You’re at the gym, you’ve worked your arms fairly hard and you’ve probably also trained just about every other muscle in your body. But did you train your foot muscles? Maybe inadvertently but not specifically I’m sure.
As a Podiatrist, in my opinion, free weights are generally going to give you the best results. However, today we are going to focus on which machines are best for feet strength.
Standing And Seated Calf Raise Machines:
Any form of calf raise is going to help train the muscles of your foot (and obviously your calves). The main difference between the 2 machines. The standing calf raise will focus on your main calf muscle, gastrocnemius, and will simulate your day to day movements such as walking or running. The seated calf raise will focus on the other calf muscle, soleus, and probably has less transfer to your daily activities. However, it can not be missed as the soleus can be the culprit of foot pain from time to time so don’t neglect this machine either.
Cable Machines:
Time to get a bit creative and weird. Now you may sometimes do some bicep curls on the cable machine. Why not some toe curls? Place the handle at the lowest setting and curl the fabric handle with your toes towards you! This will help build up some intrinsic musculature in the bottom of your feet.
Stepper/Treadmill Barefoot:
Depending on the gym you may or may not be able to do this. Spend some time barefoot on the treadmill or stepper and you’ll build muscular endurance of your feet so you can be on your feet all day with no problems.
There you go there’s a few things you can try you’re in the gym next time. I do believe that free weights will give you better results. However, if you feel more comfortable starting with machines, then I hope these help.
