ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I just found this article on making sandals from old motor vehicle tyres. I'll have a go next time I see a tyre dumped at the side of the road.
Exercises for flat feet
- Thread starter ASC1951
- Start date
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Fiona N
Veteran
That's why Vibram FFs or equivalents are so good - stop you making holes in your feet while forcing you to place your feet with care. They're great on boggy ground too - one of the last runs I did (before unrelated knee injuries caused a halt) was on Black Combe above the west Cumbrian coast. The descent is stony at the top but then crosses a series of flattish boggy sections - it's like running across a mattress and the water cools the feet nicely
Paul_iow
New Member
- Location
- Sunny Isle of Wight
Firstly are you currently having any problems/pain with your feet? Why are you going to see someone about them? If you dont have any pain or problems I would leave them be. Secondly, some people are naturally flat footed. We all come in many shapes and sizes and some have flat feet where as some have highly arched feet, there is no problem with either. For a long time people have considered flat feet as "bad".
When it comes to exercises there are very few, if any, that will help with developing an arch. It mainly depends on why you have flat feet, were you born like it or have they developed over time/through injury etc?
When it comes to exercises there are very few, if any, that will help with developing an arch. It mainly depends on why you have flat feet, were you born like it or have they developed over time/through injury etc?
Yellow Fang
Legendary Member
- Location
- Reading
My jingas have arrived 
They feel rather like ten pin bowling shoes and are very flexible. I'm eager to try running in them but I'm taking the month off to try and get shot of a recurring calf strain.
They feel rather like ten pin bowling shoes and are very flexible. I'm eager to try running in them but I'm taking the month off to try and get shot of a recurring calf strain.
Rob3rt
Man or Moose!
- Location
- Manchester
Nice, write back when your start running in them and let me know what they are like!
Im waiting for the review of the VFF Bikila to come out this week (http://blog.fitnessf...s-2011-reviews/) to see if its worth the extra pennies over the KSO then I'll be dropping an order on a pair. Also going to go down sweatshop and try running in some race shoes possibly tomorrow and see if they will suit me, if they do, I'll be buying whatever is the best compomise between fit and minimalism/weight and starting to do a tempo run each week wearing them to break them in and then run the parkrun 5km all out and see how they come out vs my Brooks training shoes which feel pretty big and clumsy since they have lots of support for over-pronation.
I have tried running in plimsoles before, they feel pretty good for short distance but are prone to blisters, and they start to fall apart after about 20 miles.
Im waiting for the review of the VFF Bikila to come out this week (http://blog.fitnessf...s-2011-reviews/) to see if its worth the extra pennies over the KSO then I'll be dropping an order on a pair. Also going to go down sweatshop and try running in some race shoes possibly tomorrow and see if they will suit me, if they do, I'll be buying whatever is the best compomise between fit and minimalism/weight and starting to do a tempo run each week wearing them to break them in and then run the parkrun 5km all out and see how they come out vs my Brooks training shoes which feel pretty big and clumsy since they have lots of support for over-pronation.
I have tried running in plimsoles before, they feel pretty good for short distance but are prone to blisters, and they start to fall apart after about 20 miles.
As a child and adult both my feet always had a normal arch. I do, though, have one leg slightly longer than the other and over the last four or five years that has distorted my posture and put more weight onto the shorter leg; that ankle now sags inwards and that foot has lost the arch.
I do get knee and toe pain now as well as a bunion on the foot on the shorter leg. It could be arthritis - I'm 60 - but I thought I would check first whether it was a biomechanical problem i.e. treatable rather than degenerative. I do about 500 miles a year road running but my main exercise is cycling.
Developed over time, I reckon, with some help from excess weight. The right foot has a fairly normal arch, although flatter than ten years ago.
Yellow Fang
Legendary Member
- Location
- Reading
I've had my jingas for a while, but I haven't run in them much. The first time I ran several miles on a treadmill and got blisters. I also felt something in my achilles. I've used them once or twice for circuits, and they're ok for that. I thought I'd run for a while in my normal trainers for a while until my soles toughened up a bit, but then I hurt my achilles tendon and wasn't able to train for over a month. I don't think the jingas help much with achilles tendonitis, as the websites recommend putting a heel insert into your trainers. I expect this goes for most barefoot trainers.
Chutzpah
Über Member
- Location
- Somerset, UK
My flat feet were picked up by my GP when I was about 13. I went off to see a chiropodist who proudly proclaimed that I have the flattest feet she'd ever seen. And they are literally flat - no arch whatsoever, my ankle literally rolls onto the floor.
