Treat Your Feet – Strength Training for Mums

Treat Your Feet – Strength Training for Mums

Your belly isn’t the only thing that gets bigger during pregnancy!

Pregnancy triggers many hormonal changes in a woman’s body, which can lead to aches and pains.  A common, yet overlooked area of change happens in the feet.

Feet and ankles are our take off and landing gear, keeping them strong and healthy can help prevent injury in other key parts of our body including our legs, hips, core.   Due to the natural weight gain in pregnancy our centre of gravity changes creating a new stance, which often leads to pressure on the knees and feet.  It is important for pregnant and postnatal women to consider their foot health to help make their 9 months more comfortable and avoid postnatal injury.

My feet have grown!

One of the most common foot complaints pre and postnatally is known as ‘Flat Feet’ or over pronation.  You’ll notice this if your foot flattens on weight bearing or rolls inward on walking.  This in itself can make walking very painful and can cause strain on the feet, calves and back.  It is caused by a combination of factors, one being weight gain leading to added pressure on the feet & another is a consequence of the pregnancy hormone Relaxin, aptly named as it ‘relaxes’ the connective tissue in the body.

Relaxin is essential to loosen the pelvis so your baby can descend the birth canal, but it also loosens other ligaments including those in your feet, causing your feet to spread. So, your feet aren’t actually growing in pregnancy, the ligaments holding the 26 bones in the feet together are just relaxed and therefore allowing them to spread.

Whilst foot swelling, another side effect of pregnancy from the extra fluid retained, will go down postnatally, foot spreading by loose ligaments is permanent.   Whatever you do, don’t try to squeeze yourself into your old tight shoes as this can cause painful foot problems.  To avoid flat feet during pregnancy or to strengthen your feet postnatally try our Foot Strengthening Exercises for Mums below.

Fit 4 Mum Foot Strengthening Programme

As feet and ankles are vital to our ability to walk and run it’s important to spend time to strengthen and stretch them.   If you are starting a power walking or jogging routine these exercises will help to prevent lower leg aches and pains.

Do the following exercises 3-4 times a week

1) Toe Curls – Strengthening the feet and protecting against shin splints. Start seated or standing and place a towel on ground in front of you use the toes of one foot to gather the towel and gradually pull it in towards you.  Release towel and repeat 2-3 times with each foot.

2) One leg Squats – Lift one leg out straight in front of you keeping your torso straight and upright.  Look straight ahead and slowly squat down on your grounded leg; bend your knee as low as you can (not lower than 90 degrees) without letting hips fall out of alignment. Rise back up and keep your raised leg as straight as possible throughout exercise.  Perform 8-12 reps working up to 15-20.  If single leg is too hard, try double leg first to build strength.  Try to balance to engage the core, new mums can hold onto a wall, chair or buggy handle for balance until the core is stronger

3) Toe Pick ups – helps to improve foot strength and co-ordination and helps prevent against plantar fasciatis.  To start, place 5-10 marbles or small stones in front of you.  Use your toes to pick up one of the small objects at a time and drop them in a pile or in a cup – switch sides using the other foot to move objects to a new pile.  Perform 2-3 sets of 10 with each foot.  Compete with your spouse or if you have older children challenge them to see who can move 10 in the fastest time!

4) One foot Hops with twist – strengthens the muscles and tendons of lower leg improving balance and co-ordination.  Put your hands on your hips, lift one leg and use the grounded leg to start hopping with each hop keep head and shoulders facing forward. Point grounded foot left, front and right, front left forward etc.  Torso stays straight ahead.  Start with 15 – 20 hops and work up to 25-50

5) Balance – on stable even ground, balance on one foot with your eyes & hold this position for 1 min.  When this becomes easy try it with your eyes closed.  To progress further, move to an unstable base like a mini trampoline, foam block, wobble board, or dyna disc – you can even roll up an old phone book, or large towel to balance on too.

6) Toe Tug – loop one end of a Dyna Band around a sturdy post or table leg, sit with your legs straight in front of you and loop the other end of the band around the top of one foot.  The band should be anchored straight in front of you and should be taught when foot is pointed away from you, pull toes towards you keeping leg straight – go as far as your ankle will let you & release slowly returning to the starting position.  Perform 2 sets of 20 on each leg.

7) Bent knee wall stretch – runners often forget to stretch the Soleus, a muscle deep in the calf that attaches to the Achilles.  A calf stretch with a straight leg hits the gastrocnemius (big muscle in upper calf) but when you run that is only half the battle.  To target the Soleus, place your palms against a wall one leg forward one leg back, lower into a seated position and lean forward into wall until you feel a stretch in the back of your calf, hold the stretch for 30-45 seconds and then switch legs.

8)Negative calf raises – stand on a step with your toes on edge and heels hanging off.  Push up with both feet into a calf raise, lift one leg off the step and lower the leg so heel drops below the step, take 10 secs to lower all way down.  This exercise needs to be done with precision and care and helps prevent Achilles tendonitis.

9) Plantar Stretch – sit down bare foot and cross your right leg so your ankle rests on right thigh, hold your toes and pull them back towards your shin stretching the plantar fascia. Studies show that people suffering from Plantar Fasciatis have 77% chance of returning to full activity in 3-6 months after performing this stretch.  Do this 10 times 3 times per day.