Our feet can get a bit neglected in Winter! Hidden in socks and shoved in shoes for much of the day. We often don’t give them a thought ……… until Pilates 🙂 In the studio, we love to look after feet. Apart from the fact that it feels really good to give your feet some TLC, we know the feet are an important factor in the way you walk, stand, step and hold your posture. Joe Pilates understood the importance of this crucial link in our bio-mechanical chain, and many of his exercises incorporate working the feet with specific alignment, activation and coordination required of the toes, feet and ankles. Some of his lesser known inventions were the Toe Corrector and Foot Corrector! And more recent inventions from physical therapies and sport science have been gladly incorporated into modern Pilates practice such as therabands, spikey balls, swivel discs and wobble boards.
Our latest additions to the studio toe-toys are the Foot Corrector and the Functional Foot Plates. The Foot Corrector strengthens the toes, arch and ankle with a series of specific exercises, and can be used to inform and train correct foot patterning for gait (walking). The Functional Foot Plates help you find centred alignment over your legs and pelvis, assisting posture and facilitating the best possible action of external and internal rotation of the hips (turn-out and pigeon-toed). The repertoire on these gadgets is small, but effective, and focused repetition at the beginning of every class over a number of weeks can make a huge difference if these are areas you need to work on 🙂
Ask your instructor if you’d love to experience some Foot-love this Winter!
