Mobility Series Part 2

Hey powerhouse,

Welcome to Part 2 of our Mobility Series!

At Wild Fox Way, we are all about quality education, empowerment and helping women build a better relationship with training that lasts :)

In the video below, Shenoa is going to take you through a few key exercises we use in our foundations programs with our 1 on 1 clients to help you develop your feet and ankle stability. Doing so is essential for great posture, longevity and avoidance of injuries or limitations in your ankles, knees and hips. It will also greatly increase your range of motion in bigger compound exercises such as squats and harder skills like pistol squats. This is important if you want to be able to build strength and acquire longevity.

The exercises in the video below are designed to prime your body and warm you up before tackling bigger strength work but also act as a gentle movement warm up series for everyday movement and life that you can practice anytime, anywhere.

Firstly, here's the instructions and then you can scroll to the bottom to follow along with the video. Happy moving!

Feet Series

The first exercise is a foot warm up sequence so ditch the shoes and let's move.

i. Toe Separations

Step 1: Place your feet hip width apart with a slight bend in your knees. Tuck your hips so your spine is in a neutral alignment. If you're not sure what that means, check out my spinal alignment video here.

Step 2: Lift your big toes and press your little toes into the floor. Hold for 2 seconds then swap and press the big toes down, lifting the little toes. Avoid moving your ankles and rolling them inwards and outwards. Try to maintain ankle stability and use your feet muscles to do the work. If you're struggling, try it seated and use your hands to provide some tactile feedback until you begin to improve.

Suggested dosage:

Try doing 3 rounds of approx. 10 separations per round.

ii. Big Toe Raises

Step 1: Bring your feet together, heels touching and try to keep your ankles touching as much as possible.

Step 2: Imagine you have a 20 cent coin placed under each of your big toes. Rise up onto your big toes, keeping your legs straight, knees straight and heels touching. Balance for 5 seconds. You might need to stand by a wall when you're getting started to help with balance until your stability increasesovertime.

Suggested dosage:

Try doing 3 rounds, 5 repetitions and hold for 5 seconds per rep.

iii. Standing on One Leg Eyes Closed (SOOLEC)

Step 1: Stand on one leg, keep the knee locked and toes pressed into the floor rather than scrunched.

Step 2: With the other leg, extend out in front with your foot flexed to bring some tension and awareness into your quad muscle.

Step 3: Hold you balance for 60 seconds each side keeping the working leg as straight as possible. When you feel like you have your balance, close your eyes and continue balancing. You should feel your working leg heating up as all the stabilising muscles around your ankle, knee, hip and glutes fire up and get going!

Tip: If you're struggling to balance with your eyes closed, stand next to a wall and place one finger against the wall to help you stabilise until your stability improves.

Suggested dosage:

3 rounds, 60 seconds per side.

Outside Squats

Tip 1: Stand with your feet hip width apart and rock onto the outside of edge of your ankles. It's normal for this to feel a bit uncomfortable bu do not force beyond a 6/10 on discomfort. You don't want to cause any pain but a bit of strain is great.

Tip 2: Staying on the outside edge of your feet, perform a squat to half depth. If that feels fine, try and work to deepen your squat range with each rep.

Suggested dosage:

3 sets, 10 reps.

Inside Squats

Tip 1: Stand with your feet a little wider than hip width and roll into the inside edge of your feet/ankles. Like your outside squats, it's normal to experience a bit of discomfort in this range but avoid force or pain.

Tip 2: Perform a squat allowing your body to bend forward slightly, keep your back nice and straight and touch your knees together as you squat keeping your balance and weight on the inside edge of your feet the whole way through.

Suggest dosage:

3 sets, 10 reps.

Here is the video instructions below. Enjoy and as always, please don't hesitate to ask us anything by clicking on our contact page here.