Plantar flexing the toes also adducts them

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At least with my foot, which I strengthen every couple of days with resisted plantarflexion exercise ( toes straight and moving around the MTPJs ( toe knuckle joints) ,plantar flexing the toes in a doming exercise type fashion also sees the toes pulled together at the metatarsal joints.

It's easy to see in this youtube video . This is likely to be relevant when it comes to hallux valgus and foot mechanics generally.

Video link

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AGGsiqxU98M?feature=share

 

An interesting paper was recently published on the subject of hallux valgus and postural sway by Sheree E Hurn et al 2025 .
One of the highlight was "Intrinsic foot muscle strength is an important therapeutic target in hallux valgus. "
But how best to strength ?

Paper----

Muscle activity and postural sway during standing balance tasks in adults with hallux valgus reporting low levels of foot pain: A case-control study Sheree E Hurn et al 2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2025.106629Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
Open access
Highlights

• •
  Adults with hallux valgus and low foot pain can maintain their balance performance.
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  Hallux valgus did not alter abductor hallucis activation during single limb stance.
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  Larger abductor hallucis size correlated to reduced sway in hallux valgus.
• •
  Intrinsic foot muscle strength is an important therapeutic target in hallux valgus.

Extract from paper
--"The findings of this study have important clinical implications, highlighting that if individuals with moderate-severe HV maintain AbH size and toe flexion strength, this may mitigate any decline in balance or functional performance reportedly associated with HV (Hurn et al., 2015; Menz et al., 2005). It is recommended that clinicians screen for IFM weakness in HV, prioritising this as a therapeutic target in HV where strength deficits may be identified, and it should be highlighted that this becomes increasingly important in older adults and those with other falls risk factors (e.g. sensory neuropathy). IFM strengthening exercises are simple and safe to perform in older adult populations and have been shown to be effective to increase AbH CSA in HV (Kim et al., 2015). "