Right now with restrictions enforced that limits how far we can travel and how long we can exercise we’ve found that many people are not moving their body and feet as much as before. 
Not being mobile and having muscles and tissues underused reduces the strength and capacity for those tissues to bear load. For most people, strength loss occurs after two to three weeks of inactivity.
For this reason, it’s important to stay active. If you can’t, here are some simple exercises that you can easily do at home to improve and/or retain your foot strength and mobility.
We have handpicked 2 foot exercises that are easy and fun to do.
Fun because you can turn these exercises into a competitive game to see who can be the first to finish.
Easy because they can be done while you’re sitting watching TV, reading a book or doing work at your computer. So really there’s no excuse!!
FOOT STRENGTHENING EXERCISE 1: MOVING MARBLES
The first exercise promotes strength but also dexterity, coordination, and mobility.
- Lay out about 20 small objects on the ground. Things like marbles, Legos, or stones work really well.
- Put a plastic cup (probably best not to choose a glass cup!) next to your pile of small objects.
- The objective is to pick up the items with your toes and place them in the cup.
- Once you get all of them in the cup, dump it out and repeat this “game” once or twice.
If you find yourself struggling, you know it’s something to work on.
FOOT STRENGTHENING EXERCISE 1: PULLING A WEIGHTED TOWEL
This exercise is slightly more difficult as you’ll be relying more on the strength of your arch and the musculature on the underside of your foot. 
- Lay a small hand towel on the floor in front of a chair.
- Put a weighted object (like a thick hardcover book) on top of the towel on one end.
- The objective is to put your foot on the end of the towel without the weight and drag the book toward you.
- Curl your toes and scrunch up the towel to gradually pull the book toward you.
- Once the weighted towel has been entirely scrunched up toward you, reset things and start again.
- You can do 2-5 repetitions based on your strength.
To benefit from these exercises, try to do them every 2nd day to avoid overdoing it as your foot muscles are small and can fatigue easily. Doing these exercises each day will keep your feet fit and strong for when you need them again for that extra long walk or run that you plan on doing when your movement restrictions are over.
Let us know how you go in the comments below!
