From being stuffed into cramped shoes or walking on scolding sandy beaches the life of a foot is not that glamourous. Some people despise them but, crudely put, we wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if it wasn’t for our feet.

On closer inspection, feet are actually marvellous feats of engineering. With 26 intricate bones in a single foot, they are our contact with the ground that readily transmit the forces from our activities through the lower limb. As well as muscles, tendons, and ligaments which run along the surfaces of the feet, allowing the complex movements needed for motion and balance.

I wanted to talk about something called the “windlass mechanism” which serves to support the medial and lateral longitudinal arch creating stability and control to provide a stable base for whole body movement. This helps absorb and release strain on the body from running and jumping type activities which can place up to 8x our body weight in pressure every step!

Plantarfascitis, a commonly diagnosed foot condition is often a result of a poor functioning windlass mechanism and intrinsic muscles on the bottom of our feet. Some common causes include poor biomechanics and exercise overload. A very important part of this mechanism is the use of the big toe, which should take up to 60% of your body weight during walking. As everything in the body is connected, it is not possible to separate out individual joints as culprits for injury, so if you are having issues with you knees, hips or lower back, part of the issue may be coming from how your feet contact the ground.

In order to get this balance right, it is important to get a health professional to take a look to guide you in the right direction to get your movement back! One nice and easy way to get those muscles working and relieve some pain is by taking your shoes off and walking barefoot on the grass. This direct contact increases your bodies awareness of those little but vital muscles in your feet so kick off your shoes and get outside to feel the benefits!