Is it true that most of us turn our feet out, like a duck, when we walk, stand, or run? Yes, but not all foot turnout is the same; there are varying degrees. As I learned from Katy Bowman, a biomechanist, foot turnout may be initiated at the hips, with both the upper leg (femur) and the lower leg rotating out from the body’s midline, with the feet following that outward rotation. Or, turned-out feet may result from the lower leg turning out relative to the femur, with the foot following the lower leg’s position. A twist in the leg bone itself could also influence the foot position. So, as you can see, fixing foot position is not as simple as just turning the feet in.
The reason foot turnout is so common is that modern life has molded our bodies through the use of stiff, narrow-toe boxed shoes, excessive sitting, and walking on flat man-made surfaces, to name a few. Our bodies are shaped by how we use them.
Should we be walking or standing with toes and knees forward? Ideally, yes. When we walk with our feet and legs aligned it allows our joints, ligaments, and muscles to have the best chance of being aligned as well. This reduces stress on the joints and improves blood flow to the tissues. But how you get into neutral feet is essential. You don’t want to force yourself into a position after years and perhaps decades of walking with feet splayed out. It’s best to make shifts gradually to give the tissues time to adapt.
If so, should we all aim to correct this? Why? Absolutely, it’s a good goal to move toward. For me, it’s a way to ensure independence when I get older. I want to be able to go hiking when I’m 80 years old and not worry about tripping and fracturing a hip. I know some elders who refuse to climb stairs or are afraid to walk on sidewalks without a walker. I’m taking care of my feet and knees now to ensure I won’t be held back later.
Foot turn-out is not the position our feet are designed to bear our weight in. If we walk with our feet turned out all the time, it creates unnecessary stress on the joints. Take, for instance, the feet that turn out because the lower leg is also turned out, but the femur rotates inward. This position places strain on the knee where the upper and lower legs meet. This positioning can also lead to damage to the meniscus and anterior cruciate ligaments of the knee, arthritis, inflamed nerves, low bone density (due to improper weight-bearing), muscle strain, and foot problems.
Let’s try an experiment. Stand up and line up the outside edges of your feet so they’re straight. Take a slow step forward, noticing where you feel the weight pass through your foot. It should feel evenly distributed as you pass over the ball of the foot (see image below, left). Now turn your foot out and do this exercise again. As your weight passes over your turned-out foot, the bulk of the weight is concentrated over the inside of the foot near the big toe (see image on the right). This strain on the foot, coupled with narrow-toe boxed shoes, can lead to bunions and plantar fasciosis (tissue death of the plantar fascia).
How should we try to correct our alignment? As I mentioned earlier, gradual is best. I wish I had one exercise that was a magic bullet, but it’s not that simple. No one area of your body works in a vacuum. I would say the best place to start is with the book Whole Body Barefoot: Transitioning Well to Minimal Footwear by Katy Bowman, a biomechanist. The book is complete with easy-to-follow foot-corrective exercises from a whole-body perspective. It’s an excellent book, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Is it just awareness, or are there techniques for self-correcting? It’s both. If you did a full hour of correctives every day but spent eight hours or more positioning your body in your old habits, your body will remember the position it held the longest, making change an uphill battle. Remember, your habits got you here in the first place. Awareness is key. Start looking at your stance, gait, how you sit, and how often you sit. Have someone videotape you walking and check out photos of yourself standing. Wearing shoes that don’t constrict your toes is essential as well. If you are wearing shoes with a narrow toe box, you have less of a base to stand on, which can cause your feet to turn out to compensate. Correct Toes™ and a wide-toe-boxed shoe can help strengthen your foundation.
Correct Toes™ toe spacers
Once your feet are more parallel, will you feel a difference in the rest of the body? Yes, at first, it may feel odd, like you’re pigeon-toed. Practice the stance and restorative exercises in the Whole Body Barefoot book while standing before trying to walk with your feet straight. If you need extra guidance, seek help from a Nutritious Movement Certified Restorative Exercise Specialist who can help you with an individualized plan. Eventually, you should start to feel more stable in your body, with better blood flow to your feet and legs. There will be less strain on the knees and hips. The pelvic floor will also benefit from the correct foot and leg position. You can not activate the proper muscles that support the pelvic floor during gait if your feet and legs are not tracking correctly.
What about dancers, does their turnout cause stress to the body? Like any athlete, their bodies are molded for performing a specific task, like ballet, soccer, or baseball. What is done for performance is often very different than what is done for the longevity of healthy tissue. So, they too will have similar issues.
I often hear that people are told by their doctors that their bad knees are caused by excess weight, but I see the same knee issues in thin people and in athletes. It’s not necessarily the excess body weight that’s causing the knee injury, but how the weight is carried. Alignment matters!
Author: Barbara Horsley has more than 26 years of experience as a licensed massage therapist. She specializes in abdominal massage and Visceral Manipulation™ and is an NCBTMB-approved educator. In addition to being certified in abdominal massage, she also studied biomechanics and restorative exercise. She is also a Certified Women’s Herbal Educator and a graduate of the IWHI Perimenopause & Menopause Certificate Program.