Short Foot

The purpose of the "Short Foot" exercise is to strengthen your “foot core.” It is also a concept of the position your foot should be in when standing statically either on two feet (ie when standing for long periods) or one foot (ie when balancing on one leg) rather than the arch collapsed and toes out position that a lot of us fall into subconsciously. The biggest thing to focus on is to activate the muscles in the arch of the foot while maintaining three strong and even pillars of contact: the middle of your heel, your first metatarsal head (big toe portion of the pad of your foot) and the fifth metatarsal head (pinky toe portion of the pad of your foot) without scrunching the toes. You might find that the arch muscles will actually cramp - this means you’re doing it right! This will happen less the more you work on it. Start in a seated position by holding for 5 seconds, work your way up to 30 second holds and then progress to doing it in standing, and then single leg stance. Once you get better with this exercise, challenge yourself to get into the position functionally throughout the day.