This barefoot runner's strengthening exercises

The importance of strengthening exercises when you first take up barefoot running is well documented. It's important because you're ultimately asking your feet to do things they're not used to. They may have been designed to do these things, but if you've been avoiding using your foot muscles properly for the last 30 years as I have, they're going to need some strengthening.

One of the hardest things about doing strengthening exercises is that, unless you're bench pressing hundreds of pounds,* you don't feel like you're doing much. You have to trust in the program to some extent, believing that it will ultimately make a difference. I don't think my feet are going to end up looking ripped. *this demonstrates what I know about bench pressing. Do people bench press hundreds of pounds?

I already do quite a lot of running (usually somewhere between 20 and 40 miles a week) so I naturally assume my feet/ankles/legs are quite strong. But I'm reminding myself that this is about strengthening the lesser used muscles and that I have to assume I'm not strong until I've done them.

Having done some digging around, I've decided to go with this set that I found on the Vibram Five Fingers website (you have to scroll down the page a bit to find them). They suggest doing them for two weeks prior to actually doing any running, and then making them part of your warm up. Inevitably, I've adapted them a little (does anyone actually follow exercise programs to the letter?), but it's broadly the same. You'd need to visit their site to see the pictures, and set it in the context of their general advice. My account below describes what I did and how it felt. I can't guarantee it's what they actually had in mind!

Here's what I did today:

1) Heel raise/calf stretch

Vibram do these on a flat surface, but I've been doing these on a stair for some time so I've carried on with that. You stand with the balls of both feet on the edge of the stair and then push up until you are on tip toe. At that point you lift one foot off the ground (holding on to bannister) and lower yourself down on the other until your heel is below the level of the step. Then, use both feet to push yourself back up again and repeat. I'm doing this in 3 sets of 20 for each foot, with a 45 second recovery period between sets. 

I remember when I first did this that sets of 10 seemed like plenty, and my calfs would begin to burn a bit towards the end. Now I can fairly happily do 3 sets of 20, so it has presumably been paying off. 

2) Toe grip

Foot flat on the carpet (you really need to use carpet here or there is nothing to grip). Use the toes to grab at the carpet and pull it back towards your heel. You notice that your foot is arching considerably, and I suppose this is a lot of the point. Most people's feets have arches that are much flatter than they could be, so this points towards developing a stronger, more arched foot. For the first set of 20 I did the feet individually but, after a 45 second rest, I couldn't see any particular reason I shouldn't do both feet at once. I could certainly feel the strain towards the end, and the slightly annoying habit of my feet to cramp if I curl them up too much. It will be interesting to see if strengthening/flexing my feet reduces this tendency.

3) Dorsiflexion/Plantarflexion

Sitting on a chair, feet off the floor, flex your foot upwards, bringing your toes back up towards your knees and feeling the squeeze on the front of your ankles and calves. Then stretch your feet out forward with the toes pointing away and down. Full range of motion in both directions. Again, 3x20. I did these a little while ago, and I can still feel a light soreness in my lower shins.

4) Toespread/Toetap

 I have to be honest, I couldn't work this one out from the pictures on the website. So I did a toe spread - basically lifting my feet up and spreading my toes out as far as they would go - and then tried to mimic  drumming fingers on a table, using my toes on the floor. I went in a different direction each time (big toe to little toe, then vice versa). I'm not quite sure yet what this is doing, but it will be interesting to see whether the drumming on the carpet becomes more coordinated/stronger.

5) Eversion/Inversion

Standing up, rock both feet inward as far as you can until you are resting on your heel and the outer ball of your foot. And then outwards to the opposite extreme. This was quite hard to do, so I did 15 ins and 15 outs in each rep, both feet simultaneously. Again, as I just ran through this now to type it, I could feel the soreness in my outer shin.

6) Sock pass

Vibram do this with a towel, but I didn't have one handy so I used one of the socks I just taken off. Sitting down, pick up the sock with the toes of one foot (gripping under the toes rather than between them). Then pass it to the other foot before finally putting it down on the floor. Start again with the opposite foot and pass it back. I was very aware how uncoordinated my feet are, I'm hoping that they might learn to do this quite naturally eventually.

7) Squat (I added this one)

Finally, I did a squat as a heel stretch. Stand with feet about shoulder width apart, pressure more on the balls than the heels. Then squat right down to the floor, keep the heels on the ground, but still effectively standing on the balls. I held it for 30 seconds then stood up and repeated. This flexibility in the heel seems important for barefoot running, so this is a good stretch to keep them flexible. I'm told that not everybody will be able to do this first time, so I feel especially lucky that I can.

So that's the first set of exercises done. I'm not the best at keeping up with exercise programs, but I can usually manage two weeks. So I'll be doing these every other day for those two weeks and see what effect it appears to have.