October 5, 2025, 4:06 pm | Read time: 5 minutes
Feet are often underestimated in strength training. They provide us with a lot of information, such as body posture and ground texture. Incorrect foot positioning can lead to overloads, such as in the lower back. Even when doing standing bicep curls, foot positioning matters! A sports scientist explains how to determine if your feet are properly positioned during strength exercises.
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Who Thinks About Feet During Strength Training?
When starting strength training, you might want to improve your overall fitness, tackle back pain, or achieve certain beauty ideals. In the gym, you can train all muscles from neck to calf. But who thinks further during strength training–namely, about the feet?
Johannes Hell is a sports scientist and lecturer at the German University for Prevention and Health Management (DHFPG). He explains the role our feet play in the entire musculoskeletal system, why we should involve them more in strength training–and how.
What Can Happen If Feet Aren’t Properly Aligned During Strength Training
Johannes Hell: “Yes, feet are generally often underestimated. They are our only contact point with the ground and provide us with a lot of information, such as body posture and ground texture.”
The alignment of the feet ultimately determines the alignment of the entire pelvis-leg axis. “That means, for example, if I bend my foot strongly inward, the lower legs would rotate inward, which in the worst case leads to something like a knock-knee.” This, in turn, negatively affects the position of the hip joints and pelvis and extends up to the spine.
According to the sports scientist, incorrect foot positioning during strength training can lead to overload in the lower back, such as during squats.
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Feet Are Important Even for Standing Bicep Curls
Feet are not only important for leg exercises but also when doing standing bicep curls, for example. “Whenever I have contact with the ground, it is important to have basic foot stability. Only through a stable pelvis-leg axis and core can I perform arm exercises without causing negative overload in another area of the body,” explains the expert.
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How to Determine If Your Feet Are Properly Positioned During Strength Exercises
According to Hell, you can almost only tell if you’re standing correctly by observing yourself in some way. Ideally, you should conduct strength training with a partner or, best of all, with a qualified trainer who can observe the movement execution and provide immediate feedback. If that’s not possible, you can also film yourself or position yourself in front of a mirror.
“And then, for example, during squats, you can ensure that the knees don’t bend strongly inward,” adds Hell. Ideally, the knees should remain as an extension of the foot over the foot, so a neutral axis runs through the foot, knee, and hip.
Indicator of Poor Foot Stability
Poor posture can also be identified at the foot itself, Johannes Hell notes. Viewed from behind, the heel should stand perpendicular to the ground and not deviate inward or outward. “Sometimes there is a pronounced protrusion of the inner ankle. That means I bend strongly inward and the inner ankle bulges inward.” According to Hell, this is an indicator “that foot stability is poor or the foot is not in its desired position.”
If you feel a deviation in stability or if pain already occurs in the feet or ankles, it’s best to have it checked by an orthopedist, advises Hell. They can conduct a gait analysis, examine the arch of the foot more closely, and initiate appropriate therapy measures.
Don’t Do Strength Training in Running Shoes
The expert recommends not doing strength training in running shoes. “A soft sole is comfortable but provokes additional instability. Instead, I would do strength exercises in a stable shoe that fits snugly on the foot. Or preferably barefoot or in socks, because the body is then constantly fed with information that it has to process and respond to with appropriate movement adjustments.”
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Properly Loosen Feet Before Exercises
Hell also advises moving the feet “in all directions, for example, as part of the warm-up.” For some, ankle mobility is severely restricted, and the foot feels stiff. “Then you should loosen it first.”
A simple stretching exercise is the heel sit: You kneel, place the tops of your feet as flat as possible on the ground, and try to sit your buttocks on your heels. This creates a relatively strong stretch in the upper ankle joint. “In the warm-up, I would perform this exercise dynamically several times,” advises the sports scientist.
Then you can move on to balance exercises on unstable surfaces that strengthen the muscles in the foot and lower leg. Hell: “This can be done with professional equipment like a balance pad, but you can also use a pillow or a rolled-up exercise mat. Just stand on it. The foot then has to work to compensate for the instability.”
Activate Foot Muscles in Everyday Life with Toe-Gripping Exercises
The foot muscles can be integrated into everyday life with toe-gripping exercises. Hell recommends rolling up a small towel with your toes or grabbing cloths. “This way, I train the foot muscles, which later helps me ensure sufficient stability of the feet and ankles during strength training exercises,” the expert notes. More tips for healthy feet have been compiled by FITBOOK here for you.