- Hi ,folks.
I'm Bob Schrupp, physical therapist.
- Brad Heineck, physical therapist.
- Do you have plantar fasciitis?
Not you, Brad, but do they?
(Brad laughing amusingly)
We are gonna show you three exercises based on the...
I'm not sure how to pronounce this, Brad.
Egoscue method.
- Pete, huh?
- Yeah. - Yes.
- His book is "Pain Free."
I think it's like 10 years old,
but they sold over 1,000,000 copies.
- Right, he's got some real good references on there
and people who appreciate his work.
It's definitely worth checkin' out.
- So, I don't know if these are gonna work,
(Bob laughing amusingly) these exercises,
but they make sense.
- Yeah, they make sense with our approach.
- Right, so my daughter's gonna try it,
she's got plantar fasciitis,
and I want some of you to try it and let us know.
- Absolutely.
- We'll look at the comments.
- Do we gotta do the introduction yet?
- Yeah.
- Okay, nine more seconds.
♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous physical therapists on the internet ♪
(uplifting music playing)
- Alright, the first one of here.
Take your hands,
and you're actually gonna spread your toes apart
and get your fingers in there.
So, between each toe.
- Ah!
Oh my gosh, oh, this is uh...
- [Bob] It's gonna be hard for some people, like me.
- This actually a good stretch for your toes,
even if you don't have pain, or if you have pain in your...
- [Bob] Bring your fingers all the way down
in between the toes.
- Right to the base, right by the MTP joint,
would that be it?
- I would do this in the morning, Brad,
before I even get outta bed.
So you're in bed, get onto the edge of the bed,
and you're gonna make a circle with your foot
in one direction.
And we're gonna do 20 of them.
- Why, this is an excellent stretch just for the toes alone.
- So way down, way up, Brad.
Way down, way up.
- Way down where?
(Bob laughing amusingly)
Way down under?
- Yup. - Australia.
- And then, you're gonna go in the opposite direction.
- Okay.
You said 20 reps?
- Right. - 20 rotations?
- Again, really emphasize the movement.
- Now, there are gonna be people like you said
who have difficulty getting their fingers between the toes.
- Do the best you can.
- Yup.
- We won't judge.
- Yup, make sure you clean your toes out first.
- Alright, the final one. (Brad laughing amusingly)
We do 20 in one direction, 20 in the other direction,
20 point and flex.
Point, flex.
- So down, up.
- Point, flex.
Can you see that, Mike?
Mike says yes.
- He concurs.
Say no more, Bob, you can't go wrong if Mike's with us.
- [Bob] Alright, 20, 20, 20.
- Yup.
- [Bob] Alright, we'll move on to the next one.
- Ooh, that really feels good
when you're done with the toes, that's for sure.
- Yeah.
Alright, the next one, Brad.
You get in this position on the bed, you bring the leg up.
This part should be level, right?
- So not up here, not here, but like that.
- Now you're gonna do the same thing, but actively.
So he's gonna rotate 20 times in one direction, and then-
- This is... I'm sorry, Bob.
This is one of those things.
I've had patients, I say,
"Imagine you got a piece of chalk on your toes
and you're trying to make circles on a chalkboard."
- [Bob] Right.
- Well, nowadays it'd be a smart board.
- So you're gonna go 20... (Bob laughing happily)
- You wouldn't even need chalk anymore.
- 20 the other direction,
and then point and flex 20 times.
- It is amazing 'cause I can feel my ankle muscles fatigue.
- [Bob] Right, I'm sure.
- Yup.
So you know, this is the first-
- Do the best you can, and you should do both sides,
even if the other side doesn't hurt.
You wanna maintain balance.
- Right, yeah.
This is amazing 'cause I feel my ankles are fairly strong
'cause I'm active,
but this is getting them fatigued, it's good.
- Alright, we'll go to the last one.
Alright, the next one is a stretching program, Brad.
So, you wanna show 'em, well start off?
- Yeah, so you'll be lying in your bed, hook-lying position.
That's what I call this position with your knees up.
You can use a belt.
I'm gonna show you how you use a stretch strap,
but if you don't have one of them, they do work better,
if you have a belt...
- [Bob] You gotta loop it.
- Yup, loop it like that,
and then you can go around your foot,
and then we're gonna do the stretch.
- The first one you stay way on the ball of the foot.
- You'll see this works a lot better,
but that's how you use a belt, same concept.
Way up on the foot.
- You're trying to get the plantar fasciitis,
the fascia of the foot,
so you're really keeping the leg kind of equal
with the other leg.
- Right
- So, about 45.
- And the big benefit if you have a strap,
you can see I don't even have to grip with my hands.
I just put it through my...
Right through there, my hand, just hold it.
So if you have any hand weakness, arthritis,
it really is easier regardless,
but it really helps in that situation.
- So you're gonna hold this for a minute.
- And just relax and breathe, that's the important part.
And that's really helpful with the strap too
'cause when you're holding for a minute,
it'll get longer and more difficult with a belt.
But, use what you got.
- After one minute, you move the belt down, Brad.
- Okay, so more towards the-
- Center of the foot.
- Yup, kinda the arch.
- Alright, and now
you're gonna work more on the hamstring and the fascia.
The fascia runs all the way up the leg,
all the way into the foot.
I mean, it's almost connected.
So, we're trying to stretch that.
- I can feel that all the way around that area.
Now, if you don't have flexible hamstrings,
you're gonna find your foot is gonna be-
- Yeah, maybe right there.
- Maybe down in here, that's fine.
- Above all, keep the knee straight.
- Yeah.
Okay, so we're not gonna do this.
- No, don't do that.
- Ah, good point, Bob.
- So if you can't go that far,
keep it straight and don't pull it far.
- And this leg should be down or up,
or is it not that important?
- I would say up too.
- Okay.
- It'll help you stretch it better.
So you know, the whole thing
is gonna probably take you five minutes.
So, once a day is fine.
Give it a try.
Let us know how it works out.
You know, we wanna know if these exercises are working.
- I really think
there's absolutely no negative to this at all.
- No, there isn't.
- It's gonna stretch out other muscles and tissues,
it's a wonderful stretch.
- It makes sense to me.
- It does.
So yeah, it's a good thing.
- Alright, thanks for watchin', folks.
- And be careful.
- Yeah, be careful.
(uplifting music playing)