What is your foot core?

Core exercises are all the rage, and why not? Everyone wants a trim waist, plus: A strong, responsive abdomen protects your back and eases the physical challenges of everyday life.

But there's another critical core in the body that nearly everyone neglects: It's in your foot, and when it's weak you can end up with foot pain and injury.

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"A strong, responsive foot core will protect you just like a strong abdominal core," says Patrick McKeon, assistant professor of sports science at Ithaca College in New York, who has been working with colleagues to better understand the foot and foot pain. "But a weak foot core means you're more susceptible to heel pain, shin splints, ankle sprains, and other foot and lower leg problems."

Essentially, a strong foot core depends on a healthy interplay between the bones, muscles, and nerves of the foot, explains McKeon. But he and his colleagues have found that the most commonly overlooked aspect of this core are the small muscles of the foot: "These not only need to be strong, but they also must provide sensory feedback," says McKeon. When he has treats patients with foot, ankle, or lower leg pain by targeting these small muscles, they're able to correct their gait, improve their posture, and take pressure off the painful areas.

"Strong sensory feedback from these intrinsic muscles helps maintain a healthy striding motion and good posture whether you're running, walking, or just standing there," says McKeon. So how do you develop your foot core? The simplest way is to walk barefoot more, says Dr McKeon. Part of the reason foot core muscles weaken is due to big clumsy shoes like boots. "You won't get feedback from - or challenge these muscles — in thick-soled, heavily cushioned shoes."

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“The other way is with this so-called "short foot" exercise, says McKeon. "These aren't the 'pick up a towel with your toes' exercises that people typically do, which mostly work the larger, extrinsic muscles of the foot," he says. Short foot exercises target the muscles in your arches. Here's what to do:

Sit in a chair, bare feet on the floor. Engage the muscles in the arches of your feet as you try to slide the big toe of each foot toward the heel. Hold for 6 seconds, then relax. Do 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 10 repetitions.

Once this feels comfortable, try the move standing; eventually, you can progress to doing short foot exercises while balancing on one foot. "Try doing the exercises while you're brushing your teeth, in the shower, or standing in line," says McKeon.