FANCY FEET
The foot doesn't go through the proper range of motion when you're in a heel. "If you're not restoring range of motion in the foot, that's what ends up creating these stiff, shuffle-y walks as you get older," Bloom says.
Here are three moves to counter the problems caused by wearing heels as well as to strengthen the muscles in your ankles and calves.
1. Ball Relevés: Stand with your feet parallel to each other and place a ball between your calves, just above your ankle bones. The ball should be around 6" in diameter or such that you have to squeeze it firmly to achieve the feet in line with the sit bones. Squeeze the ball as you lift your heels to a high relevé (that is, standing on the balls of your feet). Squeezing the ball should bring you into proper alignment so that your knees face straight forward (not out or in) and your weight is centered over the ball of your second toe. You should feel the outside of your calf engaging, as well as your calves and hamstrings. Perform 20 reps.
2. Transverse Arch Release: Stand with a small pinky ball (foam rubber ball 2.5" in diameter) under the ball of your foot. Position it so that the ball of the big toe and the ball of the little toe dome off either side of the ball and the balls of the second, third and fourth toes dome up on top of the ball. Your heel should be on the floor. Relax your foot while you press into the ball, putting your weight onto the whole foot. Bend and straighten the knee, allowing the front of the ankle to soften and crease.
3. Stair Prance: Stand on the edge of a step with your toes and balls of the feet on and your heels off the step. Bend the right knee and press the right foot up to a high relevé, being aware of the alignment of the knee, heel, and second toe. Keep the left leg straight and drop that heel down to lengthen the calf and Achilles tendon. Lift up your left heel, then switch sides. Alternate for 20 reps.
CORE CURRICULUM
Here are two exercises that will work four of the deep core muscles: the pelvic floor, diaphragm, multifidi, and transverse abdominis.
"The beauty about working those muscles is that they actually will lengthen, narrow, and flatten your tummy, because those are the muscles that compress the organs and pull them up into the rib cage," she says. "Whereas, with crunches and roll-ups, it's just creating a six-pack on top of this poochy stomach."
1. Grasshopper: Begin on all fours. Find a neutral spine: the low back curving slightly forward into a slight arch, the middle back curving slightly back, the neck curving slightly forward. Focus on maintaining a neutral spine through the entire exercise. Inhale by engaging the diaphragm. To engage the diaphragm, feel it dome down into your abdominal cavity as you inhale, creating pressure against your organs. Expand your ribcage in every direction. Allow your belly to move out while focusing on the back expanding and opening. As you inhale, also allow your pelvic floor to relax, dome down, and expand. As you exhale, engage your pelvic floor, feeling it close and lift, and engage your transverse abdominis, wrapping it around your waist like a corset. On the exhale, lift both knees off the floor so your weight is on your hands and the balls of your feet. Keep your transverse abdominis deeply engaged so your belly does not bulge and your low back does not round. Hold this hovered position while you inhale and focus on the engagement of the diaphragm and the expansion of your low back ribs. Check that you have maintained neutral spine. Exhale and wrap the transverse abdominis while you extend your right leg behind you in line with your hip, keeping your pelvis absolutely still and neutral. Inhale and return your right foot to the ground. Exhale to lower the knees to the starting position. Inhale to prepare, exhale float the knees, inhale hold, exhale extend your left leg back, inhale return the leg, exhale lower your knees to the ground. Alternate legs for 10 reps.
2. Piston: Begin on your back with a ball under your sacrum (about 6" in diameter) and your legs in table top (knees at 90 degrees, hips at 90 degrees), and arms straight up in the air. Find a neutral spine and focus on maintaining a neutral spine through the entire exercise. Inhale, engaging the diaphragm, and extend your right leg straight to so that it's 45 degrees above the floor. Exhale and wrap the transverse abdominis and engage the pelvic floor as you lower your right leg all the way down to the floor, flexing the foot and reaching out through the heel. Hold for 10 counts as you push the heel of the lowered leg into the floor while simultaneously pushing the back of the head into the floor. Remember: you are in neutral so there should be a slight arch forward in the neck (this allows the multifidi to engage deeper). On the exhale, lift your right leg back up. Inhale, opening the pelvic floor as you bend it back in to table top position. Exhale to finish. Perform 5 reps on that side, then switch and perform 5 on the other.
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