Strong Feet, Strong Foundation: Why Foot Strength Matters More Than You Think

When was the last time you trained your feet?

Most of us pay plenty of attention to our knees, hips, core, and shoulders, but the foot often gets left behind. It’s no surprise, really. In modern life, we wrap them in cushy shoes, walk mostly on flat surfaces, and barely think about them unless they’re hurting. But here's the truth: strong, mobile feet are critical to everything above them — knees, hips, spine — all of it.

Why foot strength matters

Your feet aren’t just passive platforms. Each one contains 26 bones, 33 joints and over 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments, that’s more than your hand. They’re built to move, adapt, and feel. But when they’re weak or stiff, they lose that natural function, which affects balance, movement, and stability.

In fact, poor foot function can lead to:

• Flat arches and collapsed posture

• Overuse injuries like plantar fasciitis, shin splints and knee pain

• Reduced force output during lifts, running, and change of direction

Put simply: weak feet = poor movement = more pain and less performance.

What The Foot Collective get right

If you’ve ever come across The Foot Collective, you’ll know they preach the value of barefoot living, reconnecting to natural movement, and retraining your feet to be strong and mobile again. Their message is simple, treat your feet like you would any other part of your body. Train them, move them, and stop suffocating them in shoes that do all the work.

We couldn’t agree more.

How to strengthen your feet

You don’t need to overhaul your training. Start small and consistent, just like you would with any other new focus area. Here are a few foot-strengthening essentials we believe in (and regularly do ourselves):

1. Toe Spreading & Splaying

Encourage the intrinsic foot muscles to activate by getting your toes to spread apart and move independently. This improves foot control and proprioception.

2. Short Foot Exercise

This underrated move teaches your arch to lift using the deep foot muscles. It’s a subtle but powerful drill and perfect before squats or lunges.

3. Balance & Stability Work

Use tools like our Slant Blocks or a balance beam to introduce instability and teach your feet to adapt, strengthen and stabilise under load.

4. Barefoot Time

Spend time barefoot on varied surfaces — sand, grass, gravel, gym mats. Let the 100+ sensors in your feet do what they’re built to do: feel and adjust.

5. Foot Rolling & Mobility

Release tight fascia and small muscles using a lacrosse ball or spikey ball. This can help unlock stiff toes, arches, and heel cords — especially if you’re always in shoes.

Foot-focused tools we recommend

We’ve designed and stocked tools that align perfectly with this type of training:

• Slant Blocks – great for balance work, calf mobility and arch strengthening

• Toe Spacers – help restore natural toe alignment

• Mini Bands – for resisted toe and ankle activation drills

The bottom line

Your feet are your foundation. Ignore them, and everything built on top of them gets shaky, posture, strength, athleticism, even daily comfort. But show them some love with movement, strength work and mobility, and they’ll repay you with better balance, reduced pain, and improved performance.

Start now. Take off your shoes. Spread your toes. Reconnect.

Because stronger feet lead to a stronger you.