how far can foot flexibility be taken?

[hanuman]

Hi kit

I saw the video u posted regarding flat feet and it got me wondering how far can u take it? As a child I often walked barefoot so I have a fairly large degree of spread between my toes and found the interlocking of fingers and toes no challenge. Still I can only move my little and big toes independent of the remaining three so more practice I guess and I am very inflexible and pronates. I am a climber and my preference is for climbing barefoot so I wanna know I guess what can the feet do? What are they capable of in terms of dexterity? If u could point me in the right direction I would be very grateful. I mean yes it's fun to pick up and throw tennis balls and keys with ur feet but how else could they be used? Could they be used to grip properly?

Note: I'm not expecting to start typing on the key board with my toes lol I don't live completely in fantasy land:-)

Edit check this this guys feet out crazy flexibility

[Kit_L]

I think his foot flexibility is great, as is his control, and it reminds me of a guy I knew who had been born without arms—he was a videotape operator, could type AND play the piano, which answers one of your questions.

Re. the pronation: you will need to concentrate on the strengthening exercises recommended in the anti-pronation thread (it's a sticky; easy to find).

[hanuman]

Thanks for ur reply that's what I've been doing and so far things seem good

[hanuman]

Yes its interesting because playing the piano would imply independant control of the toes which i didnt know was possible as i think one muscle controls flexing of all the four small toes although for the little toe i believe the

Muscle that controls lateral motion is independant and hence i can wiggle it independently side to side

If anyone on this forum has any information sources studys or anecdotal evidence i would be very interested thank u

[Edwin S.]

Going to the other end of the spectrum (at least in as far as toe dorsiflexion is concerned): due to the multitude opportunities offered by working with my overly stiff and assymetrical body I have normally been able to or needed to find an adaptation to or modified version of Stretch Therapy exercises, which I then was successfully able to perform. One exception however applies to Excercise 67 in pdf version Stretching and Flexibility 2nd Edition and as shown in youtube Foot Sequence 2012. In my case, the ball of my size 13 2E feet starts to come off the ground when my knee is still 40 cm off the ground (in other words the toe dorsiflexion only seem to go to 40°).  My foot seems more hoof than it does a Kit Laughlin-like foot (Such are the body benefits of playing Australian Rules football as a mini-ruckman for fifteen years).

Obviously my toes need greatly need improvement here, yet how might I get started? Every modification I have tried so far involves knee strain or stretching the mid foot instead of the toes. Just pushing the toes against the wall while standing stretches them, but I haven't found a way to work a C-R into that stretch.  

[Nathan]

9 hours ago, filosofo said:

Just pushing the toes against the wall while standing stretches them, but I haven't found a way to work a C-R into that stretch.

As I'm sure you know, C-R stands for contract-relax. Contracting should be possible in any position, including the one you describe. Simply contract by actively pushing the toes against the wall (think through the wall), and then relax (let the wall hold them where they are) and attempt to close the angle a tiny bit more. Don't worry about whether the angle actually changes. Focus on sensation instead. Does it feel like you've gone deeper into the stretch? If so, then you're doing something right, regardless of what your eyes may perceive 

[Pat (pogo69)]

On 22/08/2013 at 5:14 PM, Kit_L said:

...it reminds me of a guy I knew who had been born without arms—he was a videotape operator, could type AND play the piano...

There are a number of videos on Youtube of armless guitarists, playing with their feet.

It makes my excuses about having to "make do" with small hands, seem pretty feeble.

[Edwin S.]

Greetings Nathan.

For some reason I was initially thinking of the substitute exercise itself as a "toe pushing" exercise, whereas as you have already and correctly assumed the push of course should always come from the foot itself.

Instead of working against the wall I put myself in a position resembling a wall-supported bent-knee soleus stretch, however working the ball of the foot and dorsiflexing the toes (relieving the stress on the knee, my right knee having developed an electric shock sensitivity over years, which is one of the key motivators for me using SR to fix the ankles and hips).

Doing, as you indicate above, a toe push against the floor as the contract element in C-R followed by the R phase easily allowed a noticeable further extension of the toes following that. The difference is slightly visible and definitely perceivable in the toes (which have rarely been worked into a stretch, if ever). Great stuff, with no knee strain.

Now I'll work at this twice a week and perhaps in six months these toes will be able to reach 90°. Thanks Nathan.

 

 

[Nathan]

6 hours ago, filosofo said:

The difference is slightly visible and definitely perceivable in the toes (which have rarely been worked into a stretch, if ever). Great stuff, with no knee strain.

Excellent! That's great to hear, and you're very welcome. Be sure to let us know how it goes after a few weeks/months 

[Kit_L]

And that same exercise (toe extension) in the foot sequence can be modified by having a yoga block or a bolster to rest the knee on, rather than cheating by coming up on the tips of the toes in the process of putting the knee on the ground. Best results seem to occur from having as much weight on the ball of the foot (and across its whole width) as you can tolerate, and then moving the knee closer to the floor or support.

[Edwin S.]

Hello Kit. Having seen so many Stretch Therapy exercises on and off over a decade, the same solution dawned on me a couple of weeks ago (since that reasoning applies in a lot of cases).

The solution I tried out at first started to bother the medial side of my right knee on he next occasions, just anterior to the femoral medial epicondyle/ adductor tubercle  (as a lot of exercises in that area do, even if often only mildly so therfore not completely preventing the exercises), as well as pinching the knee from below the kneecap on the lateral side (These knee problems and another more serious anterior one I am aiming to correct long term by improving ankle and hip flexibility and symmetry). I let the idea go for a couple of weeks and kept focus daily on all the "Master The Squat" Limbering exercises and The Daily Five - and the bolster/yoga block idea came to me as well (something like the support used in L4).  Going by chance back to this thread today it's nice to see the idea confirmed by Kit :). I'll add the exercise back to the Foot Sequence from next week onwards.

 

If I'd noticed the notify me of replies function earlier than tody I would also have seen your reply earlier of course :/.

[Kit_L]

2 hours ago, filosofo said:

If I'd noticed the notify me of replies function earlier than tody I would also have seen your reply earlier of course :/.

@filosofo

Hindsight is 20/20, as they say! But finding a solution on your own is even better, IMHO.

WRT the knee: put a cushion in between hip and back of leg will stop the joint closing as far, and that might reduce the discomfort there and let you work more on the toes. It's all about finding the path of least discomfort to get where you want to go.