Question about my arches

Barefootconservative

Barefooters
Oct 14, 2017
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I have flat arches. I have been doing various exercises to help strengthen them, but I wondered when I would be able to tell when they're strong enough. I wonder specifically if my arches should stay up no matter what, or if they should still be able to collapse on command. Basically, do those of you with strong healthy arches just keep your arches have the ability to collapse them without too much effort? Like if you relax your muscles much, so the arches collapse? That's what happens to me, I'm not forcing my arches up, but they don't just stay up automatically.
 
Well, I am not really sure about terminology here (what is "collapse"?), but I can not make the soft skin inside my (medial longitudinal) arch touch the ground on a flat surface, no matter how. I never could, as far as I can remember. I can make the arch a little bit higher by doing this "short foot" or "active arch" exercise they show in those foot exercise videos, but I never consciously perform this movement. My footprint on asphalt always looks more or less the same, regardless of standing, walking, or running, at least that is my impression from just looking at it. For the record, I have not noticed any change to this since I run barefoot.
 
As long as you keep your feet in shoes most of the year, most of the time, you are never going to fully realize your arches' true potential. Exercising them helps, but it's nowhere near what naturally being barefoot most of 24/7/365 can do for you.

Otherwise, if you were making a real effort to be barefoot all the time, I would have suggested doing a wet footprint before then after a period of time to show any difference.

When you walk, your arches may or may not touch the ground (collapse); either way may be normal for you. It's not a matter of high arches or low arches but healthy arches.
 
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As long as you keep your feet in shoes most of the year, most of the time, you are never going to fully realize your arches' true potential. Exercising them helps, but it's nowhere near what naturally being barefoot most of 24/7/365 can do for you.

Otherwise, if you were making a real effort to be barefoot all the time, I would have suggested doing a wet footprint before then after a period of time to show any difference.

When you walk, your arches may or may not touch the ground (collapse); either way may be normal for you. It's not a matter of high arches or low arches but healthy arches.
Yes, but do healthy arches keep their shape, and can't be flattened (collapsed) no matter how hard you try?
 
Yes, but do healthy arches keep their shape, and can't be flattened (collapsed) no matter how hard you try?
There should be some movement in the structures of your feet when moving through the gait cycle whether walking or running. If yours are not, then you may need to see a doctor. In the meantime, have a friend take some slow motion video of your walking and running and post it in our Ask the Docs forum to see what they think.