Why Your Big Toes Matter

Friday, April 14, 2017 · Mike Davis

Good morning!

Do you realize how important your big toes are? Most of us pay little attention to our toes, but in most exercise activity they are an important variable in our kinetic chain.

A running gait has 3 phases—stance, float and swing. Stance actually begins as the runner prepares their foot to land and then whether the landing is on the heel or midfoot, they most often roll slightly from the outside of the foot (pronation) to a complete stance on the ground. The transition from stance to swing now begins with the heel lifting and reversing the action. With some propulsion, the last part of the foot to leave the ground is the big toe. This next phase is swing--and depending on the amount of propulsion, the runner either goes into some degree of double float or maybe none. The process then continues repeatedly.

Ideally, when we video tape a runner’s gait, we will observe a stance phase that shows a runner landing toward the outside of the midfoot with a nice slight rotation in and some flexion at the ankle (dorsal flex). We then see a smooth push off (propulsion) that ultimately ends with the big toe flexed that propels the runner into the air and toward the direction they are running.

The importance of the landing is significant because the amount of body weight and stress being put on the runner is twice the runner’s weight. However, as the runner moves from the stance to the swing phase, the propulsion (push-off) is just as critical because the amount of stress is 3 times the runners body weight. This means that every action is extremely important for both efficiency and healthy running.

So, why is the big toe significant?

In the final stage of the propulsion, the big toe should be the last part of the foot to leave the ground. If functioning properly, the big toe can flex about 70 degrees, which allows for proper flexion of the foot (dorsal flexion) and nice flexion of the knee. Combined, they provide for effective propulsion, which means greater efficiency and a healthy kinetic chain reaction. Sounds simple enough, right? Not really, as many runners (me for sure) lack flexibility in their big toe. Without that, that nice fluid kinetic chain fails and that can result in poor running form.

An easy way to check your big toe flexion is to face a wall with your foot flat and toes climbing the wall. You then put pressure pushing down and flexing the toes at the joints. The big toe should bend to the 70 degrees I mentioned without any pain. Here is a great YouTube video that is about the knees, but it starts with the importance of the big toe. It also provides some great exercises to improve the mobility of the big toes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn3nCCku5As.

I hope you have a great and meaningful “Good Friday” and a great Easter weekend!

God Bless!

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Attachments area

Preview YouTube video Knee Pain Part 1: Check the Feet

Knee Pain Part 1: Check the Feet