Most runners I know train their legs from the knees up. Quads, glutes, hamstrings, maybe some core. The feet? They get crammed into shoes and asked to handle 200+ ground contacts per minute for hours on end with zero specific preparation. Then we wonder why plantar fascia screams, ankles roll on roots, and shin splints come back every spring.
I am a physiotherapist, and I run ultras and orienteer across rough European terrain. The single biggest shift in my own running, and in the advice I give to my callanetics students who also run, has been treating the foot and ankle as trainable muscle groups, not passive structures. The foot has 29 muscles. The ankle has a stability system that responds to load just like a hamstring does. If you spend ten focused minutes a few times a week on the work below, you will run with quieter joints and recover faster from the small twists that used to sideline you.
Here is the layered routine I actually do, in the order I do it.
Why these exercises matter (the short version)
When your foot lands during running, the arch deforms, stores energy, and springs back. That spring is partly tendon, partly intrinsic foot muscles. Weak intrinsics means the arch collapses passively into the ligaments, which is where plantar fasciitis often starts. Weak ankle stabilisers means the joint relies on bracing strategies higher up the chain, and that is when knees and hips start complaining.
Foot strength for runners is not about making your foot rigid. It is about making it responsive. A strong foot adapts to uneven ground in milliseconds. A weak foot fights it.
Layer 1: Intrinsic foot activation
The intrinsic foot muscles live entirely inside the foot. They control the arch from the inside. Most runners cannot even feel them at first, which is a clue about how dormant they are.
Short foot exercise
This is the foundation. Sit barefoot with your foot flat on the floor. Without curling your toes, try to draw the ball of your foot toward your heel. Your arch should lift slightly. Toes stay long and relaxed. You will feel a small dome rise under the arch.
That is it. It looks like nothing. It is everything.
- Dosage: 3 sets of 10 holds, each held for 5 seconds. Daily for the first 2-3 weeks while you learn it, then 3-4 times per week.
- Progression: once you can do it sitting, do it standing on two feet, then on one foot, then while doing a slow squat.
I do these while brushing my teeth. Two minutes, twice a day. No equipment.
Toe yoga
Lift only your big toe while keeping the other four pressed down. Then reverse: press the big toe down, lift the other four. Most people cannot do this at first. The neural connections are rusty.
- Dosage: 2 sets of 10 each direction, 3-4 times per week.
- Why it matters: the big toe needs to push the ground away on every stride. If it cannot dissociate from the other toes, you lose a huge chunk of propulsion and the load shifts to the smaller toes and the second metatarsal head.
Towel scrunches
Place a small towel on a smooth floor. With bare feet, use your toes to scrunch it toward you. Old school, still effective.
- Dosage: 2 sets of 20-30 seconds, 2-3 times per week.
Layer 2: Mid-foot and arch work
Once the intrinsics are awake, you load them.
Calf raise with toe lift (the under-rated one)
Stand on a flat surface. Lift your heels into a calf raise, then while still up on the balls of your feet, lift your toes off the ground. You should feel an intense contraction through the arch. Lower with control.
- Dosage: 3 sets of 12, twice a week.
- Common mistake: rolling onto the outer edge of the foot. Keep the big toe pad pressed into the floor.
Arch doming under load
Stand on one foot. Hold a moderate weight in the opposite hand (a kettlebell or a heavy bag works). Now perform a short foot action while standing. The arch lifts slightly under load.
- Dosage: 3 sets of 8 each side, holding 3 seconds.
- This is brutal at first. Start lighter than your ego suggests.
Layer 3: Ankle stability
The ankle has two main jobs in running: absorb landing and resist rolling. Both need training.
Single leg balance progressions
Single leg balance is the unsexy backbone of ankle stability exercises. Most runners can stand on one leg easily on a hard floor. Add complexity and the truth comes out.
The progression I use:
- Dosage: 5-10 minutes total, 3 times per week. Pick whichever stage you currently fail at and live there for two weeks before moving on.
I do these on my kitchen floor while waiting for the kettle. Stage 6 I save for when my older son wants to throw a ball around.
Banded ankle drills
Loop a resistance band around your forefoot, anchor it to a table leg. Sit with your leg straight.
- Inversion: pull the foot inward against the band. 2 sets of 15.
