When you hit the gym or go for a run, you probably don't requite your feet much thought, aside from making sure your shoelaces are securely tied. Affair is, your anxiety take a existent beating. "Most active people take eight,000 to x,000 steps a day, so even without working out, your feet exercise a lot of piece of work every solar day," says podiatrist Paul Langer, D.P.M., president of the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine. And so how can you prevent mutual pes injuries from overuse such every bit plantar fascitis (an injury to the sole of the foot), tendonitis (tendon inflammation, usually of the Achilles tendon), metatarsalgia (pain in the metatarsals at the brawl of the human foot), and stress fractures (breaks to the bone caused from repetitive pounding)? Here's how.

Don't Skip Your Warm-up
"Immediate foot injuries tin can be prevented or decreased by a proper warm-upwardly," says podiatrist L. Kelsey Armstrong, D.P.K., who's also an NSCA-certified strength and conditioning specialist. "A warm-upward should consist of general exercises and progress to specific exercises for the activity." For example, he suggests a lawn tennis player get-go with a jog and arm swings and then progress to forwards lunges and lateral lunges, side shuffles, and short sprints—forward, backward, lateral.

MORE: What Happens to Your Body When You Wear Heels

More From Women'southward Health

preview for Women's Health US Section - All Sections & Videos

Build Your Muscles
Strong feet brainstorm with a strong y'all, says Armstrong. "I believe in strengthening muscles to allow the unabridged body to withstand the stress of exercise," he says. "The exercises I usually prescribe are based on the premise that the entire lower extremity, not but the pes, is involved in whatever activity." In item, he cites the squat, which works the gluteal muscles and hip flexors, and the deadlift, which strengthens all the muscles in the back of the leg, including the lower ball of the foot.

For foot-specific piece of work, both Armstrong and Langer recommend the Janda "brusk foot" exercise, in which you activate the muscles in the human foot's arch to pull the large toe joint in toward the heel without curling the toes. "I typically recommend doing one rep, holding it for two to four seconds then repeating it x times once a twenty-four hours," says Langer. Heel drops (in which you stand on a small ledge and lower the heels downward, then press back to level), and toe raises (in which you push upwards onto the balls of the feet, Barbie-manner, and slowly lower down) increase strength and flexibility of the calf muscles and Achilles tendon, which control and support the feet—practise iii sets of 15 reps of each exercise daily. Finally, a great motion for both foot and talocrural joint stability is to stand barefoot on ane foot for lx seconds at a fourth dimension, working up to three to four minutes.

More than: Are You Damaging Your Feet?

Give 'Em a Good Stretch
Foot flexibility is simply as important as strength. And the cool part is that a number of the stretches feel like a massage. Plantar fascia stretching, done seated in a chair, involves grasping the toes in one hand and pulling them up and dorsum until a stretch is felt in the arch and/or heel. Hold it for 10 seconds and repeat x times. Another good way to ease tootsie tension: "Rolling a golf/tennis ball on the bottom of the anxiety daily helps stretch out the minor muscles of the anxiety, along with the plantar fascia," says Armstrong.

Change It Up
What you wear on your anxiety is also relevant for good foot health. "In an athletic shoe, y'all are looking for one with a stiff heel counter—with a wide base for activities that have lateral motion—and a stiff midsole that resists torsion and flexion," says Armstrong. In other words, the shoe shouldn't hands fold in one-half toe to heel or twist side to side. Langer likewise suggests adding some options to your sneaker inventory (hi, excuse to go shopping!) and to your workouts (find fun options here). "If you lot wear the aforementioned shoes, insoles, or do the aforementioned activities mean solar day after twenty-four hours, you lot are at increased risk for overuse injuries due to repetition," he says. Having a diverseness of comfortable footwear and doing a variety of fitness activities are important." Finally, information technology kind of goes without proverb: Lay off the high heels when you tin can, especially if your dogs are barkin' from a long run or strenuous boot camp session. (You need to do more than shopping for a spare pair of flats to go on in your purse? Done.)

More than: The 7 All-time Exercises for Women Who Vesture Heels

—

Amy Roberts is a certified personal trainer.