Towel scrunch: how to do towel curls for foot strength

What is the towel scrunch exercise?

The towel scrunch, also called a towel curl, is a seated exercise where you place a towel flat on the floor under your foot and use your toes to grip and pull it toward you. The heel stays on the ground. The movement works the flexor muscles of the toes and the intrinsic muscles under the arch.

It has been used in physical therapy for decades and appears in programs for flat feet, plantar fasciitis, and ball-of-foot pain. Because the movement is simple and needs only a towel, it is often the first foot-strengthening exercise people try.

How do you do a towel scrunch?

Sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor, barefoot. Lay a hand towel flat on the floor under one foot. Keep your heel firmly on the ground. Use your toes to grip the towel and pull it toward you, bunching it up under the arch. Then spread the toes to release and repeat.

Each pull is one rep. Pull steadily, not in a quick snap. The heel does not lift. If the towel slides around too much, try a slightly heavier towel or place a small weight on the far end.

Towel scrunch

Sit with a towel flat on the floor under your foot. Pull the towel in with your toes. Keep the heel down. Hold for five seconds, release, then repeat.

Evidence: Early. Included in a single-group pre-post study for metatarsalgia (Amaha 2020) and in flat-feet programs, but not isolated in a controlled trial on its own.

Pain reaches 6/10

Amaha K, Arimoto T, Kitamura N. Effect of toe exercises and toe grip strength on the treatment of primary metatarsalgia. Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research. 2020;15(1):580.

What muscles do towel scrunches work?

Towel scrunches work the toe flexor muscles: the flexor digitorum brevis (the short toe flexor inside the foot), the flexor hallucis brevis (the short big-toe flexor), and the quadratus plantae. These are intrinsic muscles. But the exercise also recruits the extrinsic toe flexors: the flexor digitorum longus and the flexor hallucis longus, which run from the shin through the ankle to the toes.

An EMG study by Jung and colleagues (2011) compared muscle activity during towel curls and short foot exercises. They found the abductor hallucis, the muscle most responsible for holding the arch up, was over four times more active during the short foot exercise than during towel curls. The towel curl produced more activity in the extrinsic toe flexors instead.

This means towel scrunches are a good exercise for toe grip strength, but they are less specific for the intrinsic arch muscles than the short foot exercise.

Jung DY, Kim MH, Koh EK, Kwon OY, Cynn HS, Lee WH. A comparison in the muscle activity of the abductor hallucis and the medial longitudinal arch angle during toe curl and short foot exercises. Physical Therapy in Sport. 2011;12(1):30–35.

Towel scrunch vs short foot exercise: which is better?

Each exercise has a different strength. The towel scrunch is easier to learn because the towel gives your toes a clear target. Many people struggle to feel the short foot contraction at first. Towel scrunches build toe grip strength, which matters for balance and push-off during walking.

The short foot exercise is better at isolating the intrinsic arch muscles. A 2015 review by McKeon and colleagues noted that the abductor hallucis was activated over four times more during the short foot exercise than during towel curls, and recommended the short foot as the primary intrinsic foot training exercise.

In practice, programs that use both get the best of each. Walkito uses the towel scrunch as an early exercise that introduces the idea of foot muscle work. The short foot exercise comes next and adds more specific arch training. Neither replaces the other.

McKeon PO, Hertel J, Bramble D, Davis I. The foot core system: a new paradigm for understanding intrinsic foot muscle function. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2015;49(5):290.

Jung DY, Kim MH, Koh EK, Kwon OY, Cynn HS, Lee WH. A comparison in the muscle activity of the abductor hallucis and the medial longitudinal arch angle during toe curl and short foot exercises. Physical Therapy in Sport. 2011;12(1):30–35.

Who benefits most from towel scrunches?

Towel scrunches suit people who are new to foot exercises and want a simple starting point. They also suit people with weak toe grip, because the exercise directly trains the ability to flex the toes under load.

A 2020 study by Amaha and colleagues followed 41 people (56 feet) with primary metatarsalgia, pain under the ball of the foot, through an eight-week toe exercise program that included towel scrunches and marble pickups. Toe grip strength and pain scores both improved from before to after the program. There was no control group, so some of that change could reflect time or attention rather than the exercises themselves. Toe grip strength may also matter for older adults at risk of falls, since the toes help with balance during standing and walking.

If your main goal is to raise a flat arch, the short foot exercise and the broader flat feet exercise program are more targeted. If your main goal is toe grip and general foot muscle activation, towel scrunches are a good fit.

Amaha K, Arimoto T, Kitamura N. Effect of toe exercises and toe grip strength on the treatment of primary metatarsalgia. Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research. 2020;15(1):580.

Common mistakes with towel scrunches

The most common mistake is lifting the heel off the floor. When the heel lifts, the calf takes over and the foot muscles do less. Press the heel down throughout each rep.

Another mistake is pulling too fast. A quick snatch of the towel uses momentum instead of muscle contraction. Pull slowly and hold the scrunch for the full five seconds before releasing.

Some people grip only with the big toe and ignore the smaller toes. Try to use all five toes together. If the little toes will not cooperate at first, that is normal. The coordination improves with practice.

Finally, do not let the foot slide sideways across the towel. The pull should be straight back, toes toward the heel. If the towel moves to one side, reposition and focus on even toe engagement.