5-STEP DAILY FOOT WORKOUT

1 Towel curls

SIT on a chair and place your bare foot on a towel. Keep your heels on the floor and grab the towel with your toes. Pull the towel towards you with every scrunch. Do this once a day, two minutes on each foot. ‘If you have time for only one foot exercise, make it this one,’ says podiatrist Matt. ‘It’s a fantastic workout for the muscles that stabilises the arch in the foot’s sole.’

2 Marble grab

WHILE sitting, use your toes to pick up a marble from the floor, then put it back down. Do 15 on each foot.

3 Toe alphabet

SIT on the floor with your legs outstretched. Using your big toe as a pencil, ‘write’ the alphabet in the air, once with each foot, making the letters as large as possible. This will improve dexterity in your foot, and the range of movement in both the ankle and the foot.

4 Foot doming

THIS can take a few weeks or months to master, and how well you can do it depends to some extent on your foot architecture, but it’s worth trying — ballerinas do 40 or 50 a day.

Stand tall and tighten the toes on your right foot so they feel rigid. Then pull your toes towards your heel, which draws up the arch and makes your foot look shorter. Hold for five to six seconds and release; repeat five to ten times on each foot. Keep your toes rigid and on the floor — not curled under. You always have to be able to see your toe nails.

Research has shown that four weeks of daily foot doming improves balance and reduces arch collapse.

5 Resistance band flex

SIT on the floor with legs outstretched and tie one end of a resistance band (or a long belt) around your left foot. Cross your feet, take the other end of the band and run it behind your right foot, then pull with both hands to create tension. Keeping your heel fairly still, pull your left foot towards you so the toes point towards your face. Pause for one to two seconds, then return to the starting position. Repeat six to eight times, then switch feet.