From the Ground Up: Why Your Feet Matter

There's a vital link between your feet and whole-body health. Here's a quick look at how your feet can make a big difference.

person standing on seashore
person standing on seashore

We need an entire semester together to really get into the nitty-gritty of how foot function affects our entire kinetic chain, but that’s not going to happen. Instead, let’s delve into some bite-sized pieces of the topic to make it a little more digestible for the short term.

Our body’s are composed of (seemingly) infinite working pieces, which when congruent and synchronous create the magical symphony of movement. These different biomechanical and neurological components work together to facilitate our ability to walk, run, jump, climb, lift… you name it. Even moreso, these components are responsible for motor control, load management, responsiveness, intrinsic and extrinsic feedback, cognition, etc.

When we’re approaching the topic of whole-body health, starting from our foundations makes sense. Yes, it can be beneficial to start from the bottom. I’m talking about the (*drumroll please) FEET. Specifically, I’d like to hone in on the body’s responsibility of managing load through the feet. As the first point of contact with the ground in any upright activity, our feet take on the critical biomechanical roles of initial load management- bearing the weight of the body, opposing gravitational forces, force absorption, and transferring loads up through lower body joints as well as the pelvis and spine.

Consider the role of our feet in something as seemingly simple as walking. Walking is a total-body movement that requires the coordination of joints, muscles, and connective tissues in the foot/ankle complex. A proper gait cycle requires the ability to both dorsiflex and plantarflex under the load of our body. These are movements that demand the function and integration of all the little parts of our feet and ankles. Jogging, sprinting, jumping, and carrying an external load can increase impact forces, requiring our feet to adapt accordingly. A lack of foot strength and mobility can cause tension, poor motor control, and weakness that affects how the body moves… from the ground up.

We’ll take a deeper dive into improving foot health in future articles. Meanwhile, here are 4 things you can do today to help improve your foot health:

  1. Mobilize your feet:

    1. Practice toe spacing

    2. Lift only your big toe off the ground

    3. Keep only your big toe on the ground while raising the others

    4. Squeeze a rag with your toes

  2. Strengthen your feet:

    1. Contract your arches by pulling the ball of your foot and your heel together

    2. Walk on your heels, toes, the outside, and inside of your foot

    3. Distribute weight throughout your entire foot. You may have heard the term “tripod foot”. Put pressure right behind your big toe, right behind your pinky toe, and in the middle of your heel to distribute the load.

  3. Walk around barefoot:

    1. Walk on the grass, dirt, carpet, hardwood, etc. without your shoes on

    2. Walk on uneven surfaces

    3. Let every part of your foot feel the ground

  4. Improve ankle mobility:

    1. While in a lunge, put all your pressure on the ball of your front foot and push your knee over your toes

    2. Do ankle circles while you’re sitting

    3. Use small hops to get from room to room in your house

    4. Stand on one leg while you’re cooking dinner (alternate legs, please)


When you visit a personal trainer or pelvic floor physical therapist, you might notice them taking the time to analyze the way you walk. This is a good approach for several reasons (all of which are interconnected but worth specific attention):

  • Shared connections: Our feet and pelvic floor share both fascial and neurological connections

  • Load transfer: Our feet manage initial loads and our pelvic floor muscles play an important role in load transfer from lower to upper body

  • Alignment impact: Foot alignment (i.e. pronation, supination) affects pelvic and spinal alignment, influencing pelvic floor muscle function

You can see how the function of your feet might influence the health of your pelvic floor. You can also see how your feet can influence the operation of your entire body! Understanding how your feet function may play a pivotal role in your postpartum healing.