I was told that I must have been born that way, and therefore no exercise would improve it. At that time I was having problems with my feet, so I got insoles moulded for my feet (god bless the NHS).
However, I simply don't need them any more and make do without them. No idea why, because my feet are as flat as you like still (yes, I'm sad enough to whip them out every now and then to 'impress' people..... it also helps whenever I'm confronted every now and then with one of those stupid "tell everyone a fact about yourself" icebreakers)
I was told that I must have been born that way, and therefore no exercise would improve it. At that time I was having problems with my feet, so I got insoles moulded for my feet (god bless the NHS).
However, I simply don't need them any more and make do without them. No idea why, because my feet are as flat as you like still (yes, I'm sad enough to whip them out every now and then to 'impress' people..... it also helps whenever I'm confronted every now and then with one of those stupid "tell everyone a fact about yourself" icebreakers)
I was first diagnosed with flat feet at the age of six.
Recommended exercises were running/walking on tip toe, skipping and cycling.
I got bought my first bike as part of the treatment.
During my 20s and in the Army, I was prescribed orthopedic insoles.
But didn't feel I needed them so never wore them.
In my mid 40s, I began to get arthritic hip+knee problems.
Rheumatology did X-rays and found uneven wear in joints due to uncorrected flat feet.
Referred to Podiatry for orthopedic insoles.
Now in my mid 60s, I still get Podiatry appointments to update my insoles.
Mike
Recommended exercises were running/walking on tip toe, skipping and cycling.
I got bought my first bike as part of the treatment.
During my 20s and in the Army, I was prescribed orthopedic insoles.
But didn't feel I needed them so never wore them.
In my mid 40s, I began to get arthritic hip+knee problems.
Rheumatology did X-rays and found uneven wear in joints due to uncorrected flat feet.
Referred to Podiatry for orthopedic insoles.
Now in my mid 60s, I still get Podiatry appointments to update my insoles.
Mike
RedBike
New Member
- Location
- Beside the road
I've been seeing a podiatrist regularly for the last few months. I've become flat footed because of a fractured ankle. The muscles in the ankle are no longer strong enough to support the foot so I've started rolling the foott inwards collapsing the arch.
None of the exercises i've been given to correct this problem focus on the 'foot'. They all focus on strengthing the muscles within the leg? Nobody has ever mentioned picking up pencils with my toes.
I've been told that cycling and swimming are both good exercises to strengthen the appropriate muscles but to avoid running or walking on hard surfaces whenever possible? This advice seemingly goes completly against running bare-foot / with Vibram Five Fingers?
None of the exercises i've been given to correct this problem focus on the 'foot'. They all focus on strengthing the muscles within the leg? Nobody has ever mentioned picking up pencils with my toes.
I've been told that cycling and swimming are both good exercises to strengthen the appropriate muscles but to avoid running or walking on hard surfaces whenever possible? This advice seemingly goes completly against running bare-foot / with Vibram Five Fingers?
Yellow Fang
Legendary Member
- Location
- Reading
I thought you couldn't get in the army with flat feet. I thought you had to be physically nigh on perfect to get into the army, and used to reject you for quite trivial sounding conditions. I've often wondered why the army didn't like flat feet, as mine are quite flat, and I've run plenty of half marathons, marathons and long trail races. However, I did get a lot of knee injuries, so may be that's part of it.
I'm not sure professional injury treatment specialists such as physiotherapists and podiatrists actually approve of barefoot running. Whenever I look up a web site, they always seem to recommend using orthotics or motion control trainers. May be that's the way they've been trained. I liken it to short-sightedness. Nobody in hunter-gather societies is short-sighted, but put the next generation in a school room and half of them will be. I suspect a lot of foot problems have a lot to do with modern living and footware.
NorthernSky
Guru
i've recently been having problems with my right foot. pain in my heel and arch.
comes to light i may have flat feet, or at least lower than normal arches
seeing a physio at the moment but it's early days. may need an orthtic
cycling isn't really my problem at the moment. it's standing for long periods and walking for longer periods
might start the pencil lifting exercise see if it helps
comes to light i may have flat feet, or at least lower than normal arches
seeing a physio at the moment but it's early days. may need an orthtic
cycling isn't really my problem at the moment. it's standing for long periods and walking for longer periods
might start the pencil lifting exercise see if it helps
