Effects of the toe compression exercise on inner longitudinal arch

Abstract

Healthy subjects performed toe compression exercise for six weeks to strengthen the flexor pollicis longus and tibialis posterior muscles, which are component muscles of the inner longitudinal arch. We calculated the arch height percentage as an index of the inner longitudinal arch, and measured static standing balance before the exercises, at 2 weeks and 4 weeks after the start of the exercises. The toe compression exercise performed was an isometric contraction of 100 times on both sides with a motor stress of "strong" or "very strong". For each measurement result we determined the main effect from one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) (p<0.05). It was confirmed that the toe compression strength and navicular bone height were increased by the toe compression exercise. With toe compression exercise, the muscle activities of toe flexor muscles, tibialis posterior muscle and plantar fascia were increased.