How to Help Prevent Plantar Fasciitis with Spring Training Around the Corner

How to Help Prevent Plantar Fasciitis with Spring Training Around the Corner

February 5, 2025

Winter is starting to take a turn and the warmer weather is just ahead of us. We know this makes athletes eager to get outside, run more, and finally get some fresh air that doesn’t burn their throat! While running/training outdoors is important for triathletes, you need to make sure you did the appropriate prep in winter to ensure you’re ready to return to the trails/roads on a regular basis.

We see an increase of patients toward the end of spring and early summer complaining of foot pain. Typically, they state in their evaluations that the past couple months consisted of a few short outdoor runs, treadmill running, and focused more on indoor training during the offseason. They were eager to return to the outdoors and started running multiple times a week outside once the weather got nice and now they have a nagging pain on the bottom of their foot. This will perk a physical therapist’s ears to plantar fasciitis.

So what is plantar fasciitis?

We have a connective tissue, the plantar fascia, that runs along the bottom of our feet from the base of the toes to the heel. When this becomes inflamed from overuse without proper preparation, you get plantar fasciitis. Symptoms of this include a sharp pain on the heel or bottom of foot, significant pain with the first steps in the morning, and pain that increases with extended walking and running. Some other factors that can contribute to developing plantar fasciitis are improper footwear, tight achilles tendon, and weakness.

SO, what can you do to prevent experiencing this come spring and summer? Read below:

1) Progressive overload. Get your feet used to the road and trails again! They have spent a lot of time inside and on controlled surfaces like treadmills. They need to adapt to the uneven surfaces and unpredictability of the outside environment. Don’t rush into doing your long runs outside without building up to them. Start with short runs and build up tolerance over time.

2) Strengthen. Prep your muscles to do the demands you are asking them to! Your foot has a group of small muscles that should be prepped to run. Beyond these muscles, your legs, hips, trunk, and arms are all involved with running and should be strengthened. Focus on:

  • Single leg activities (lunging, split squats, single leg RDL, step ups etc)
  • Scrunches and splays of your toes to work the foot muscles
  • Heel raises and toe raises
  • Hip strengthening (clamshells, banded lateral walking, bridges etc)

3) Warm up. Warm up your whole body, including your feet! Inchworms, toe walking, hops in place, bear crawls- think of movements that will increase your heart rate and get blood flowing through your body while also getting your feet moving through various range of motions.

4) Cool down. Just as you warm up, make sure you cool down. Walk for a little bit after a run, bring your heart rate back down, and let your muscles slowly relax.

5) Stretch. Keep your achilles and calf muscles loose! Stretch them out every night, especially nights you run. This will prevent them from getting tight as your training increases. Incorporate stretches for your legs and hips as well. Always stretch after exercising.

6) Seek help if you begin feeling tightness or pain in your foot or achilles! The biggest mistake people make is not seeking help for their plantar fasciitis until it is at the point where they can no longer do anything without pain. Do NOT wait this long and you will heal quicker and return to your regular training routine much sooner. Athletes hate taking time off, but better to take a couple weeks to focus on physical therapy at the beginning of an issue, than needing months to recover and influence training. It can also be confusing to know if you are doing the right exercises and the right form to ensure you aren’t doing more damage than good, and physical therapists are experts in movement.

Our therapists at Body Moksha Physical Therapy have successfully treated plantar fasciitis many times in the past and can help you through patient-specific exercises, shockwave therapy, dry needling, and manual therapies. Reach out if any concerns of plantar fasciitis arise and we can schedule you for a complimentary discovery visit to talk about your specific case!

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