Daily self-care through stretching

As I’ve gotten older, I have begun to lose a bit of my flexibility.  I also suffer from a bad case of plantar fasciitis that has been pretty chronic for the past few years.  Both of these factors have reduced my ability to walk long distances, so I have been aggressively combating the degeneration of my feet and legs through an active regimen of stretching. 

The first stretch I learned from the physical therapists who helped me with the plantar fasciitis.  When you wake up in the morning, take a towel and wrap it around your foot, keeping a hold of both ends in your hands.  Then, with your leg straight, pull toward you and and hold the pull for about ten seconds.  Repeat this several times, alternating with your knee bent and then with the knee straight.  If you’re doing it right, you will feel it not only in the foot, but on up into the hips as well.

The next set of stretches I do on the floor by the side of the bed.  I take the towel I was just using for the first stretch and lay it on the floor, and sit on it, spreading my legs into a wide V.  I then try to touch my forehead to my knee, alternating sides.  Then I also try to touch my forehead to the floor in front of me.  This usually takes a series of repeated efforts, as my hamstrings and hips tighten considerably during the night.  After a few efforts, however, things start to loosen up and my legs and hips begin to return to normal.

Then, standing up, I do a series of slow hip rotations – clockwise and then counter-clockwise.  The motions are similar to those I would use if I was spinning a hula hoop.   These stretches help to further loosen the hips and pelvis, which in turn reduced the stress on the tendons down through the legs.  This helps the plantar fasciitis indirectly.

This combination of stretches is not the only set that one could do, of course.  These are simply the ones that, so far, have worked for me.  The principle I am working on is that the tendons and ligaments are all interconnected.  By working on my hips and pelvis, I help maintain a good balance in my lower legs as well.  This indirect approach has, over time, worked better for my plantar fasciitis flareups than concentrating solely on my feet, so I recommend it.
These sorts of regular stretching exercises are essential when you are traveling, and probably doing a lot of walking every day.  The short, repetitive movements of walking cause the muscles and ligaments to tighten throughout the day, so if you aren’t stretching regularly, you are basically ratcheting your connective tissue tighter and tighter (which is what I had been doing to myself for several months before I started this stretching regimen).
The key is to develop a regimen that works for you, and that you will stick to consistently enough to do some good.  The reason I have picked this series of exercises is not necessarily for their excellence, but because they are effective and I can do the combination of them in about five to ten minutes first thing in the morning.  Finding the balance that works for you is the key.  If you find something that works, leave us a comment and let us know.