When Your Feet Scream to Feel Better: 4 Exercises for Plantar Fasciitis

If you wake up, step out of bed onto the floor and scream from a searing pain that's burning up the bottom of your foot, you may be suffering from one of THE most annoying body buggers of all time: Plantar Fasciitis. If you have NOT been afflicted with PF in your life, consider yourself fortunate and know that this post is still for you!

Here are some fun Plantar Fasciitis (PF) facts featured in this article  from a large national survey taken in 2013:

• Approximately 1% of surveyed US adults were diagnosed with PF w/ pain in the last year--if asked who had been diagnosed with PF in their lifetime, I'm guessing stat would be higher considering the number of clients at TruFit alone who have had it (including yours truly)
• Women are 2.5x more likely to report PF than men
• PF is most prevalent in individuals aged 45-64
• They found strong BMI associations; those with a BMI of 30 or more were 5x more likely to have PF than those with a BMI of 25 or less
• More than two-thirds of those with PF use OTC medications for pain management; one quarter of respondents used opioids and prescription NSAIDs for pain
• On characteristics of PF pain: 25% reported severe PF pain; 45% reported moderate; 28% had mild pain
• 61%+ reported having pain every day, and almost 54% reported that PF pain interfered with normal work activities at least moderately. Nearly one-third reported severe pain-related interference.

Y'all: The weather is finally nice enough to walk/run/bike/play outside in. Do you want PF to stand in your way of living your best life? 

We didn't think so. 

First things first: We are not doctors. We are not diagnosing anyone. We are not prescribing anything at all.

We also know that the resets below from Original Strength are amazing in and of themselves, whether you have PF or are hoping to prevent it. You can do one reset or all four in a row! Do the resets for 30 seconds or two minutes! You can even check out trainer Kathryn's own foot-happy resets that she shared with us here! See what helps YOU feel better because you are an individual who might react really well to one thing and less to another!

​Without further ado, here is a short routine to help your body and feet get along with each other again!

SINGLE LEG ROCKBACKS
WHY?: Because rockbacks connect the shoulders to the hips and when we're not feeling great, it can feel like our body gets disconnected. An added bonus to this particular rockback variation is that we're adding leg extension with dorsiflextion for an added foot/calf stretch which, whether or not you have PF, can feel super yummy.

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LEGO ROCKBACKS
WHY?: Like every other rockback variation, we're still connecting hips with shoulders but we're also adding LOTS of movement through the ankles and toes. The foot has 26 bones and 33 joints and when our plantar fascia is all gunked up and stuck, our poor foot's actually screaming out for locomotion. So let's give it just that!

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ROCKING CHAIRS
WHY?: If you read our post from "National I Love My Feet Day" (you KNOW we celebrated that day!), then you'll know that the fascia that runs under our feet goes all the way up our calves, hamstrings and keeps traveling until it goes over our head and into our eye sockets. Everything is connected so why not give all the nerve endings in the back of your body some love with this reset? And just remember: The site of pain is often not the cause of pain so don't forget about the rest of your body parts.

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ELEVATED ROCKBACKS
WHY?: We can get really down on ourselves when it hurts to load our bodies vertically (like, when we're walking or running or squatting at the gym). We're throwing this reset into the mix to throw in a little challenge into the mix! We're still extending the undersides of our feet here, which can feel good, and we're also adding load (our body weight)! So we're not just moving to feel better but we're also continuing to get stronger!

Injuries can hold us back for a variety of reasons. So can the FEAR of injury. Let's agree, though, that if we don't move it, we lose it. We hope these OS resets help you feel good/better/the best! 

Tried these out? Have other movements that helped you out? Let us know in the comments below!