Weight lifting and your feet; strengthening them can reduce injuries while making you stronger. Many weight lifters visit our office after doing an improper lift with a bar. Lower back injuries are painful and many can be prevented by proper technique and properly toned feet. Weight lifting is dependent on the form which is dependent on your strength and your foundation, otherwise known as your feet. If you are built asymmetrically, you are already at a disadvantage because of how your body handles weight from the ground up. Imagine if you have an imbalance and you are unaware that these imbalances make activities such as lifting boxes or mounting stairs difficult. Power comes from muscles but your strength and the coordination of that strength rely on a good foundation and a properly functioning fascial system which is the connective tissue surrounding the muscles. Then imagine adding a 50 lb bar while trying to squat with the bar with a poorly functioning body. Then imagine your body has difficulty lifting and bending without the bar and now you want to add 50 lbs on to that. What do you think would happen to your form? How does your body respond to handling more weight when it already has difficulty without any additional weight? One of the easiest ways to improve the way your body handles gravity and any additional weight is by leveling your pelvis. To do this, you need some help by leveling out the feet. The easiest way to do this is with foot orthotics. Why do so many weight lifters forget to level the pelvis with inserts before lifting weights? There are also other exercises such as foot drills that will strengthen the intrinsic foot muscles making you more stable when you add weight to your frame in the gym. Check out this article that talks about why wei8ght lifters need to pay more attention to their feet WHY WEIGHT LIFTERS NEED TO PAY MORE ATTENTION TO THEIR FEET A foot can’t grow like a bicep, but it can become stronger. by SAM REISS WHEN WE TALK ABOUT WORKING OUT, we talk about muscles: how to build and rest them, how to feed them, and how to avoid injury. This makes sense since muscles seem to be the body parts most amenable to change. You lift, you eat, you sleep — and they grow. But is that focus too narrow an approach to strength building? What about other body parts that can’t be strengthened traditionally — that don’t grow in size like a bicep — but are involved in our lifts and need our attention? What about feet? Feet are different and complicated while strengthening them and getting them mobile can seem outside the realm of powerlifting. But while some programs outright ignore foot health, or take it as a given, it’s crucial that lifters actively strengthen their feet. Their health is critical for functional strength and training success. Read more