If you suffer from painful feet here are three simple exercises you can do to mobilise and strengthen your arches to reduce foot pain. For more info visit simplebackpain.com/posturestartingwiththefeet

Try these exercises at home and get back the spring in your step!

For more information visit simplebackpain.com/posturestartingwiththefeet
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So the first exercise for painful feet is mobilizing your arch yourself, the medial arch. To do this you bring the left foot into the groin as tightly as you can and then you place your right foot transversely across the arch, with the heel of that foot slightly pinching right where the heel is. And then you mobilize by rocking the knee left and right.

Now this is pushing your heel of your right leg into the arch of the foot. And then you minutely move that right heel through the arch, and then continue mobilizing left to right with the knee, by you working the knee. Good. And then - and you might continue that for several minutes just mobilizing - and then you can keep the right leg still and just lift the left leg. Now you can do that with your hand because one of the things that happens when your inner arch falls is that your outer foot shrinks. And this is a lovely stretching exercise for the outer border of your left foot. And again you would continue doing that for a few moments only. And there we go.

The next exercise for painful feet is rolling the Ma Roller under the arch. Now the Ma Roller you may not have, in which case you can use a piece of doweling or a piece of broom handle, where you actually roll your foot over it.

So now just lifting the foot up and placing it on the humps of the Roller and then taking as much weight as you can, and then rolling through the foot. Now it's fairly uncomfortable, and that mobilizes the bones of the arch. Back and forth taking as much weight as you can.

Back and forth, and highly stimulating to the point of being uncomfortable. Now, again, a piece of doweling at home, if you don't have a Ma Roller, is excellent - where you can actually walk both feet over the doweling and coming off the other side. Good. And now onto some strengthening.

To strengthen your feet I want you, to first of all, to hold onto the kitchen bench, or a firm support like a table. Leaning forward, bring yourself up onto the forefoot and then right up onto the tippy toes. Now that's extremely hard work and you'll feel all the muscles and tendons in the arch of your foot working very hard indeed. And then go down to the forefoot again, and then down to the bottom.

You can do this whenever you think about it - you do have to have support to do it. Try to stop your toes scrunching. So up again onto the forefoot and then try to go right to the tippy toes, and you must feel all the tendons pulling under the arch of your foot, and then go down again.

Now you can do that whenever you think about it - at the kitchen sink at the bathroom basin - wherever there's a firm support. You should aim to do it several times a day.

One more time, right up, working the arch. Good, and then down to the forefoot again and going down. Good, and there we go. Now just spread the toes to separate them - relax the feet again. Good. And there you go.