If you think about it, your feet take a lot of beating, from pounding the ground when running, to walking all over the city, to wearing high heels. They carry the weight of our entire bodies, so take time to give them some TLC. This stretch will target the muscle in the soles of your feet, but will also stretch your calves.
If you are a runner, I'm sure your feet could use a little TLC. I like to stretch my feet with this stretch intimidatingly called the Toe Breaker because it can feel really intense on your toes. Pain and discomfort aside, this is an awesome stretch for the muscles in the soles of your feet.
Runners, walkers, bikers, and hikers rely heavily on their feet. Feet allow us to do the things we love, but all that stepping, jumping, and pounding can cause damage to the plantar fascia. It's a thick band of tissue that covers and protects the bones on the bottom of your feet.
Running can take its toll on your knees and having tight muscles and soft tissue around the very important knee joint can increase the toll we runners pay. That is why stretching is so very important.
This stretch targets the iliotibial band (ITB), the thick band of fascia that runs down the outside of the thigh, and it is important because when the ITB gets tight it can pull the knee cap out of alignment causing all sorts of pain.
According to the website Cool Running your feet pound the ground some 800 times when running just a mile. That's a lot of pounding!!! So you want to be sure to take care of your feet, especially if you are new to running.
For all you runners and bikers with tight hamstrings, this is the pose for you. It's one of my favorite stretches to target the backs of the legs, but it'll also give you a nice stretch on the sides of your body, as well as your chest and shoulders.
Sanskrit Name: Parsvottanasana
English Translation: Intense Side Stretch Pose
Also Called: Scissor
To learn how to do this pose read more
Tabletop may look easy (shown in the photo on the left), but once you hold it for a while, you'll feel your thighs, booty, and triceps burning. It's also a great exercise that will open your shoulders and chest. Here's a variation that will strengthen your core and increase flexibility in your lower back and hamstrings.
Hey Fit,
I've been having issues with my sciatic nerve lately, I was wondering if you could post some stretches and/or yoga poses that would help with sciatica? Thanks!
— Hitting a Nerve
I feel your pain.
It is more than just your time at the gym that makes you healthy; it is the simple everyday acts that take mere seconds to complete that add up to healthy lifestyle. I believe in starting at the bottom and working my way up, and that means taking care of my feet and toes. If your shoes pinch your toes, like many fashionable pointy toed shoes do, the blood supply to your toes is compromised.
We all know that high heeled shoes are pretty, and pretty bad for your body. Yet, we all end up wearing them sometime or another - a big meeting, a wedding, or almost everyday.
Basically the height of the heel pushes the weight of the body forward which interferes with your balance.