Foot Health and Athletic Performance

Ay, ay, ay. One, that's not going to do anything long-term. Two, flatter feet isn't always a problem. Some people naturally have lower arches than others. In fact, some of the best athletes in the world

have very flat feet. So rather than focusing on the height of the arch, we need to focus on maintaining its function by enhancing the muscular control of the arch you do have. Here's three factors to consider. One, we optimize the function of the tibialis

posterior muscle with exercises like banded heel raises. This is called RNT, reactive neuromuscular training. It's a way to teach the body to control the motion of excessive pronation. We then do the same with a lesser-known

muscle that can also help support the arch, the flexor hallucis longus. We can do this simply with toe crunch exercises. But neither of those exercises will create lasting changes if you still wear bad shoes that have an elevated heel, rigid toe spring,

and a narrow toe box that squishes the toes together. All three of those features encourage further flattening of the foot. Even though they feel comfortable, they're not great for

your body. Instead, when you get your foot into its neutral position in a shoe that's completely flat, no heel raise, no rigid toe spring, and a wide toe box, like the Drop Zero 2 barefoot trainer that I helped develop

with TYR, the foot's natural support system, those muscles I talked about, can help support the function of the arch, no matter the height.