Your Posture Is Dictated By Your Feet & Tongue

By: Nick Sienkiewicz, DPT, CSCS

Your Posture Is Dictated By Your Feet & Tongue

Yup, we’re coming out of the holiday weekend hot!! This week, we’re diving into posture. Most people refer to neck, shoulders and upper back when referencing posture. Images of “ideal posture” are tossed around frequently, and typically depict these areas showing characteristics, like shoulders back and an upright spine. Let’s start off by saying that there is no perfect posture. The ideal statement to reflect posture is: “your best posture is your next posture.” Humans are transient animals. We were made to move. Humans have been accustomed to moving regularly throughout the day (we are also solar beings, and NOT nocturnal animals!) since our initial evolution as homo sapiens. With that being said, humans should also be able to control and stabilize their bodies while in a stationary position. This is usually what individuals are referring to when mentioning posture. When stagnant, we should have the adequate mobility, strength and endurance to hold us upright against the forces of gravity. This is a reality for all animals living on planet Earth! There’s no doubt that our head, shoulders, and spine must possess these qualities. However, I’m going to talk about two lesser discussed, but arguably the most important body parts that are pertinent to driving stability throughout the entire system in order to maintain high quality posture; It’s your feet and your tongue! Many of you reading know that I’m extremely passionate about the feet and their importance in full body health, so I’ll focus on the foot discussion today. That way, we can spend sufficient time on dialogue regarding the tongue and its impact on posture and wellness next week.
Your feet are your foundation. Just like the foundation of your home is critical in keeping your house upright, your feet are fundamental in countering the forces of gravity on your body. A crack in your home’s foundation is considered a detrimental finding and must be addressed immediately. Issues with the human foot are often brushed off as genetic flaws and the result of aging, so our modern world loves to use the band-aid approach for decades until things are too far gone. Now, I must convey that there is a pivotal difference between your house and your feet in this analogy. Your house may be resilient to external stressors, but it is not adaptable. It cannot repair itself. Homes do not respond to the demands placed on them by restoring themselves and growing back stronger. Human feet do though! For optimal posture, we must assure the small muscles in our feet engage well, lengthen efficiently, and have adequate strength and endurance for the stress of our daily lives. When standing quietly, you should feel five points of contact with the ground on each foot (even with shoes on). The five points of contact are as follows:

The heel
The big toe knuckle
The big toe
The pinky toe
The pinky toe knuckle

If on your feet, you should not only be able to feel these points, but you should be able to simultaneously press all five into the ground with strong pressure. Many will notice that when they push one of the five areas, they may lose pressure or even full contact with one or more of the other points. For example, when you press the tip of the big toe, a good portion of people with “tent” the foot by lifting the big toe knuckle off of the ground, or will completely go airborne with the pinky toe and its corresponding knuckle. Both instances are inefficient for optimal foot function, but can also hinder your postural capacity. In addition to pressing these five areas at once, you should also possess the motor control to preferentially press one point, while simultaneously maintaining contact with the other four areas but simply reducing the pressure at these points. This is called foot tracing. To perform, start at the heel by pressing the heel without toes lifting. Then, move medially tracing along the inner border of the foot to the next point in line; the big toe knuckle. Increase pressure there while reducing pressure in the other four locations. Next, do the same for the big toe, then trace laterally across the middle three toes to the pinky toe. Move on to the pinky toe knuckle, and finally return to the initial heel pressure to close the loop, tracing around the margins of the entire foot. You can trace in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Practicing both will further amplify control. Focus on one foot at a time, then work on both feet together. Many people need to start lying on their back with feet on the wall to reduce the demands of gravity. Foot tracing is a fantastic way to improve your control of the foot muscles and begin restoring foundational strength for appropriate postural stability. Being able to control your foot muscles and drive force through the feet into the ground helps stabilize up the chain. In doing so, you can enhance the appearance of one’s posture, which does matter (most just tend to over-exaggerate the emphasis on postural appearance - aka it’s not as meaningful as people think!). Furthermore, strengthening the foot intrinsic muscles has been shown to reduce upstream symptoms, like low back pain and sciatica, that have been associated with impaired postural control. As I alluded to above, I will not make statements, like “good posture,” but I will not hesitate to exclaim that stronger feet absolutely equals stronger posture!

Once you master foot tracing in standing, you can level up your foot strength and posture by coordinating it with breathing. When standing with both feet firmly on the ground, take a big inhale through your nose with lips closed (more on this next week). As you inhale, simultaneously put pressure through the lateral points of your feet (outer heel, pinky toe knuckle, and pinky toe). Press hard with these areas without losing contact of the medial points (inner heel, big toe knuckle, and big toe). The pressure from these medial points should just soften. You will notice your foot arch come up to a higher position. After a full inhale, pause for a 1-2 count. Then, fully exhale through your nose with closed lips. Exhale slowly, but forcefully. As the same time, move the pressure in both feet medially, driving the big toe, big toe knuckle and inner heel into the ground. Your arch will flatten toward the ground, but you should not lose ground contact with the lateral points of the feet. During the inhalation phase, you will feel your trunk expand and your abdominal muscles lengthen. Upon exhalation, your abdominal muscles will contract and your ribcage will compress. In a harmonized effort, all other body parts will fall into line to create robust and effective posture. Repeat for as many breaths as you would like, and perform regularly throughout the day to make bodily postural maintenance more efficient and stable. Synchronizing your feet and respiration will significantly upgrade your posture without even having to think about your head, shoulders, or back!
I could talk about the utter importance of the feet all day, but I do have a tendency to do so at the expense of other crucial body parts. Next week, I will discuss the tongue and its essential role in posture. I know it sounds a little crazy. Since the tongue is not commonly discussed in reference to posture, I wanted to talk about this body part separately. Principally, the tongue is a muscle. Muscles are what prop our skeleton up against gravity, so the tongue most definitely matters when it comes to posture. One of the reasons it is so crucial to the current state of human postural deviations has to do with the status of modern tongues. Human tongues have become weak, poorly positioned, and used improperly in recent decades due to a variety of environmental and societal factors. Most people in our modern world, especially America, are dealing with some level of tongue dysfunction. This is one of the reasons the fast-growing field of myofunctional therapy has been booming and helping so many people worldwide. Myofunctional therapy is essentially just physical therapy for the tongue and other oral muscles specifically. Ultimately, the tongue has a significant influence on our posture and overall health, so we will dive deeper into this concept next week!

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*Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. The information is meant to be educational in nature. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent and/or cure any disease or health condition. Simultaneously, the information is not stating that any supplements or methods mentioned can replace medications or any interventions prescribed by your healthcare provider. Please speak with your own healthcare provider before beginning any new supplements or making changes that may affect your health. By utilizing any of this information, you are assuming responsibility for your own health decisions and actions.