A decrease in balance is a familiar phenomenon at older ages and it often leads to dangerous falls. There are many types of exercises aimed at improving the ability of several mechanisms involved in balance, but now a new, simple and easy method has been found: training to strengthen the toe muscles in the foot.
From about age sixty, complex physical actions performed in an unstable standing position become a significant physical challenge and the risk of falls increases.
The reason is that without proper training, with age there is a gradual decline in the ability of the body systems responsible for balance.
This is similar to the gradual decrease known in muscle mass or bone mass.
The damage to the ability to maintain balance may result from a decline in the function of one or more body systems responsible for static stability required when standing, or dynamic stability required during movement.
This can include the muscles, the joints, the brain, and the peripheral nervous system, which includes the visual system, the organs of balance in the ear area and the nerve conduction from the brain to the muscles and from the sensory system to the brain.
Strengthening the local muscles of the foot helps prevent injuries.
Training to improve stability in standing and walking is complex training, usually performed in a standing position, and includes a wide variety of activities such as strengthening exercises for the leg muscles, standing on unstable surfaces, use of virtual reality or sensory deprivation such as closed eyes.
All standing training methods, even without special intention, also strengthen and improve the function of the ankle and the foot.
This is because the foot is the area that comes into direct contact with the ground, and naturally it is involved in every change of the body’s center of gravity in relation to the ground.
This involvement is important because the foot and ankle are usually responsible for responding first to any sudden shift of the center of gravity that could lead to a fall.
For this reason awareness has grown in recent years about the importance of improving the active function of these organs in order to achieve optimal stability.
For example, a few years ago injury prevention among runners focused on choosing suitable running shoes, but today it is known that strengthening the local muscles of the foot, which support its arch, is more effective in preventing injuries.
When examining what exactly must be trained to improve the function of the foot, it is necessary to look at its evolutionary development, which led humans from movement on four limbs to walking and running on two.
The transition was made possible by changes in the structure of the human foot compared to apes. There are two prominent changes.
The first, more familiar, is the development from a flat foot like in apes to a foot with a transverse arch in humans.
This structure helps absorb the shocks the body absorbs during walking and improves its mechanical efficiency.
The second change, less familiar, occurred in the structure of the big toe, the large toe of the foot. While in apes the role of the big toe is the same as the other toes, performing flexion to hold branches while climbing trees, in humans the big toe developed into a longer structure with a separate muscle system from the rest of the foot.
This change makes the big toe, despite its relatively small surface, very important in walking and maintaining balance.
A biomechanical analysis shows that during walking about seventy percent of the energy in the final stage of pushing the foot from the ground comes from the toe muscles.
In addition to pushing the body, the big toe has another important role preventing falls.
Because the body’s center of gravity is slightly forward of the pelvis, most falls due to sudden loss of balance are forward.
The natural reaction to prevent the fall is a strong contraction of the back calf muscles to perform the opposite action and keep the body upright.
What is less known is that in addition to the back calf muscles, the muscle that flexes the big toe also contracts strongly, pushes the ground, and helps stabilize the body.
It is a small muscle compared to the back calf muscles, but the special structure of the big toe allows it to generate significant force.
However, while the back calf muscles receive much attention in training, the importance of strengthening the toe muscles specifically is less known, and therefore they are not trained.
This is despite research showing that focused training has added value at any age.
A study published in a scientific journal and conducted on young participants examined the connection between the strength of the ankle and foot muscles and the ability to balance.
It found a unique connection between the strength of the muscle that flexes the big toe and balance ability.
The importance of performing specific training for this muscle increases with age.
Studies conducted among people aged sixty and over found that focused toe training led to significant improvement both in balance and in walking ability.
Another advantage of focused training is that most of it is done while sitting and does not require physical effort, making it simple and suitable at any age.
How to do it correctly
Easy training:
While sitting, barefoot, with the feet on the floor, flex the big toe firmly and hold it in the flexed position for eight seconds. Perform three sets, twelve repetitions in each set.
Medium training: While sitting, barefoot, place a towel under the feet. Pull the towel with the toes and hold for twenty seconds. Perform three sets of five repetitions.
Hard training: Standing, barefoot, lift the heels until only the toes remain on the floor. Stay in this position for three seconds and lower back down. Perform three sets of eight repetitions.
It is recommended to perform the training three times a week along with regular workouts.