Flat feet exercises to strengthen fallen arches
Rahim Hudaykulyyev & Rahman BazarovHow we research
Medically reviewed by Dr. Carla Shayman, PT, DPT, OCS ·
When you stand, your feet seem to roll in and the arches sink toward the floor. Walkito’s flat feet exercises for this are the short foot (3 sets of 10, 5-second hold), towel scrunches and big toe lifts (3 sets of 8, 5-second hold), hip abduction (3 sets of 15) and calf stretches (3 holds of 30 seconds). They are for flexible flat feet. The program with trial evidence combines short-foot, ankle, hip and stretching work: in a trial of 52 people, six weeks of this program changed arch shape more than in a control group.
First, check to determine whether your flat feet are flexible, meaning your arch shows when you are not standing but drops when you stand. That trial, and the exercises below, are about flexible flat feet. The evidence for reversing fallen arches with short-foot work alone is thinner: a 2024 review found a change in one arch measure only in programs longer than six weeks. The trial and the review both measured arch shape, not pain.
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Which exercises help flat feet, and how much should you do?
Walkito’s flat feet exercises start with towel scrunches and big toe lifts, then move up through three versions of the short foot. Toe spreads, band turn-ins, a single-leg hold, hip abduction and calf stretches fill in around them. These are Walkito’s starting doses, not a prescription. Do them barefoot. How these guides are written.
The short foot is the core of the arch work: pull the ball of the foot toward the heel so the arch lifts, without curling the toes. Arch-building (short-foot) work, hip strengthening and stretching are what the trial tested. The towel scrunch, big toe lift, toe spread, band turn-in and single-leg hold are Walkito’s own additions.
You do one arch exercise at a time, the one at your level, and move up a step once the last two sessions with it felt easy. Walkito leaves out anything that needs a towel or band you don’t have. If any exercise takes your pain to 6/10 or more, stop for the day. That is the point where Walkito ends a session.
| Exercise | Dose | How often | What you should feel | Stop if |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Towel scrunch | 3 sets of 8, hold 5 seconds, each foot | Every session, while it is your level | The small muscles under the arch working | Pain reaches 6/10 |
| Big toe lift | 3 sets of 8, hold 5 seconds, each foot | Every session, while it is your level | The big toe moving on its own | Pain reaches 6/10 |
| Short foot, seated | 3 sets of 10, hold 5 seconds, each foot | Every session, while it is your level | The arch lifting, with the toes relaxed | Pain reaches 6/10 |
| Short foot, standing | 3 sets of 10, hold 5 seconds, both feet | Every session, while it is your level | The arch working while it carries your weight | Pain reaches 6/10 |
| Short foot, one leg | 3 sets of 10, hold 5 seconds, each foot | Every session, while it is your level | Harder work in the arch, with the big toe pressing down | Pain reaches 6/10 |
| Toe spread | 3 sets of 10, hold 5 seconds, both feet | Strength days, in turn with the band turn-in | Effort in the small muscles of the foot | Pain reaches 6/10 |
| Band turn-in | 3 sets of 15, each foot | Strength days, after six sessions of the standing short foot | Work along the inside of the foot and ankle | Pain reaches 6/10 |
| Single-leg hold | 3 holds of 30 seconds, each leg | Balance days | The foot and ankle making small corrections | Pain reaches 6/10 |
| Hip abduction | 3 sets of 15, each leg, standing, with a band | Strength days, when the left and right goal is in your plan | Work on the outside of the hip | Pain reaches 6/10 |
| Calf and soleus stretch | 3 holds of 30 seconds for each stretch, each leg | Most sessions, in turn with the other stretches | A stretch in the calf, then lower down, near the heel | Pain reaches 6/10 |
Towel scrunch
In the exercise library: Towel scrunch (towel curls)
Sit with a towel flat on the floor under your foot. Pull the towel in with your toes, and keep the heel down. It wakes up the small muscles under the arch.
Evidence: Early. Walkito’s own addition. It was not part of the tested program in the studies on this page.
Big toe lift
In the exercise library: Big toe lift (toe yoga)
Sit with your feet flat. Lift only the big toe and hold, while the other four toes stay flat on the floor. The ankle and the rest of the foot stay still: only the toe moves. A big toe that moves on its own is the arch’s first switch.
Evidence: Early. Walkito’s own addition. It was not part of the tested program in the studies on this page.
