Effect of a Foot Arch Exercise Program for High School Runners

The short-foot exercise (SFE) has been used as a training method for the intrinsic muscles of the foot. The effectiveness of SFE is mostly reported in short-term interventions, with only a few reports of its sustained effects. The purpose of this study was to verify the effect of SFE training for 31 high school runners. All subjects were measured 3 times for 8 months, and underwent ankle stabilization training during the study period. During the first 3 months of the study period, one randomly selected group of subjects underwent SFE, and another group did not, the non-SFE group. Measurement items were pain, navicular drop (ND), modified star excursion balance test (mSEBT), ankle dorsiflexion angle and toe gripping force. A one-way analysis of variance with post-hoc Tukey's test was performed to evaluate differences between groups with multiple comparison analysis for each measurement. The number of physical problems in the SFE group was lower at the time of the second measurement (M2) but increased at the third measurement (M3). In the SFE group, the ND value was significantly decreased at the time of the M2 but was significantly increased at the M3. Toe gripping force showed a significantly larger value in the SFE group at the M3. It was suggested that the SFE was effective for ND and decreasing some pains. There are no studies referring to the sustainability of the effects of the SFE, so these results can be a reference for future investigation of this exercise.