How to Improve your Foot Arch Safely with PBT | Avoid harmful stretches!

Dancers value a beautiful arch particularly during tendu, gesturing en l’air and when en pointe.

This beautiful arched foot is achieved by careful articulation through the joints of the foot and ankle. Anatomically the areas which must be articulated through include the ankle joint (talus under the tibia and fibula), the mid foot (the 3 cuneiform bones, the navicular and the cuboid), through the metatarsals and into the phalanges.

To successfully achieve and maintain a beautiful arch these joints must all articulate or move on each other and the muscles responsible for the movements must be strong and working in balance with each other.

Young students who are in pursuit of this arch typically will try various stretches to achieve the ‘look’, stretching over their feet while standing, or placing their feet on a soft block or foam roller and pushing over the front of the foot.

This is not beneficial for increasing the arch as it does not work through the joints of the midfoot and ankle where the arch comes from, instead placing a dangerous strain through the small joints of the toes, risking damaging the joints and small bones of the foot.

In students with an inflexible arch, would be best to:

Use the PBT Small Ball exercise to massage into the arch of the foot working to gently stretch the arch and any tight structures in the foot.

Strengthen the muscles of the calf, foot and toes (the intrinsic muscles) using the larger fusion ball to articulate through the foot from neutral to a demi-pointe then pointed foot with a lengthened ankle, foot and long toes which is more beneficial than any dangerous stretch.