Quick Fit with Cassy

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Welcome back to all my Quick Fit friends. If you regularly run, chances are you've experienced shin splints or foot pain at some point. I get asked about exercises that can be done to relieve these issues quite a bit at my fitness center. Today's routine will not only stretch out the tight spots, it will strengthen your feet and legs to give you a more powerful stride. So even if you don't run, you will still want to do this exercise because foot pain is kind of common whether you're a runner or not. Definitely take your shoes off. If you aren't used to exercising your feet, you may not want to do all of the repetitions that we do. Go very light and gentle to allow your muscles to become better conditioned. Let's start with your feet about shoulder width apart, and you're going to push the ball of your foot and your toes into the floor, using the strength of your foot to move you, okay? One side for a few.

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Start your deep breathing and then do the other leg. Remember, we're using the strength of the foot to move you. I'm not leaning over, lift, all right? Adjust the toes. That means you're pushing the ball of your foot, the big pad under your big toe. You're pushing that into the floor and just lifting the toes. That's a new one. That's really great for the arch, people with plantar fasciitis, this is a great move for you. All right, tight toes are notorious. I see it so much. Our feet are in shoes all the time and they don't get the ability to be free and stretch. So go at these pretty gently, but work at them because when your feet are tight, it makes the rest of you very weak. And if you're getting a charley horse, just go even more gentle, don't put any force down through the muscles. Imagine that you're just opening and closing your hand as if there was a butterfly in it. Okay, not trying to crack a peanut, okay? All right, let's do the first foot again. We're on the top of your foot and toes and we're going to shift our heels. You know, you can do this seated as well. I do it quite a bit in my studio with my class members. I have them sit sideways in the chair, shift the heel left and right. Let's do the other side, shifting the heel, trying to work all those toes, all right. Now, you can use the chair for this. We're going to lift up, two heels. Sometimes I've had people need to actually bend the knees a little bit so they can really get the heel up, getting more bend through the toes. All right, now knees forward, lift the heels, straighten, and down. Sit down, lift up and down. You might need to do one heel and then the other, up and down, you'll feel way more powerful. Your stride will improve. You'll kind of bounce up the stairs when your feet are strong. All right, shake that off a little bit. And we'll just do some fasts again. Lift, lift, lift, my hand is just for balance, I'm not pushing. You need to because your feet are weak, well, then that's a great starting point. Now let's do a couple slow downs. Come up and then control the down, gripping with your toes. It might take many months before you can really feel the strength return to your toes, but that's okay. A few months is gonna come one way or the other. Let's let it come with you stronger. So be encouraged when you find a weakness, because then you're aware of it and you can work on it. Good, and reverse. We don't think much about our feet and ankles, but they have the heavy work to do all day long. And now let's just try to do like a wiper with just the ankle. This one is kind of hard. You can also do it seated and use your hands to move it, to move the foot in that funny way. Let's do a circle with the other ankle. Go as slow as you need to to get as large of a movement as possible, don't rush. Don't let me rush you. All right, and let's try to do that wiper with the ankle. I think you'll find one side is much harder than the other. All right, let's do a long point all the way through the leg, right down to the toes.

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Lengthen, enjoy that stretch through your shin and the top of the foot. Now fast as if you're ringing a bell, needs a little bit of power and a snap, okay? Do each one quickly. And then as you get more control, then you can do quick ones, many, many, many at a time, but don't try to do it fast and sloppy. I'd rather you did each one quality, quick, quick, quick. All right, now we're going to pull, all right? Pull and hold.

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This hip's getting a little bit of a workout. Now let's try to pull fast with some power, pull, pull, pull, pull. Now I know it looks like I'm pointing, but I'm thinking about the pull, fast, each one fast with power. And then when you get more control, you can try to do many fast with power in a row. All right, other side, a long, slow lengthening all the way down through your toes.

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Good. And now fast, aggressive points. Remember to stand tall, pull your stomach in,

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allow your balance stabilizers to do their work, point, point, point. And now a long pull, feeling the stretch down the back of your calf and your heel,

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your quad's getting a workout. This hip's getting a workout. Pull, stand tall, stomach's pulled in and held, pulling quickly.

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All right, now let's use the back of the chair leg. This is a pretty great use of the chair. I want to stretch your calves. So get the front of your foot there and then press the heel, okay, lift

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and press.

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And then as you get lower, it'll become more and more of a stretch press. If your chair leg is very straight up, then just do your best. Inhale,

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exhale, press it down,

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press, one more and press. Let's do the other side, press it down. Take your time.

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Do what you gotta do with this standing leg to allow you the space to do this. Run through it one more time. And down, and down. Let's take your back leg behind you, press the heel down, and then allow for a little bend through the knee. Your forward foot is pretty far forward, okay? Straighten and bend, straighten and bend. Let's do the other side, reach it back, straighten and bend, straighten and bend. Let's go down to the floor next. So get on down to the floor. You've got your toes under you, all right? And we'll just sit back. If you start to get a charley horse, take the pressure off.

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And down, and up and down, you can have some of the pressure on your hands and then flatten the feet. Sitting back a little further, working those shins, shifting. These are some of the very best exercises for stretching the shins. The shins and the feet are all connected. All right, and then sit up and pull one knee, really getting into the top of that foot and toes, and then the other.

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All right. If you regularly run or experience pain in your feet or legs, repeat these moves gently but regularly to see improvements. Pbswisconsin.org/quickfit is the place to find great routines like these and more. See you next time in class.