Toe touches, kneeling lunge stretches, child’s pose. So many stretches and the anchor of your body, the big toe, is rarely touched on. Your big toe is hugely important for push off in gait and when it gets tight, particularly in dorsiflexion, it can dramatically change your foot mechanics and therefore your whole body’s function. Let’s go over a quick stretch to get the biggest piggy behaving properly.
First, you will kneel on the ground with your feet tucked under you as much as possible. Be sure that the bottom of the big toe is stretched back in contact with the ground. From here, you are going to place your bodyweight back towards your heels as opposed to keeping your hips straight and sitting tall. With your glutes sitting more on your heels, amplify the stretch on the big toe by subtly leaning backwards. Hang out in this oh-so-fun posture for upwards of a minute. It may be super sensitive if you really, really need it so just tease in a bit more pressure and time each time you do it. Soon you will have a more capable big toe, foot, hips and gait!
Evan
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