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Toe curls . What do they achieve ?

Discussion in 'Biomechanics, Sports and Foot orthoses' started by scotfoot, Sep 27, 2019.

  1. scotfoot

    scotfoot Well-Known Member


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    Toe curls are a traditional exercise for "foot strengthening " . But what muscles do they strengthen ? Is it just the long toe flexors (and quadratus plantae ) or do toe curls strengthen the intrinsic muscles of the foot such as the abductor hallucis ?
     
  2. scotfoot

    scotfoot Well-Known Member

    I believe that toe curls might help promote circulation within the foot and EMG studies have shown that towel curls , a gripping exercise , do involve some active contractile activity within the intrinsic foot muscles . However , in my opinion , the level of activity could not be regarded as being even nearly high enough to produce strengthening or muscle growth within the intrinsics .

    Any thoughts ?
     
  3. scotfoot

    scotfoot Well-Known Member

    It has been demonstrated that the intrinsic foot muscles play a crucial role in static balance .

    It has been demonstrated that the intrinsic foot muscles of older people are subject to significant atrophy .

    To the best of my knowledge , it has never been demonstrated that toe curls produce strengthening of the intrinsic foot muscles . In fact in one large study ,Spink et al 2011 , it was demonstrated that "strength training " using increasing numbers of repetitions on a foot curl device produced no toe flexor strengthening after a full year of use .

    In the UK the NHS has advised that older people should engage in strength training twice a week to remain healthy . (see below )

    With regard to the crucial intrinsic foot muscles how is this to be done ?

    NHS advice for older people -

    "So for now the best approach seems to be to follow current recommendations. People over 65 should aim to be active daily with at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity per week (for example, 30 minutes 5 days a week). They should also aim to perform strengthening exercises at least twice a week."
     
  4. scotfoot

    scotfoot Well-Known Member

    Researchers at Brigham Young University have just published a paper (see below ) which demonstrates why toe curls are not an effective exercise for strengthening the abductor halluces in the foot . The exercise produces only relatively low level of activity in this muscle and in my opinion relies instead on the extrinsic toe flexors .

    Doming exercise against resistance produced near maximum activity in the abductor halluces according to the information in the paper .

    Note ; I own Jomarg Innovation a company with interests in this area .

    Paper
    Functional assessments of foot strength: a comparative and ...


    https://bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.com › articles

    1. Cached
    3 days ago - In particular, the intrinsic foot muscles contribute to many of the same actions as larger extrinsic lower limb muscles, making it difficult to isolate their effects
     
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