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Equipment needed: Lacrosse/Hockey/Massage Ball
Plantar Fasciitis (PF) is a painful, chronic, inflammatory condition created by running; it can come from poor running style, hitting the ground too hard or just nature's bad luck. What I always suggest to clients is rather than try and cure your PF, lets try and manage the condition first. You know when you have PF, you wake up and go to get out of bed. Foot hits the floor, you hit the roof. Like you have just stood on a shattered glass. Very very painful. But throughout the day, the pain eases and you feel fine.... until the next morning. Not ideal for any runner's prep.
So here are the two mobility exercises that NRG usually prescribe to their running clients:
- Lacrosse Ball Massage: At NRG we have found this exercise to be the greatest alleviator of pain for PF, however it is no way a cure. This can be used to manage the pain when you get it and can be done almost anywhere. All you need is a hard ball (hockey, cricket, lacrosse, massage are all suitable).
Start barefoot as this allows the freest range of motion around the ball. First movement stood up, foot on the ball, you will start on the base of the big toe. From here you will shear from side to side, all the way to the little toe and back. One full movement across and back should take 4 seconds, this as known as the windscreen wiper drill. Complete this for a minute and try to apply more and more pressure for each repetition you repeat (See Image 1).
Now with the ball we are going to go in a different direction. This time starting at the base of the middle toe, you are going to roll the ball all the way down to the base of the heel, almost going down the full length of your foot. Try and target the inside of arch of the foot, as you can see in Image 1, this arch should have quite a steep curve as you apply pressure with the ball. Just like our earlier movement, this should take 4 seconds to go toe to heel to toe. You are going to repeat this for a minute before swapping feet.
Image 1: Ideal starting position of the lacrosse ball for both of our massage style mobility exercises
Tissue Pick Ups: This may seem quite remedial but is a great way to educate your feet to curl the toes and collapse the arch purposefully to reduce pain. Once again in bare feet, rip up about ten pieces of toilet roll and scrunch them into little balls and scatter them in front of you. Now take a seat with a bin close enough to you. Your task is to pick up each piece of toilet roll individually and place them in the bin (See image 2). You can make this fun by doing a time trial against your self, racing a friend to do the same or blindfold yourself and get a friend to guide you. Try from both a seated and a standing position.
Timings: try and do 5 sets of this, won't need much rest in between sets as it is all about the coordination of the feet.
Image 2: Using the foot to squeeze the tissue and move around the base of the foot
These two are useful exercises for alleviating the pain that plantar fascia can cause. However see this as management; for optimal results combine this with improved running mechanics, two weeks of reduced running volume and potentially running on softer surfaces. The useful thing about both exercises is that you need very little equipment, can be completed anywhere and should only take 10 minutes. And if you cannot spare 10 minutes a day to help stop on going foot pain, then you surely cannot be serious about your running health.
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