As a personal trainer, I hear many concerns about lower body strength. Whether someone wants to play sports or simply they wants to stay active, most clients want to have a stronger lower body. Hence, personal trainers often create complex lower body training programs utilizing a battery of leg/hip exercises. However, a closer look at these programs would expose a lack of emphasis on one important component of the lower body mechanical chain - the foot.
Although the muscle strength of the legs and the hips cannot be ignored, weakness in the foot will result in mechanical imbalance. The foot makes the initial contact with the ground. Therefore, the foot will dictate how the force will be translated up the mechanical chain (from the foot to the leg and, finally, to the trunk).
