Strength

Did you know that the health of your feet directly impacts your ankles, knees, hips—and even your brain? It’s true. Most of us don’t think about our feet unless they hurt, but they’re the foundation of everything we do.

Let’s Start with a Quick Reality Check:

Take your shoes off and just look at your feet.

• Are your toes squeezed together or spaced out?
• Do they point straight forward or angle inward?
• Does the shape of your foot match the shape of your shoe?
  

If the answer is no, don’t worry—you’re not alone. Most modern shoes squeeze the toes, weaken foot muscles, and dull the foot’s natural ability to feel and respond to the ground.

This can lead to a cascade of issues: plantar fasciitis, hamstring problems, nerve irritation, overpronation, sciatica, labral tears, and even instability and poor balance.

Strong Feet = A Healthier Brain and Body

Daily walking is one of the simplest, most effective ways to improve your health and extend your health span—your ability to do what you want, when you want, without your body holding you back.

Here’s what the research says:

• 3,800 steps/day: linked to a 25% lower risk of dementia
• 9,800 steps/day: cuts dementia risk by 50% (Harvard, JAMA)
• 10,700 steps/day: reduces risk of type 2 diabetes by 44% (Healthline)
• 6,000–9,000 steps/day: lowers cardiovascular disease risk by up to 50% (AHA)

Pain and stiffness can make us walk less, which directly reduces our longevity and vitality. That’s why muscle maintenance and joint mobility—including in your feet—are so critical.

Want Healthier Feet? Start Here.

Try this mini foot mobility check-in:

• Keeping the ball of the foot down, lift just the big toe.
• Then try lifting all the toes.
• Now try spreading them apart.

How did it go?

Many of us are shocked to discover we’ve lost basic control of our toes. When I tried this, my right big toe couldn’t lift independently—on the same side where I’ve had hamstring issues. Related? Maybe.

How to Strengthen Your Feet

Start with less shoe time. Let your feet feel the ground. Try walking barefoot in your yard, on the beach, or doing yoga without socks. Choose shoes with:

• Minimal cushion
• Wide toe boxes
• Flexible soles (brands like Vivobarefoot are a great place to start)

Note: If you’re switching to barefoot-style shoes, go slowly! Begin with just ½ to 1 mile and build up gradually to avoid injury.

Easy Toe Strengthening Exercises:

• Four-Toe Pulldown: Place a thick resistance band under the ball of the foot and pull down with the four smaller toes. Repeat 8 times x 4 sets.
• Big Toe Pulldown: Same motion, isolating just the big toe.
• Pinkie Toe Pulldown: Bonus round!

Support Your Mobility Practice

Tight calves, stiff hips, and cranky joints limit your movement and your foot’s ability to function. Complement your footwork with:

• Yoga Restore + Foam Roller Classes
  Browse our on-demand library for hundreds of classes that support joint mobility, fascia health, and nervous system recovery.

Special offer:
Rent the class “Yoga Restore and Foam Roller: Lower Body” for $0 until June 15.
Use promo code: HAPPYFEET5 (Regular rental cost: $20)

• Running Goals?
  Work with Coach Burkart at Brave Chicken Running.
  Mention Flostate Yoga and Fitness for 20% off your first package!

Ready to Move Better, Live Better?

You’re always welcome at Flostate. Join our online and in-person community with flexible options:

• Try before you commit with a 14-day free trial
• Don’t want to add a credit card? Try one full day of unlimited class access and try as many workouts as you want.
• Restore, Strength, Flow, and more. 

Strength training benefits go beyond the mirror muscles and how we look. Building strength increases our mental acuity, helps to balance our emotions and mental state, promotes healthier food choices, acts as a natural pain reliever, and builds resilience and overall confidence. 

Strength Training Improves Mental Acuity: Want to think better? Move more. 

There is a misconception that we don’t have time to exercise and in the process, our productivity and ability to accomplish tasks and “find our flow” diminishes. 

Fact: When we exercise, BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor) increases leading to improvement in mental processing, creativity and productivity. This means that you will get more done in less time, with more creativity, and feel better about the work that you accomplished. 

This can feel like an impossible task and a tough corner to turn especially when feeling stressed and overwhelmed. But if you take the plunge and do it, you will feel the shift in your mind and body. Perhaps there is an unhealthy habit you can stop doing to free up some time for exercise. Binge watching Netflix perhaps?

Strength Training and Exercise Helps to Balance Emotions and Mental State: Move more, feel better. 

Did you know that exercise had been proven to be equally as effective as antidepressants? We are not saying that you should drop your meds and rely solely on exercise, but imagine how amazing you will feel if you really devoted some time to working out?

Feeling overwhelmed, stressed, anxious or depressed? Get in a solid sweaty workout that challenges you physically and you will feel the weight of the world lighten a bit. The impossible becomes possible and we feel more in control of our lives again. It’s pretty powerful stuff.

Working Out Improves Food Choices: Want to eat better? Start working out.

When we feel better we naturally want to eat better too. After a solid workout, your body and mind are more centered. When we are less stressed and reactive we are less vulnerable to making poor food choices. You are more likely to make a healthier food choice. For instance, a protein and antioxidant rich fresh smoothie sounds more appetizing than a donut after a good sweat session. 

Exercise Acts as a Natural Painkiller: Skip the Advil – workout instead!

We often associate muscle soreness and pain with exercise  – and it’s true that we can feel “sore” after a good workout. But, the natural painkiller I’m talking about is more systemic. Workouts boost your endorphins, causing your entire body to feel less pain and prompts overall feelings of wellbeing. News flash: Sitting around actually makes us hurt. And the more we sit, the more we hurt. The more we hurt, the less likely we are to exercise. So stop sitting around! Get up and move. A general rule of thumb is to never let more than 72 hours pass between workouts. After 72 hours we more easily fall off track and “forget” how good exercise feels.

Workout Habits Build Resilience and Confidence: I move because I can. I can because I move.

Movement and exercise – especially when we push ourselves to do hard things – builds mental resilience and confidence. Studies support that regular exercises are more resilient to acute stress and handle it with a more positive attitude. It is the more positive/less negative response to the stressor that helps protect us from chronic disease. Think diabetes, obesity, depression, heart disease. Our response to stress and life in general is what forms our lifestyle and habits. Our lifestyle and habits put us on a path to chronic disease or to a more vibrant disease free life. Exercise increases our resilience to these stressful events that could otherwise take us off course. Consistent exercise habits keep us physically and mentally stronger. 

In summary, we were designed to move, to expend calories, to do hard things. So let’s do them and get on track or stay on track to the good life of vibrancy and possibility. Think about your lifestyle and habits. Where does healthy eating and exercise land on your priority list? If it’s not in your top 5, it’s time to rearrange your priorities. Think of strength training and exercise as the firm foundation of your mental and physical wellbeing. With a strong foundation under your feet, you can stretch to higher targets, maintain your health and be a positive influence to those around you. So, pick up those weights and let’s get moving.