Foot Training

I have recenly discovered

I HAVE HORRIBLE FOOT WORK.!

I believe its because I have long toes..and weak toes.

I doubt there is much exercise machines for toes...

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so what are some ideas for toe strengthing.?

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thick soled shoes is what i have to resort to currently.

Not that this will be any help to you, but would the majority of climbers that started when they were young (middle school for me) say that their toes are curled up in odd ways even when not wearing climbing shoes? And by "odd ways" I mean they all mash together real nice and compressed all the time, they also have little pockets for each other.

I would think that would be taught in ballet. I'm sure there has to be some sort of exercise. I sometimes rock up on my big toes and try to hold it as long as possible. I've always wondered about the strength of toes being an important factor when it comes to standing on nearly invisible features. This is mostly a guess but I would think a down turned toe box might help you, look for a pair with some thick rubber in the edging area.

Jason Kaplan wrote:I would think that would be taught in ballet.

Yes, ballet dancers have extraordinarily strong intrinsic foot muscles. But I can tell you having done both that ballet foot strength probably only transfers over yea much to climbing.

Conventional intrinsic foot strengthening is usually stuff like doing towel gathers with your toes, but this is reserved for people who have honest-to-god injuries. I think it would bore a healthy person to tears.

I found the two things that helped increase my intrinsic foot strength greatly were climbing a lot of slab and stemming in very soft shoes. It actually cured the chronic sesamoiditis I'd been suffering from for 5 years, oddly, and I attribute it to the greatly increased strength of my feet after many months of this type of climbing.

Edited to add: or, the other thing you could consider is that you have horrible footwork because you have horrible footwork. Technique can suffer due to muscular weakness, but it seems unlikely that's the whole story, bro!

The two solutions that come to mind are complete opposites of eachother:

1.) Tighter shoes. If your toes are curled under the ball of your foot, toe strength will not be an issue. Don't worry, the toe calluses will build and the pain will go away. Warning: people will look with horror at your toes if you wear sandals while out and about.

2.) Climb barefoot. Strengthen your toes the same way you strengthen your fingers. When you put your shoes back on, dime edges will feel like sidewalks.

eyes of green,

you mentioned sesamoiditis, have you broken your sessamoid? my wife did several years ago, and she is hesitant to climb slab, and is always looking for a stiffer shoe. my theory is that she should climb more slab to build up that little ball of muscle/ligament/whatever around her sessamoid. sorry about the complete lack of anything scientific, but that isn't my specialty. what are your thoughts on all of this.

oh yeah, back to the thread... lucas, DEFINITELY make yourself go out and do a lot of slab climbing. i do this every once in a while and it definitely has improved my foot strength. i usually do this quite a bit in the winter, as it is cold on the hands inside cracks, and my hands don't seem to get cold crushing tiny crimpers. you will be pleasantly surprised at how much this improves your overall climbing also.

Dusty wrote:...2.) Climb barefoot. Strengthen your toes the same way you strengthen your fingers. When you put your shoes back on, dime edges will feel like sidewalks.

There's a guy at the local climbing gym who climbs wearing those toe shoes. You know, those shoes that wrap around each toe individually? He also does toe raises and stuff, so I guess he's way into the foot-strengthening thing.

Lucas:

The ballet thing is the right idea...tighter shoes that crimp your toes are not a complete answer. (I have long toes too, but, as former ballet dancer & teacher of same, have no problem standing on the ends of them for whatever time it takes...) Tight shoes are like wearing a girdle and hoping it will strengthen your abs and make you look skinny. Tight, downcambered shoes are designed help those with weak toes and flat arches to emulate the positions (i.e. hard hooking/pulling, precision point&nail) that a really strong foot can achieve without so much aid. Of course, even if your feet are already strong, the right shoe will give some additional mechanical advantage. Problem is, a super tight shoe will, like the girdle, not help the basic structure (your foot) become stronger..it may actually interfere.

You don't have to take ballet classes (unless you like the idea of being the only guy in a room full of 15 teenage girls) to strengthen your feet.

Here are some ideas for the whole assembly: calves, ankles, longitudinal arch, metatarsal arch, and articulations of the toes.:
1) get a towel, put it on the floor, and sit down next to it. With bare feet, pull the towel toward you with your toes (10-20 times), then push it away. Really press the backs of your toes into the floor for maximum straighten, then pull hard for maximum bend. Do this while watching TV, reading, etc. and work up to many sets. It's sort of like power putty for the feet.
2) pretend that you have to let a stream of water flow under your arch, except that your heel and toes are glued to the floor. This will force you to raise your arch and elongate your foot without scrunching your toes. Repeat many x.
3) go barefoot sometimes on rough surfaces. it strengthens almost all of the intrinsic muscles of the feet
4) practice releves (hold onto the kitchen counter, and roll up from flat feet to standing on the ball of your foot.) make sure that your ankles do not roll to the inside or outside. do on two feet, then one foot. periodically, bend your knees to stretch your calves.
5) if this is too comfortable, rotate your legs to 'turn out' (only as far as comfortable). do the same roll up, but now make it dynamic and execute a small jump, pushing off from your toes (without bending your knees in preparation). but bend your knees as you land.
6) do ankle rolls and write the alphabet in the air with your foot
7) there are other exercises designed specifically for improving precision footwork related to climbing. (books: self-coached climber? how to climb 5.12? 'quiet feet' 'tracking' 'foot match' exercises, etc. I recall one coach asking us to climb for a couple of hours in crocs or flip flops other similarly slippery footwear. as i recall, on top rope. sure makes you focus...)

This type of thing is also good for ice-climbing - helps strengthen the lower 1/4 for front-pointing.

Good luck & good climbing!

slim wrote:eyes of green, you mentioned sesamoiditis, have you broken your sessamoid? my wife did several years ago, and she is hesitant to climb slab, and is always looking for a stiffer shoe. my theory is that she should climb more slab to build up that little ball of muscle/ligament/whatever around her sessamoid. sorry about the complete lack of anything scientific, but that isn't my specialty. what are your thoughts on all of this.

Sesamoids in both of my feet were injured, the lateral ones to be specific (or, uh, that means if you are looking at the bottom of your foot in your lap, the ones that are closer to the outside edge of your foot). But they were not fractured. Sesamoid fracture is just one reason you might develop sesamoiditis.

Was your wife's sesamoid fracture on a medial sesamoid (closer to the inside edge of her foot and usually more palpable with your hands)?

She can start out with stiffer shoes if she wants, but as long as her fracture is healed there is no reason not to strengthen the foot. I just happened to climb in soft shoes, which will force the foot to get even stronger, but she could always "work up" to such footwear.

I agree with your theory of what she should do, slim! The sesamoid may seem a bit aggravated initially, but after several months I realized one day every shred of pain/discomfort had vanished. Note: sport climbing never seemed to help me; in fact the edging was painful for the sesamoid. But once my feet got stronger with trad and slab climbing, I didn't have issues during sport climbing.

when training indoor wear a thin pair of gloves you will be forced to think about your feet

Slabs and long boulder traverses with slippers will do wonders. Mythos are a good option because they are much more comfortable than many bouldering slippers. It is hard to strengthen your feet if you are in too much pain so tighter shoes may not be the best option.

OK, so you can exercise your feet specifically, but I have a question: I often just climb in my regular shoes (work shoes/boots) and they are terribly slippery and don't edge, but I am thinking to myself that this will force me to climb better (because it is harder), am I really doing myself any favors? would it be better to always use the climbing shoes?

Of course the work shoes force more weight on my hands/fingers and I am sure that helps hand contact strength, but I am wondering which shoes are going to help my footwork most?