Strong feet, strong performance: the key to sporting success!

Strong feet, strong performance: the key to sporting success!

Dr. Jan-Peter Goldmann from the German Sport University Cologne, an experienced biomechanist, has been working with the foot muscles for two decades. He found that the feet carry the entire body weight in everyday life, while this can increase up to eight times during sport. Through targeted training of the foot muscles, strength gains of up to 70% can be achieved. Even among professional athletes, an increase of up to 10% is expected. In his research, Goldmann found that foot muscles are rarely controlled voluntarily, but respond strongly to targeted training stimuli.

A well-trained foot can help prevent overuse problems like Achilles tendon problems and stress fractures. In order to stress the foot muscles in everyday life, Goldmann developed an innovative training device that he called Total Toe. This device is marketed under the brand name “Big Toe PowerPro” by the running shoe brand Joe Nimble. Sebastian Bär, managing director of Joe Nimble, emphasizes how important a well-trained big toe is for athletic performance.

The importance of foot muscles

Painful feet are an everyday problem, especially after long days at work or intense sporting activities. Many foot problems result from a lack of training of the foot muscles. Muscles that are too weak or atrophied can lead to deformities such as arched feet, splayed feet, fallen arches or flat feet. Regular exercise can not only relieve symptoms, but also prevent them from getting worse.

Exercises should preferably be carried out barefoot and painlessly. Standing exercises in a hip-width position with slightly bent knees and tense stomach and buttocks are particularly recommended. Here are some targeted exercises to strengthen foot muscles:

• Einbeinstand: Auf einem Bein stehen und die Augen schließen, Haltezeit 10-15 Sekunden.
• Zehenspitzenstand: Fersen heben und auf Zehenspitzen halten, Haltezeit 10-15 Sekunden.
• Gehen auf Außen- und Innenkante: Auf der Außenkante der Füße stehen und halten, Haltezeit 10-15 Sekunden.
• Tuchgreifer: Ein Tuch mit den Zehen aufheben, Haltezeit 5 Sekunden.
• Raupe: Zehen in den Boden drücken und Fuß nach vorne ziehen.

Preventive measures for healthy feet

Healthy feet are crucial for mobility in life. Early training can prevent problems caused by unsuitable footwear, overuse or weak foot muscles. It is important to integrate training into everyday life to ensure long-term stability of the feet. If pain or serious problems persist, an orthopedist should be consulted.

In addition to targeted exercises, it is recommended to walk barefoot on different surfaces and wear different models of shoes to stimulate the foot muscles. The anatomy of the arch of the foot with its 26 bones ensures stability and flexibility, and knowledge of the stress points when walking is of great importance for preventative training. Footprints can be used to analyze the load and symmetry of the feet, which plays an important role in preventive care.

Goldmann will continue to develop new devices and methods to study functional stiffness of the foot. The development and implementation of these approaches is supported by the sports university's transfer funding program and the patent marketing agency PROvendis. For scientific inquiries, Dr. Jan-Peter Goldmann is available at goldmann@dshs-koeln.de.