How Strong and Mobile Are Your Feet?

Perform these two assessments to determine your foot strength. Repeat them periodically to check for improvements or other changes.

1. Test Your Toes

To assess the strength and control of your intrinsic foot muscles, Angela Metrou, MA, a Chicago-based mobility coach specializing in joint strength and longevity, recommends the following test.

• Sit or stand with your feet planted on the floor or an exercise mat.
• Try to spread your toes apart from each other while keeping them flat on the floor or mat. Use only the strength of your foot muscles (no hands or other assistance) to create space between your toes.
• If you can’t spread them — or if your toes rise and curl away from the floor as they spread — your feet could benefit from intentional strengthening exercises.

2. Appraise Your Ankles

To test your ankle mobility, Life Time’s Wes Pedersen, CSCS, an Irvine, Calif.–based strength and running coach, recommends this two-part test.

• First, perform a body-weight squat. Do your heels come off the floor? The goal is to keep your heels glued to the floor the entire time.
• Then, stand facing a wall, with your toes touching the base of the wall. Keeping your heels down, bend your knees to try to touch the wall.
• Next, step back one or two inches and try to touch your knees to the wall again.
• Step back another inch or so (you’ll be standing about four finger-widths away from the wall at this point) and repeat. Can you touch your knees to the wall from all three distances while still keeping your heels in contact with the ground?
• If you answered “No” to one or both of these ankle tests, you might benefit from working on ankle mobility.