Fight Flat Feet! Strengthen Inversion

Inversion with Manual Assistance/Resistance in Supine

The only down side to this exercise is my client cannot see the movement from flat supine. So, sometimes I prop the child up on a pillow or allow the child to sit up leaning back on his arms to be able to watch the movement. Or if I think the child has good body awareness, I may simply take his foot through the motion and say, “It feels like this…” for a couple of repetitions. If a child can get any inversion, it is usually from the extreme everted position back toward midline. Often I can resist from the everted position to neutral and then have to assist from neutral to the inverted position. In any case, I give as much resistance as a child can take and as little assistance as possible. Sometimes I make a competition. I tell the child he has 10 seconds to get to “feet in” position. I make a good show of resisting and USUALLY lose. I don’t let the child win every time or the fun is gone.