tucking under and fading into oblivion. We underestimate how much they set the foundation for our whole body. So instead of neglecting them, what if we trained our feet with the same intention we give to our glutes, pecks, or lats?
We sat down with performance coach Joshua Holland, who’s trained A-list celebrities and elite athletes, to build a practical strategy for going from weak to foot-strong.
If you’ve ever kicked off your shoes before a squat or deadlift, or worn minimalist shoes, you know the difference between feeling cushioned and wobbly and feeling planted and controlled.
And Holland says that stability comes in handy outside of the gym too.
“The more connection you have to the ground, the better stability you have at the ankles, at the knees, and at the hips, and the stronger you are able to move weight,” Holland explains. “There is this direct connection between our feet and the rest of the body, but especially our engine, which is our hips.”
Foot-related pain is more common than you’d think. According to the American Podiatric Medical Association, eight out of 10 of U.S. adults have experienced foot pain, yet only a third of them ever seek treatment. That stressor adds up, especially as we age. Studies have shown that foot pain is a known contributor to reduced mobility, loss of balance, increased fall risk, and lower daily step count.
If you’re a runner, your chances of foot pain is not negligible either. Around 31% of runners will experience foot or ankle related injuries, according to a cross-sectional study.
Strengthening your feet, Holland says, isn’t just about treating pain, but rather preventing it, improving function, and supporting the potential of your entire kinetic chain. However, much like you wouldn’t stack two 45 pounds on the squat rack on your first day in the gym, training your feet also has to be strategic to avoid injury yet maximize progress.
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The Foot Strength Blueprint For Stronger Feet
So what can you do to make your feet stronger? Holland mapped out a six-step plan that builds your base from the ground up.
Go Barefoot
Walk around barefoot at home daily. “Taking off your shoes and socks and just spending more time barefoot is where a true beginner would be,” Holland notes, adding “the more time you spend on your bare feet, the stronger your feet and the rest of your body has the capacity to get to.”
Build Volume
Begin with soft surfaces like grass or carpet, then progress to dirt, sand, and eventually small pebbles or textured surfaces. “That’s a really good example of how you can increase the terrain, because the stronger your feet are, the better you’re able to handle that.”
Foot Exercises
Toe yoga, aka “Toega,” is a thing, and we should all be doing it. A quick YouTube search can prompt you some great practices. For example, with your feet flat on the ground, practice isolating and lifting your big toe while the other four toes remain on the ground. Then the other way around, lift all four and keep the big toe grounded. Sounds easier said than done, you’ll see.
Another great option, Holland shares, is to practice shifting your weight across the inner and outer edges of your feet while standing. “I would say toega and foot exercises would be a really good parallel path with the volume of being barefoot.”
Introduce Tools
Use roller balls or a tennis ball under the arches and heels to improve blood flow and fascia release. Slowly incorporate toe spacers to help counteract bunions, hammertoes, and cramped digits.
Holland has bunions and was told to consider surgery, but he took control back and naturally reversed to a point where surgery is no longer necessary. “I have bunions and they have regressed a lot,” Holland admits. “They used to be really bad, but using these tools have helped my feet to open up and to get very close to normal looking and at least the function of my feet are great.”
Balance Progression
Once you’ve advanced and your feet become stronger, Holland suggests challenging your balance. Start standing on one foot. Then try it with your eyes closed. Then on an unstable surface. “Challenging your balance is good for all of us,” Holland points out.
Dynamic Movement
As you build more barefoot confidence, play around with different movements. “Start with walking, then walk fast, then add jump rope,” Holland suggests, noting eventually, you build up to running barefoot or in minimalist shoes.
Holland now wears barefoot shoes nearly 100% of the time. His go-to is Vivobarefoot (Holland is also a performance coach for the brand). And he’s not alone. The rise in minimalist footwear is growing and science backs it up.
A 2015 randomized controlled trial published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science found that runners who wore minimalist shoes for three months showed increased intrinsic foot muscle volume, improved arch stiffness, and enhanced foot function compared to those who ran in traditional shoes.
Stronger intrinsic foot muscles help with shock absorption, arch support, and force transmission which translates into improved performance and fewer injuries over time.
How Often Should You Train Your Feet?
Since it’s unlikely to be a primary muscle group for most people, Holland suggests to fit it in your day as much as possible. “I try to stay away from creating any specific protocols for people because it’s another opportunity for people to make an excuse to say, ‘Well, I don’t have enough time,’” he points out. “So I always like to say as much as possible.”
I did press a bit more for something more specific, so we landed on 20 minutes a day, because he says “it gives you more flexibility as well.
Will Your Feet Get Sore?
Yes. “When you get to a point of performing foot exercises, you’re creating little micro tears and micro traumas, and it gets sore as our body is trying to do whatever it can to repair it,” Holland explains.
He adds that we have more muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments in our feet than any other segment of our body, so soreness will occur but it goes a long way.
Will Your Feet Change?
As your feet become stronger, more functional, Holland says, you might notice that “it’s harder to fit your foot into a conventional shoe.”
However, much like how everyone’s body shape transforms differently, no two feet will change the same way.
Also, Holland doesn’t advocate never wearing nonfunctional shoes like high heels for women and dress shoes for men, but much like your body needs some extra care after a stressful experience, your feet also need to recover from being and moving within a stressful and dysfunctional environment. “Those are the times that we should be doing the most recovery work from that,” he underscores.
Your feet are your foundation. If they’re weak, everything built on top of them may be compromised. If optimal performance, movement, and longevity are on your priority list, neglecting your feet could be the subtle weak link that holds you back without you knowing it.
“The stronger our feet, which is our foundation, then the more capacity and ability we have to move better,” Holland says. “You’re almost like creating a clean slate, wiping the board to say, ‘now, what can we build?’”
