Fix Foot Pain with these Wunda-ful Exercises

Do your feet hurt? With all they do for us, it’s no wonder. And for some reason, we tend to ignore the pain as long as possible before we do anything about it – myself included! Not too long ago, I had such bad foot pain that I could barely walk. So, I turned to the one of the best ways to fix foot pain that I know, the Wunda Chair, and I’m happy to report I’m walking (and running) pain-free again. No Wunda Chair? No problem! I’ve got some Wunda-inspired exercises to help you prevent and fix foot pain wherever you are. 

Why Foot Pain Happens

We spend a lot of time taking care of our core and back, and rightly so, since it supports our entire body. We visit the chiropractor, the massage therapist, and work on our core strength. Our feet work just as hard, but outside of Pilates we don’t usually give them a second thought until the pain starts. When was the last time you had a great foot massage? 

With all the tendons, joints, and muscles in there, our feet can get just as tight and immobile as any other part of the body, if not more. And thinking about how our hips, knees, and legs work together to move us forward, why don’t we include our feet? When our hips are unbalanced, for instance, it affects our stride, back, and even knees; of course it will affect our feet too. 

The foot pain that I had was pretty extreme, and had I been more disciplined and consistent with my Pilates workouts on the Wunda Chair, I probably could have avoided the injuries in the first place. I had a heel spur that gave me sharp heel pain, plantar fasciitis, and also pain along the side of my foot. Eventually, I couldn’t put my foot down flat without intense pain. I started to wonder if I would ever run again. 

So how did this all happen? It was a combination of things: 

• Poor foot and ankle mobility
• An extremely tight calf 
• Weak glutes
• A big discrepancy in strength on one side of my body vs the other

I could write a whole blog on how each of these occurred, but I’d rather focus on my favourite Wunda Chair exercises that helped me to both fix foot pain and got me running again. 

Using the Wunda Chair to Fix Foot Pain

Why do I love the Wunda Chair so much? By design, it’s ideal for improving foot mobility and strength, along with the muscles and joints connected to them. Keep in mind that the muscles of the legs, hips, and back also all need mobilizing and strengthening to help with the foot as well.  Once you understand how the Wunda Chair can help fix foot pain, you can modify the same principles if you don’t have access to the apparatus. 

Single Leg Work

There are many exercises on the Wunda Chair that work just one leg or side of the body at a time. For example, there are single leg pumps from the front and the side. These types of exercises require you to find balance on the standing leg. This helps to strengthen the muscles supporting the ankle, knee, and hip, while also engaging the core to keep from falling over or being “bucked off” the chair. 

While all of that is happening, the working leg has its own job. When you focus on how you press the pedal of the chair down, you need to find more control by connecting to the hips, glutes, and even the hamstrings and quads. The great thing about single leg work is that your strong side can’t help your weaker side, allowing the weaker leg to get stronger.

Foot Mobility

Thanks to the springs, the Wunda Chair offers extra resistance when using it. This adds challenge and the possibility for deeper stretches. There is the footwork, which moves the feet through three different positions (plantar flexed, arched, and dorsi flexed), and exercises like foot-ankle (or Achilles stretch), where the movement of the foot is isolated while the foot is being stretched. There are also exercises that invert the foot, giving a nice stretch up the outside of your lower leg.

It’s All Connected

Our feet tend to be incredibly tight, and can often be the root of injuries that we get within our feet or up higher in the body. The opposite is also true; my own injury was from a combination of tight feet and tight calves, but those calves were likely so tight from running with poor foot and ankle mobility. When we don’t allow our feet to move all the ways they should be able to, including wearing shoes all the time, injuries and strain are bound to happen. The Wunda Chair takes the feet through all the movements, while stretching and strengthening them at the same time. 

By making your feet stronger and more mobile, you can fix foot pain and help you avoid it in the future, like my own plantar fasciitis. So start giving your feet some love, either on the Wunda Chair or with similar exercises. 

Here is a video of some of my favourite Wunda Chair exercises and variations to get you started.