It all started with a bad pair of shoes. I bought a pair of shoes that I thought was a great deal.
Not naming any names but it almost rhymes with sheetrock.
I didn't notice anything at first, but then my hips started feeling really tight. Then my back felt really stiff and I could barely put my shoes on in the morning.
So I asked myself what was different in my routine and narrowed it down that the shoes had to be the culprit. I quit wearing them and a lot of my hip pain cleared up.
But the damage had been done to my feet and had to be fixed. And a trusty tennis ball was just the guy for the job.
Because our feet can become cramped up when we have tight shoes on and walk on hard surfaces all day. Like perhaps teaching fitness classes in a parking lot.
But what do feet have to do with lower back pain?
The body is all connected. Typically when you have pain in one area, it is being caused by a problem somewhere else.
Feet get all bunched up, hamstrings get tight, and can lead to back pain. So I needed to unbunch my feet, if that was a word.
That is where the handy tennis ball comes in.
Your fascia is basically the tissues that hold you together. If you can get the fascia to release in one area it can trigger a release along the entire fascia web.
Give this 4-minute exercise a test:
Take your shoes off and roll a tennis ball under your foot, starting with the backs of your toes. Then go the length of the foot, from your sole to heel.
Finally, roll the inner and outer arches. Start off doing 2 minutes on one foot and 2 minutes on the other foot.
I like to do 30 seconds per area: toes, foot length, inner arch, outer arch. And I find using a timer is helpful for keeping to the proper amount of time.
You can also do these sitting down. Next time you are stuck in a Zoom meeting give it a try. If you are sitting down, shoot for closer to 5 minutes on each foot.
A good test to see how this works is to try to touch your toes from a standing position. Then do your rolling and do a re-test.
Magic 🙂
Try it out and let me know what you think.
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