What are the benefits of foot rolling for dancers?

So you’ve got a foot roller… it sits in your dance bag and only gets taken out when you’re super bored between classes? It’s easy to believe that foot rollers and spiky foot massage balls are no more than novelty items, however I can promise you there are some incredible benefits of foot rolling for dancers that may surprise you!! Feeling intrigued? Keep reading…

Benefit #1 – Improved arch support and shock absorption

Our feet are made up of a group of muscles known as the intrinsic muscles which are responsible for supporting our arches, helping to create a gorgeous ‘banana foot’ when we pointe our toes, and preventing the formation of bunions! The intrinsic muscles include the quatratus plantae, the flexor digitorum brevis, the abductor halluces and the abductor digiti minimi.

In addition to the intrinsic muscles is the plantar fascia, which is a band of thick tissue or fascia running through our foot which connects to the Achilles tendon. Alongside arch support, the plantar fascia also acts a shock absorber to help avoid injury when landing from jumps!

In ballet, the constant plantar flexion (pointing of our feet) can make the intrinsic muscles and plantar fascia really quite tight. This tightness can lead to conditions such as plantar fasciitis which tends to be very painful and debilitating for dancers who spend lots of time on their feet!

Now here’s the good news… using a foot roller, spiky ball or a nice, cold can straight from the fridge to roll out our feet keeps the intrinsic muscles and plantar fascia supple and healthy, helping them to fulfil their functions of shock absorption, arch support and bunion prevention, ultimately reducing pain and injury!

Benefit #2 – Better balance!

Still wondering about the benefits of foot rolling for dancers? Let me tell you a very well-kept secret in the ballet world…

Unbeknownst to many, rolling out of feet activates receptors in the foot. When we begin to lose stability and fall off balance, these receptors provide feedback to the brain.

The brain can then interpret this feedback to decide which muscles need to be recruited and activated to help shift our centre of mass back over our toes so that we can balance!

In other words, activating these foot receptors can help to develop connections between the muscles and the brain, meaning that following foot rolling the brain can react more effectively to regain muscle control.

Benefit #3 – Improved flexibility in the posterior chain

Let me tell you a secret… I absolutely HATE stretching my hamstrings! For me, stretching my hamstrings has also been really quite painful and uncomfortable, which is why I felt so excited when I stumbled across one of the lesser-known benefits of foot rolling for dancers…

So here’s the life-changing fact… rolling out your feet can help to improve flexibility in your calves, hammies, glutes and muscles of the spine!!!

So how does this actually work? Well, do you remember that thick band of tissue I was telling you about earlier known as the plantar fascia? Great! Where the plantar fascia ends, it connects to the Achilles tendon. The Achilles then connects to the calf, which connects to the hamstrings, which connects to the glutes and then the spine. This group of connected muscles which run down the back of the body is known as the posterior chain.

Now here’s the best bit… because all of these muscles are connected, improving flexibility in one of the structures can actually help to improve flexibility in the whole posterior chain! Amazing, right? This is where the foot roller comes in… if you make an effort to consistently use a foot roller, spiky ball or cold can to improve flexibility in the plantar fascia, this can create a ‘domino effect’, leading to overall improved flexibility in the posterior chain.

Now I’m sorry to break it you, but unfortunately rolling out your feet won’t mean that you can suddenly sit in the oversplits (not that you should be doing that anyway- it can be very dangerous), and I’m afraid you will have to keep working on flexibility of the individual muscles of the posterior chain if getting stretchy and flexy is your goal. However, foot rolling is a really great start which can certainly help!

Final thoughts on the benefits of foot rolling for dancers…

So there you have it… my top three reasons why a foot roller is so much more than just another novelty item dumped underneath a pile of rubbish at the bottom of your ballet bag.

Not only does rolling out the feet help to keep the intrinsic muscles and plantar fascia supple and healthy so that they can fulfil their functions of arch support, shock absorption and bunion prevention, but the benefits of foot rolling for dancers also extend to improved flexibility in the posterior chain as well as better balance!

Don’t stop your foot care there! Head over to my article The Best Foot Strengthening Exercises for Dancers for even more of the good stuff on how to keep your feet strong, supple and healthy to meet the physical demands of ballet. See you there, bunheads!!!

 

 

Bibliography and References

Some of the concepts included in this article have been clarified and informed by OpenAI’s ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2024)

Open AI, 2024. ChatGPT  [May 2024]. Available at: https://www.openai.com/chatgpt [Accessed 27 May 2024].