Toe Yoga (Toe-ga)
Toe Yoga (Toe-ga): 5 Simple Foot Exercises
Toe-ga is a series of five simple foot exercises that stretch and strengthen the small muscles in your feet — helping to relieve foot pain, support your arches and keep your shoes feeling comfortable.
Our Principal Podiatrist Hiren Patel was invited onto This Morning to chat with Eamonn Holmes and Rochelle Humes about why feet can spread and flatten over time — particularly after long periods of going barefoot or wearing unsupportive slippers — and which exercises help.
When the muscles that support your arch aren't used regularly, the arch can drop and the foot can spread slightly — making once-comfortable shoes feel tight. The good news is that a few minutes of toe yoga each day can make a real difference.
There are two options, do some simple foot exercises or buy a lot of new shoes!
Visit "This Morning" website to watch Hiren get his feet out on national TV.
Hiren demonstrated 5 simple exercises that anyone can do at home, which will help decrease and prevent foot pain. Here's how to do each one:
1. Toe towel scrunch
Sit in a chair with a small towel laid flat on the floor in front of you and place your foot on top of it. Keeping your heel planted, scrunch the towel towards you using just your toes, then slowly spread it back out flat.
Do 10 scrunches per foot, 2–3 sets, once or twice a day.
2. Stair tip toes
Stand with the balls of both feet on the bottom stair, holding a wall or railing for balance. Slowly rise up onto your tip toes, pause, then lower your heels just below the step level for a deeper calf and arch stretch.
Do 10 slow repetitions, 2–3 sets — hold for 2–3 seconds at the top.
3. Cold can roll
Place a chilled drink can or bottle on the floor and rest one foot on top of it. Roll it slowly from your heel right through to your toes — the coolness and gentle pressure give a soothing, massage-like stretch, especially welcome after a long day on your feet.
Roll for 1–2 minutes per foot, once or twice a day.
4. Spiky ball roll
Sit or stand with a spiky massage ball under the sole of one foot. Roll it gently from heel to toes, pausing for a few seconds on any tender spots to help release tight tissue.
Roll for 1–2 minutes per foot, once or twice a day.
5. Towel stretch
Sit with your legs straight out in front of you and loop a towel around the ball of one foot, holding one end in each hand. Keeping your knee straight, gently pull the towel towards you until you feel a comfortable stretch in your calf and the sole of your foot.
Hold for 20–30 seconds, 3 repetitions per foot.
If you'd like more exercises, we have an at your desk exercise
blog.
Anyone experiencing foot pain should see their local HCPC registered podiatrist. Our clinics are located across London in Croydon, Sydenham & Covent Garden.
Call 02037138361 to book or
Ready to Put Your Best Foot Forward?
Struggling with foot pain? Our HCPC registered podiatrists can assess your feet and build a treatment plan that works — at our London clinics in Croydon, Sydenham & Covent Garden.
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