You might imagine that if you put on a pair of trainers and go out running your feet are going to get stronger over time. However, research suggests this is not the case with a study showed that recreation runners have the same amount of strength in their feet as sedentary individuals (1).
An interesting article was just published in Runner’s World magazine highlighting that stronger feet can make us better runners but also that running in minimal shoes will not strengthen the feet but that specific foot exercises will: https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/health/injury/a39472681/foot-strengthening-exercises
“Until now, most of the dialogue around building stronger feet has centred on injury prevention. A new study, however, suggests stronger feet might make you quicker too. Specifically, the researchers concluded that ‘strengthening of the short foot muscles may improve lactate threshold velocity’. In simpler terms, strong feet improve running economy. In the study, recreational runners were divided into two groups. One did daily foot-strengthening exercises; the other did no exercises but ran in Vibram FiveFingers shoes. At the end of the study, the Vibram group showed very minimal improvements in lactate threshold, while the foot-strengthening group enjoyed significant improvement. “
Generally, it is accepted that foot strengthening exercises like the short foot exercise are difficult to learn, but the revolutionary Novabow™ system looks set to change the entire landscape around foot strengthening, providing an easy to use tool for performance enhancement, injury prevention, and rehab from foot injuries, surgery and other foot problems.
But foot strengthening doesn’t just help protect your feet from injury.
Foot strengthening has also been shown to improve balance, reduce knee pain, and improve ankle instability.
Importance of foot flexibility
Foot flexibility also has a huge role to play in keeping our entire bodies healthy. A study has demonstrated that our feet flatten as we put weight on them during walking, but then recoil back into a less flattened, more arched, configuration as we push off our standing foot for the next step. This “re-arching” is crucial for keeping the tibia /fibula in a more upright position during toe off and affects the way our whole body moves.
The Novabow™ system allows users to perform simple toe and arch stretching exercises whilst seated watching TV or at the office.
The Novabow system can be purchased here at
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