- Eversion: pull the foot outward against the band. This one is critical because the peroneal muscles on the outside of the ankle are usually weaker and they are what stops you from rolling onto the outside of your foot. 3 sets of 15. Yes, more on eversion than inversion. Most runners need it. If you have ever had any peroneal grumbling, this is non-negotiable, and I wrote a full rehab protocol in Peroneal Tendinopathy: A Phase-by-Phase Rehab Protocol From a Trail-Running Physio that goes deeper than what fits here.
- Dorsiflexion and plantarflexion: 2 sets of 15 each.
Twice per week is plenty.
Layer 4: Calf and posterior tibialis loading
The posterior tibialis is the tendon that runs behind your inner ankle bone and helps hold your arch up dynamically. When it gets weak or irritated, you get inner ankle pain and a collapsing arch. Strengthening it pays off enormously.
Heel raises off a step
Stand on the edge of a step with your heels hanging off. Rise up onto the balls of your feet, pause at the top, lower slowly until your heels are below the step. The slow lowering is where the strength is built.
- Dosage: 3 sets of 12-15, twice per week. Lower for 3 seconds each rep.
- Progression: once bodyweight is easy, hold a dumbbell or backpack with weight.
Single leg heel raises
Same exercise, one leg at a time. Aim for 25 single-leg raises per side, full range, without the heel cheating up. Most runners I work with cannot do 10 cleanly on the first attempt. This is a benchmark worth chasing.
Posterior tib isolation
Sit with your leg crossed so your ankle rests on the opposite knee. Loop a band around the inside of your forefoot, hold the other end. Now point your foot down and inward against the band, like you are trying to scoop sand. Slow and controlled.
- Dosage: 3 sets of 12, twice per week.
How I fit this into a real week
I am not going to pretend I do every exercise every day. Nobody does. Here is how it actually slots into my week, between teaching callanetics, school runs with the boys, and longer trail sessions on weekends.
Monday (after callanetics class):
- Short foot, toe yoga, towel scrunches (5 minutes)
- Single leg balance progression (5 minutes)
Tuesday (easy run day):
- Heel raises off step, single leg version (10 minutes)
- Banded ankle eversion (3 minutes)
Wednesday: rest from foot work. Often a longer run.
Thursday:
- Short foot under load with kettlebell (5 minutes)
- Posterior tib isolation (5 minutes)
- Single leg balance with distractions (5 minutes)
Friday: light intrinsic work only, because Saturday is usually long.
Saturday: long run or race. No strength work.
Sunday: walk with the family, maybe 5 minutes of short foot and balance while standing around.
Total foot-specific time: about 30-40 minutes spread across the week. That is less than one episode of a Netflix show.
What changes when you actually do it
The first thing runners notice is not strength. It is awareness. You start feeling the inside edge of your big toe pushing off. You feel the difference between a foot that is gripping the ground and a foot that is sitting on it.
Within 4-6 weeks, the more measurable stuff shows up. Better balance on uneven trails. Less of that worried-tendon feeling in the morning. Calves that fatigue later in long runs. Ankles that ride out small rolls without it becoming a sprain.
If you have had knee pain that has not responded to quad work, foot strength is often the missing piece, because a collapsing arch sends rotational forces straight up the chain. I covered that overlap in 5 Knee-Strengthening Exercises I Give Every Runner with Cranky Knees if your knees are the loudest complaint right now.
A few honest cautions
- Build slowly. If your intrinsics have been asleep for 30 years, do not do 100 short foot reps on day one and expect to walk normally on day two. Sore feet from strength work feels remarkably similar to the early stages of plantar fasciitis, and you will not be able to tell the difference if you go too hard.
- Barefoot at home helps, but transition gradually. If you have lived in supportive shoes for decades, going fully barefoot or into minimal footwear overnight is asking for trouble. Add 10-15 minutes of barefoot time per day and increase from there.
- Pain is information. Some muscle burn and next-day soreness is normal. Sharp pain in the plantar fascia, the Achilles, or the inner ankle tendon is not. Back off, reassess, and if it persists more than a week, see a physiotherapist in person.
The short version
If you only have ten minutes, three times a week, do this:
That covers intrinsics, balance, calf strength and the under-trained outside-ankle stabilisers. It is not the full routine, but it is the 80% that delivers most of the benefit.
Train the feet. They are the only part of you that touches the ground.