3 Foot Exercises To Teach Your Children To Promote Healthy Feet

Physical activity is an important part of everyone's life. This is especially true for children. As a parent, you need to promote leading a healthy lifestyle, which includes ensuring one's feet are strong and healthy. In order for your children to carry good habits out of adolescence and into adulthood, you need to teach them, while they're young, how to keep their feet healthy. One of the best ways to maintain healthy feet is by exercising them on a regular basis. In some cases, these exercises can help prevent sports injuries and may even promote better balance. Here are three foot exercises that you should ensure your children know how to perform.

1. Pick It Up

Using your toes, you will want to pick up small objects from the floor. This can be marbles, paper clips, pencils, or anything else that you have nearby. Not only does this exercise help strengthen your toes, but it will also improve the strength of the upper section of your foot. Once you pick up the item with your toes, hold it for roughly 10 to 15 seconds before letting it go. Do this with three to four items once or twice a day.

2. Rise Up to the Occasion

This exercise also has to deal with your toes. You will want to stand on your tip-toes for approximately 10 to 15 seconds. Do this several times a day for optimal results. It will essentially enhance the strength that you have in your feet, especially in your toes, while also building strength in your calf muscles.

3. Pump Those Ankles

Your ankles hold a lot of weight,your body weight; therefore, it is important that they are strong. This exercise can help ensure that they are. You can do the pumps up, down, or both. The choice is yours. You will just want to flex the foot in the direction that you desire. Do these for roughly 10 to 15 seconds for each foot and for each direction.

Make sure that you increase the time and frequency of these exercises as your feet become stronger. Remember, your feet take a lot of abuse day in and day out, so it is crucial that you keep them healthy. More importantly, it's important that you teach your kids about the benefits of healthy, strong feet, especially if they play sports. For more exercises or to diagnose a foot problem, contact your local podiatrist.  

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