Apr 17, 2025 11:27 AM IST
You may be missing a big puzzle piece in your back pain treatment. Beyond back exercises and fixing postures, an unexpected source is to be blamed.
Bad back pain is commonly believed to originate from poor posture, like slouching at your desk or hunching over your phone for hours on end. While it is certainly one of the contributors, you may be turning a blind eye to another cause.
It might sound uncommon, but weak feet and ankles may be one of the root causes of back pain.
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Fitness expert and founder of Cult Fit, Rishabh Telang, revealed how people overlook the connection between feet and back pain.
He said, “Did you know that your back pain could actually be originating from your foot? And this blows people’s mind when I tell them that if you have weakness in your feet and ankles, it is going to have consequences and lead to injuries up the order in your knee, hip and your overall upper body.”
Exercises to build strong feet and ankles
Rishabh shared a few exercises that help address this problem, strengthening the ankles and feet:
- Sit down on a chair, bring one leg out and extend the ankle and imagine your toe is a pencil and draw all the alphabets using your toes from A to Z. Do the same thing on the other leg as well.
- Bring a chair and place one leg on top, and then drive your knee all the way ahead of your toes and grab the chair at the bottom so you deepen the stretch. Bring it back and repeat. 10 repetitions on each leg.
- Stand straight and bring your weight onto your toes by lifting your heels off the ground, and then walk a total of 10 steps. Now, exactly the opposite, bring your weight onto your heels by lifting your toes off the ground and walk another 10 steps.
Ripple effect
Based on his explanation and the exercises shared, it’s clear that poor ankle and foot health can trigger a ripple effect throughout the body. Furthermore, this could also help explain why simply fixing your posture or doing back exercises might not entirely resolve your back pain.
This extends to many other areas, too. Instead of just focusing on the immediate source (in this case, fixing the posture), it’s time to look around, as the body is interconnected, and the real cause may be elsewhere, somewhere you didn’t think of before.
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
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