Stronger Feet, Fewer Injuries: 3 Key Exercises for Runners

You already know strength training is important for runners. But there's one group of muscles almost every runner overlooks: the feet.

Not on purpose, of course. It’s just that when we think of strength work, we picture lunges, deadlifts, or maybe even banded hip work. We feel those. They’re obvious. Foot strength, on the other hand, is subtle. You won’t feel a big pump. But that doesn’t make it any less essential.

In fact, a 2020 study by Taddei et al. found that runners who completed a 12-week foot strengthening program reduced their risk of running-related injuries by 2.5x compared to those who didn’t.

Here are three of our favorite exercises to help build stronger, more resilient feet. All three can be done at home with only a band. We do them ourselves, and we prescribe them often to the many injured runners we work with.

1. Big Toe Band Pulldown

The big toe plays a major role in propulsion and balance. This exercise strengthens the flexor hallucis muscles that help control big toe movement, giving you better push-off and more stability.

How to do it:

• Hold a resistance band in your hand and loop it over your big toe.
• Start with the toe lifted into extension.
• Slowly press the toe downward against the band’s resistance, then control it back up.
• Perform 2-3 sets until a moderate burn throughout the arch of the foot.

It may not feel like much at first. But that’s kind of the point. It trains endurance and control more than brute strength.

2. The Ski Jumper

This drill helps train your foot tripod (heel, big toe, and fifth toe), especially encouraging engagement through the big toe without lifting the heel. It helps your brain-muscle connection to the stability muscles throughout your foot.

How to do it:

• Stand with feet hip-width apart.
• Lean forward from your ankles while keeping your heels on the ground.
• As your weight shifts forward, press your big toes into the floor to stop you from falling.
• Push yourself back to upright using that same big toe drive.
• Perform 2-3 sets of slow, controlled reps, going until you feel a moderate burn throughout your foot.

This is one of our favorites for building foot awareness and strength simultaneously. It teaches you how to load your feet well while maintaining balance.

3. Single-Leg Stance with Twist

Single-leg balance is a proxy for a lot of things: coordination, control, midfoot strength, and stability. This variation adds a rotational challenge, requiring your foot to react dynamically to changes in body position.

How to do it:

• Stand barefoot on one foot.
• Press firmly through your big toe for stability.
• Slowly twist your torso to one side, then the other for one rep.
• Try 2-3 sets until you achieve a moderate burn throughout the foot and/or lower leg on each side.

You should feel your foot working hard to keep you steady. Over time, you’ll notice better control on uneven surfaces and during long runs. We often have clients report that they start to feel their big toes being used more while running - which helps take stress on all of your other hard working running muscles, tendons, and joints.

These exercises may not look like much on paper. But they train some of the most underappreciated and important muscles in your body. Feet that can stabilize, adapt, and push off well aren’t just less likely to get injured, they’re also more efficient.

The best part? There’s no gym required so you can do these anywhere!

Want more? 

If you’re looking for more personalized guidance, or wondering how to add foot strength into your running plan, our running-specific physical therapy team is here to help. We help runners around the country virtually as well as locally in Maine.

-Ashten Cullenberg, PT, DPT