Strengthen your feet and ankles to prevent plantar fasciitis

What to Do

Perform foot and ankle strengthening exercises 3 times per week: towel scrunches, "foot doming" (short foot exercise), calf raises (both eccentric and concentric), and ankle alphabet circles.

Why It Works

Plantar fasciitis affects up to 17.4% of runners, and a 2020 study found runners who did NOT do foot/ankle strengthening were 2.4x more likely to develop injury over one year. Eccentric heel drops are the gold-standard exercise for both preventing and treating Achilles and plantar fascia issues. These exercises build the intrinsic foot muscles that support your arch under running loads.

Tips

• Eccentric heel drops: stand on a step, rise up on toes, then slowly lower heels below step level (3 sets of 15)
• Runners exceeding 40 km/week have 6x higher plantar fasciitis risk — strengthen before you build volume
• If you develop heel pain, begin calf and plantar fascia stretching immediately
• Going barefoot around the house helps build foot intrinsic strength naturally