Outside Foot Strength needed (on uphill only)

Figured I'd ask.

I have been doing the balance slant board strength. Its been a great extra challenge for running.

I prep with a quick balance session to warm up the feet, some toe hops, and running in place..then I'm out the door on my runs. Definitely striking forefoot and feeling heel hit.

My miles are working up on four days a week, 10 mile run is the longest. Pretty slow and smooth runs.

Running in Mizuno Wild Waves

When i run uphill (especially trail running) seems to put a lot of pressure/pain on the lateral side (outside) of my left foot.

Flat and down hill do not place any pain.

Any recommendations on things to try to strengthen the foot for uphills?

My guess would be run more hills.

Sincerely,

Brandan

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ben Lynch on April 3, 2019 at 3:12pm

Hello,

Definitively not an expert but have found large foot strength gains with the slant board exercises from "The Cool Impossible" , the plan in the book and running hills. I used to turn to stretching/massage when i had issues and now I turn to strength.

Do those shoes have much drop/stability aid? Maybe trying a new pair may help. I like the Altra Escalante myself.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eric Orton on April 4, 2019 at 8:31am

Great point Ben. As our feet get stronger they will work better and more naturally. So any type of manufactured stability built into shoes could eventually cause discomfort.

I too like Altra as a great option.

Thanks Ben.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eric Orton on April 4, 2019 at 8:28am

I would first look at your cadence. Does your ground contact time significantly increase when going uphill. And you could be spending more time on that foot than the other.

Another thought is you could be landing more on the outside part of the foot, and due to grade of hill, could also be keeping heel off the ground, all causing stress to that area that might not be occurring on downhill and flats.

So be aware of cadence and maybe try shortening your foot strike placement, that could help with both cadence and how you land.

If you are running slow to begin with and then, adding even slower speeds due to uphills, I think cadence might be an issue across the board.

Practice speeding up cadence WITHOUT increasing run speed.

Try some if the drills in the videos to help with this.

Cheers.