Feet and it’s connection to ankles, knees, hips - well everything…
For years I’ve been saying “If I could only treat one muscle in the body it would be the Flexor Hallucis Longus”. Yes, I am a bit of an anatomy geek, but no one is complaining too much so I keep going. To translate anatomy talk - it is a long muscle that flexes the big toe.
Why do I care so much about this? Well, I often observe that this muscle is weak - or it is locked short. When walking/running, it is essential to push off the big toe (well, all the toes, but big toe in particular). I’ve seen MANY people in their 70’s say, “I walk 5 miles a day”. Good! Great! Then I look at their feet and there is very little tone in the muscles of the feet! How can you walk 5 miles a day without strengthening the feet? Part of it is the shoes you’re wearing and part of it is loosing connection with your feet. I suggest you follow my video below to begin strengthening these little muscles. Another reason for weakness of feet are the shoes you’re wearing.
If you wear shoes are too stiff, or something like a Hoku style shoes your big toe (and the rest of your foot) isn’t working. They were originally designed to rehabilitate from an injury. But they somehow became a ‘thing’ and are used for daily walking. There isn’t much articulation of the joints of your foot with a Hoku/Rocking shoe and the muscles go on vacation. If this has happened for some time, it can take a bit of work to get the system up and running again (good pun - right!)
So I started with a small little muscle and I want to give you the bigger picture. The big toe and the big toe mound (ball of the foot) along with this Flexor Hallicus Longus (and Brevis) are part of a chain reaction throughout the whole body. From the big toe, the fascial line continues up the inner thigh, connects briefly with the pelvic floor and goes onto the posas muscle, which becomes part of the diaphragm, then becomes the lining around the heart (the pericardium) and up the the throat, and head. So yea - this big toe is not isolated but the ignition of the very important connection through the body to mobilize you - to get you where you want to go. Hope you can see/feel that this little muscle is part of a whole body picture.
lastly, SHOES…
What type of shoe to wear? When you are in the shoe store, pick up the shoe and if you can easily bend the sole in any direction, then you are in the right direction. There are some very good stores that have highly trained sales people to help you get the right shoe. In Sonoma County, I go to Fleet Feet.
(video is coming soon!)
