The Big Toe is a Big Deal
The average American takes between 3,000 and 5,000 steps per day. Every time you take a step, your body pushes off of the ground—and the ground is pushing back.
It takes about 200 muscles to take a step, and one under-appreciated body part plays a big role in using those muscles properly, as well as the joints and bones throughout the lower body: the big toe.
Not using your big toe properly can lead your body to compensate in all kinds of ways further up the chain, leading to ankle injuries, knee and hip pain, and other signals that your body isn’t moving optimally. While supportive footwear helps prevent pain and injury during exercise, our bodies come to rely on shoes as a brace for the foot. Over time, the big toe’s natural sensory abilities weaken.
Add balance activities that target your foot stability to your workout routine to gain back some of the big toe’s balancing properties. With stronger big toes, you may notice less fatigue and pain after walking and other exercise.
Toe Stability Exercises
Lift your ankle as high as you can with a motion that is the opposite of pressing the gas pedal (dorsiflexion).
Lay down your big toe, starting with the “big knuckle” (the metatarsal head).
Continue to lay the toe flat.
For the exercise below, stand on top of a resistance band, pushing against the band with your big toe to lower your foot.
