Painful plantar fasciitis can stop your running workout in its track.

Are you feeling frustrated by a pain in your foot that just won’t get better? Read my guide to find out exactly what plantar faciitis is and how you can treat it.

You just simply need to ICE, stretch & strengthen read on to learn some hints and tips to get you back running ASAP!

What exactly is painful plantar fasciitis?

Painful plantar fasciitis is simply the overloading of a small tiny little muscle in your foot. This tiny little muscle connects the heel with the toes and is a common problem for runners upping their mileage too quickly.

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A post shared by Erin Horne (@danceanatomynutritionworkshop) on Aug 19, 2020 at 10:59am PDT

What are the causes of painful plantar fasciitis?

You are experiencing pain on the bottom of your foot. So what exactly causes painful plantar fasciitis? The leading causes of plantar fasciitis are;

• Overpronation/flat feet – overpronation means that your foot rolls inward as you move. 
• Reduced range into dorsiflexsion – in simple terms Dorsiflexion is the action of raising the foot upwards towards the shin.
• Sudden increase in force brought about increasing running mileage too quickly
• Excessive weight gain including obesity and pregnancy
• Improperly fitting shoes

You have a pain in your foot but you aren’t sure whether it is plantar fasciitis?

What are plantar fasciitis symptoms?

• Do you suffer from foot stiffness and pain in the morning?
• Do you feel pain on direct pressure over the painful site on your foot?
• Do you feel pain walking up stairs, when standing on your tip toes, or standing for long periods?
• Does your pain lessen when you exercise?
• Does your Calf or Achilles feel tight?

Can you identify with most of the points above? You need to carefully read need to follow the treatment advice below.

How do you treat painful plantar fasciitis?

Treat the underlying issue by working out what might be causeing the painful plantar fasciitis. Some great questions you can ask yourself are:

ICE

ICE your foot as soon as you feel the pain especially if there is swelling. You can also use a frozen golf ball. Be careful not to be too aggressive. You don’t want to do any more damage.

Biomechanics

Biomechanics (your movement when running). Video yourself running and check there are no obvious signs of misalignment. Are you landing on the inside or outside of your foot? @upandrunning have a treadmill in their running shop with cameras and experts on hand to give you advice on the best shoe for your running technique.

Instagram

The @thebarefootpodiatrist creates some really useful content helping people understand how tightness in the body can create pain and in balances in the feet. He has some great rehab and prehab exercises that will really help your painful plantar fasciitis.

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Plant those big toes 💪🏽 • Driving the big toe toward the floor helps to activate /engage the posterior chain (arch & glutes), which means improved form and performance. • Lots of people become disconnected from their big toes thanks to shoes! You may even find yourself lifting the big toes during movements such as walking or squatting when the toe should be down. • A nice cue to keep the toes down is to place a band between the feet anchored down by the big toes. This is a nice pass/fail. If the band flicks out you haven’t kept the toes down. • Try sitting in the deep squat with the toes down .Move in and out of the squat to ensure you can control those toes during movement as well as when resting.

A post shared by Paul Thompson (@thebarefootpodiatrist) on Aug 14, 2020 at 4:18am PDT

Fix Tightness

Excess tension in your calves and Achilles can be key contributors to your painful plantar fasciitis. This tightness can be eased by seeking a professional sports massage. You may also get relief by attending your local yoga class

Manage Weight Gain

Weight gain can be a key contributor so you may need to consider getting professional help managing your weight. Check out my blog article to read about an easy way to start safely losing weight.

How can you lose weight running?

The perfect excuse to buy more shoes

The wrong running shoes can be a source of your painful plantar fasciitis. My blog article below on how running injury can be cured by wearing the right footwear can be a good place to start.

Running injury cured through the best running shoes for training

Reduce training load or try some cross training

 There are a few different pieces of gym equipment, which can be supplement running. Many of the training sessions you can try include converting your running sessions to the rower, ski erg, elliptical machine, or bike. Just take the time and percentage efforts of your training sessions and try them one of the above pieces of equipment.

There are some great workouts you can try are posted daily on the crossfit.com website. Any running efforts just supplement for one of the pieces of equipment above.

A great session you can try is….

4 rounds for time of:

Row 500 meters
Rest 3 minutes

It’s harder than it looks and will give you the same post session high as after a run.

You have treated using the methods above, your foot is feeling better, now it’s time to begin a specific strengthening program.

All you need to do is to sign up to get your free rehab programme. The movements in this programme are also great for preventing injury. To keep consistent and enjoy your runs staying injury free is key. I really do hope this programme helps you keep enjoying running for long!

Please so leave feedback in my comments letting me know how you found the workouts :).