Last Friday I gave you a list of ideas for a nice foot massage. Now that you have pampered your feet, let’s give them a little workout.
The towel scrunch is a classic exercise for strengthening the muscles on the bottom of your feet.
- Sit in a stable chair on an uncarpeted floor.
- Place a hand towel on the floor in front of you with one edge under heel of your foot.
- Keeping your heel on the floor and your foot flat, grab the towel with your toes and pull it toward you, bunching it up under your feet. Try to use an equal amount of pressure with each of your five toes.
- When you have gathered the towel under your feet, reverse your scrunching motion and push the towel away from you.
- Repeat 3-5 times on each foot.
Optionally, you can add a weight (a good-sized book or similar object) to end of towel to increase the resistance. If you do this variation, don’t try to push the weight away from you – just do the pulling part of the exercise.
Today’s Sources
I first learned this exercise from a physical therapist years ago and have learned variations on it in massage continuing education classes. Here are a few online sources offering slightly different approaches:
- Toe, Foot, and Ankle Injuries, BCHealthGuide
- Foot Exercises, Aravon Shoes
- Walk Yourself Well (p. 125), Sherry Brourman
- Ankle Strengthening Program (PDF), California State University – Chico, Athletic Training Department
About the Author
Larry Swanson is a massage therapist in downtown Seattle, WA. His practices focuses on the unique needs of office workers and also includes injury treatment for sports and car-accident injuries as well as massage for wellness and athletic performance.