My Second Fitness, Wellness, Sport/Dance Vlogging post

In my second video uploaded to my Facebook page on fitness and wellness (see post here), I build on the first section of my first video, mainly how to use floor exercises to develop foot muscles in all three parts of the foot, termed the hindfoot (back), midfoot (connecting middle) and the forefoot (front). I try not to overcomplicate my videos with too much terminology as I'm chatting about things, so I'll be supplementing my fitness and wellness vlogging with further information on this blog. 

For a quick visual of what the three parts of the foot look like anatomically, inside the foot, and where they are located, see the picture provided at the top of the page here . If you'd like to read an in-depth entry on this and more about foot and ankle anatomy, see here . For a fun, fascinating and complete explanation with 3D moving visuals, designed with fitness in mind, see this excellent video here . 

The focus of this video was flexing the ankle and foot 🦶 upwards (dorsiflexion, foot/toes pointing upwards) and downwards (plantar flexion, foot/toes pointing downwards). 

The main aims are to create a healthy flexibility in the muscles, tendons and ligaments (striking a balance between under flexible and over flexible); oiling the joints so they move more smoothly (by using exercise to boost synovial fluid production); and for strengthening and conditioning. 

Synovial fluid is not just found in the foot but elsewhere in the body so I'll be referring to it in the future too. But meanwhile, check out this triathlon website which gives an excellent, brief explanation here of what it is and why it's important. It's rather like oiling a hinge, where your joint is the hinge, the synovial fluid is the oil and exercise is the can which adds extra needed oil for things to work smoothly. 

Why do these non-weight bearing foot exercises? 

1) to provide stability and balance to the whole body so you don't wobble from side to side but have a secure landing on eg a split step, lunge

2) as the video I referred to above mentions, it helps you adjust to different surfaces or uneven ground (useful if running on grass or cross-country or on sand on which tennis players train, as I did) 

3) it also gives you the strength to generate push off and explosive power needed in running, tennis and othe sports. But not golf! ⛳ No need to break into a sprint there! 😂 Mind you, it's not just for running, it's also vital for walking and golfers need to have strong flexible feet to boost stamina for walking around an 18 hole golf course. Golf is a physically demanding sport in itself. Also, because they are not breaking into a sweat by doing any cardio, their muscles are not warmed up sufficiently, especially for the whip action swing of a 'drive'. Back injuries are big problem in golf, but I'll talk about that in a later video and blog. 

4) these exercises and other related ones help injury prevention. For instance, the band exercise is used to strengthen calves, Achilles tendons and ankles. Injuries to the ankle are very common in both athletes and the general population, hence it's important to spend time working on them and making them as strong as possible. Achilles tendon injuries affect most sports people at some point in their career, Sally Gunnell (who specialised in hurdling) being a famous example of how this injury cuts short sports careers. 

Your ankle joint is responsible for up to 70% of your power when walking and together with the plantar flexion motion, it prevents you from falling over, and enhances your ability to run and jump.