The 4 most important ways to move your foot are:
Ankle circles: slowly rotate the ankle in both directions 10-15 times. Ankle circles stretch and strengthen all the major muscles that move your foot and will release tension from overuse, standing, exercise, and lack of use (sitting).
Point and flex: slowly point your foot as much as you can, gently hold this extreme for 2 seconds, release. Flex your foot as much as you can, again hold at this extreme for 2 seconds and repeat 10-15 times per foot. If you find yourself starting to cramp, gently ease off and reverse movement and with the next repetition do not go to such an extreme.
Inversion and eversion: slowly rotate the arch of the foot towards your head and hold this movement for 2 seconds. Then reverse motion so the arch faces away. I like to call this one “conducting the orchestra” as the movement in the foot resembles arm movements used in conducting. Again repeat this exercise 10-15 times and if your foot is starting to cramp gently ease off and reverse the movement.
Calf Stretching: the easiest calf stretch is to lean against the wall putting one leg back until you have a nice stretch in your calf muscles. Another option could be holding on to the railing of the stairs, drop your heel off the stair and allow calf muscles to stretch. Hold for 10 seconds then raise up on to your tippy toes (to reset the muscles) and slowly drop down again into a stretch. Repeat this process slowly moving in and out of active stretch 5-10 times. An easy way to integrate this into your daily life is to stretch while your brushing teeth or cooking. When walking do a couple of stretches on the stairs or at the curb while waiting for the light.
Cramping
If you experience cramping in any or all of these stretches this is an indication that the muscles in your feet are weak and need exercise. Please reduce the number of repetitions you do of each exercise and instead cut out 2 minutes 4-6 times a day spend 30 seconds doing each one 3-5 times each.
Plantar Fasciitis
If you are experiencing Plantar Fasciitis do the first three exercises in bed before stepping on the foot. This will wake up the plantar fascia and make your first steps less painful. Also do the calf stretch as many times a day as you can.
