Do you ever have heel pain? Do you feel like your ankles like to roll out to the sides? Or has anybody ever told you that you pronate your feet when you walk or run?
This Heel Exercise with a Strap is a nice exercise to get the mobility that you need for your heel and ankles to keep them healthy, safe and pain-free!
Heel Exercise with Strap
This is very simple and all you need is just a strap – you can either use a Yoga strap, a towel, or a belt to help you do this exercise.
- Start by lying down on your back with the strap in your hands.
- Put the strap around the back of your heel.
- The other leg can stay bent, or you can straighten it out if you have enough flexibility.
- In your lying down position, if you have the flexibility, the leg with the strap should be straight up to the ceiling with your knee nice and straight. (If your legs are tight, lower the leg away from you to get the leg straight and use the strap to help hold the leg up.)
- From this position, pull the strap with the outside hand to feel the inside of your heel go up and the outside go down, and then back to the center.
- Then, the inside hand pulls to take the inside of the heel down and the outside of the heel up, and back to the center.
- Generally, you can repeat this for 5 to 10 times moving to the inside and moving to the outside of one foot before switching to the other foot.
- Bend in the knee and switch to the other foot, and repeat the process.
This looks pretty simple, but it’s actually a little bit of a challenge to feel like you’re moving the heel to do the exercise. You’re not just moving the toes and the front of the foot, but the whole foot moves by moving the heel.
Moving your heel from side to side will give you a different stretch down your calf and back of your leg than just putting that strap across the ball of the foot and pulling your toes down. This is a great exercise if you have tight heels, calves, and hamstrings!
Important Tips for an Effective Heel Exercise with the Strap:
- The rest of the leg should stay still and not move.
- Keep the knee facing straight ahead while stretching your heel to be sure that you are really getting the movement from the right place (the heel)
- If your big toe is down and the little toe is up, you’ll need to make some adjustments with your foot position to help you get the foot into the position where you’ll feel like you’re standing on the ceiling.
- If you turn your leg in or out to move the heel, then you’re cheating!
This is a nice exercise if you’re prone to stepping off curbs or spraining your ankles. You’re not only helping even up how you stand on your foot so you can walk and run better, but you are also strengthening up the sides of your shin to better support your foot and knee.
This Heel Stretch Exercise with Strap is a good warm-up before you go out for a walk or run, and even more fabulous to do when you’re done with your work outs! So get out a strap and stretch your heels for healthier, safe and pain-free feet!
Stay tuned for I’ve got another exercise to add on to this to give you a little bit more work and progress that heel to be even stronger and more mobile!
Good health starts from the ground up!
This heel excercise is a great step in the right direction for healthy, pain-free feet.
For more quick & easy foot training exercises and resources – get a Runfit Kit!
Whether you walk or run, the foot training toys and recommended exercises in the Runfit Kit are simple to use before or after your workouts to ensure that you incorporating a little bit of foot fitness into your weekly workout routine.
Help keep your feet, ankles, arches, toes, heels, and whole body healthy with a Runfit Kit.
Great video! Thanks for sharing. I find that doing regular stretching and foot exercises helps tremendously with managing foot pain.