Short foot, seated
In the exercise library: Short foot exercise
Sit with your foot flat on the floor. Pull the ball of the foot toward the heel to create a higher arch, as if making a small cave under the foot, and hold. Keep the outside of the foot and the heel on the ground; the ankle does not move. Don’t curl the toes: that is the most common way to get this exercise wrong.
Evidence: Moderate. Part of the program that improved arch shape in a 2023 trial. On its own, short foot work has weaker results.
Short foot, standing
Stand with your weight on both feet and do the same movement. The toes stay flat and long, and the outside of the foot and the heel stay on the ground. Only the arch lifts, making a small cave under the foot while it holds your weight.
Evidence: Moderate. Part of the program that improved arch shape in a 2023 trial. On its own, short foot work has weaker results.
Short foot, one leg
Stand on one foot and lift the arch into a small cave, with the outside of the foot and the heel on the ground. Keep the big toe down. If it lifts, the arch is cheating. One foot at a time is where the weaker side shows.
Evidence: Moderate. Part of the program that improved arch shape in a 2023 trial. On its own, short foot work has weaker results.
Toe spread
In the exercise library: Toe spread (toe splay)
Spread your toes as wide as they go, then hold. Toes that can spread share the load with the arch. Lifting them is not the point.
Evidence: Early. Walkito’s own addition. It was not part of the tested program in the studies on this page.
Band turn-in
In the exercise library: Ankle inversion with a band (tibialis posterior)
Sit with a resistance band around the foot and turn the foot in against it, so the sole turns toward the other foot. Move the foot, not the leg: the knee stays still. Walkito adds it only after six sessions of the standing short foot, so the arch’s own muscles come first.
Evidence: Early. Walkito’s own addition. It was not part of the tested program in the studies on this page.
Single-leg hold
In the exercise library: Single-leg balance
Stand on one foot and look at one spot ahead. Let the foot wobble: that wobble is the foot doing the balancing. Optional: lightly touch a counter or wall with your hands as needed, so you keep working the ankle instead of giving up.
Evidence: Early. Walkito’s own addition. It was not part of the tested program in the studies on this page.
Hip abduction
In the exercise library: Hip abduction
Stand with a resistance band and lift one leg out to the side against it. Push through the heel, not the toes. A hip that gives way lands the load on the arch.
Evidence: Moderate. Part of the program that improved arch shape in a 2023 trial.
Calf and soleus stretch
In the exercise library: Calf stretch (gastrocnemius, straight knee)
Put your hands on a wall. Keep the back leg straight, the back heel flat and the hips forward, and feel the stretch in the calf. Then keep the heel flat and bend the back knee until you feel it lower, near the heel. That is the soleus, the deeper calf muscle.
Evidence: Moderate. Part of the program that improved arch shape in a 2023 trial. That trial measured arch shape, not pain.
Walkito builds these arch exercises into a plan for the 3, 5 or 7 days a week you pick and tests your arch hold, calf raises and balance every 14 days, so you can see what changes. Doing it as a plan
Are your flat feet flexible or rigid?
A few seconds tell you. It matters because the trial was run on flexible flat feet, meaning your arch shows when you are not standing but drops when you stand, and exercise will not change the shape of a rigid one. Walkito doesn’t check your foot type, so this check is yours to do:
- Stand barefoot and look at the inside of your foot. With a flat foot, the arch sits low or touches the floor.
- Lift that foot off the floor, or rise up onto your toes, and look again.
- If the arch comes back, the flat foot is flexible. The exercises above are for this kind.
- If the arch stays flat even off the ground, the foot is rigid. That is structural, and exercise will not change it. See a clinician before starting a program.
- “Fallen arches” is usually another name for flat feet. But if one arch has flattened suddenly as an adult, see a clinician before you exercise it, whatever the check shows.
How long before flat feet exercises change the arch?
Key findingIn a trial of 52 people with flexible flat feet, six weeks of arch-building (short-foot), ankle, hip and stretching work improved navicular drop by 0.4 cm and arch angle by 16 degrees more than a control group (Brijwasi and Borkar, 2023).
Plan for six weeks or more. In a trial of 52 people with flexible flat feet, a six-week program of arch-building (short-foot) exercises, ankle work, hip strengthening and stretching changed two measures of arch shape more than in the control group.
The evidence for reversing fallen arches with short-foot work alone is thinner. A 2024 review of short-foot training on flat feet in general found no clear difference from control groups in arch shape or foot posture overall. Only programs longer than six weeks improved how far the arch sinks under your weight, and the authors say larger studies are needed. So give short-foot work on its own longer.
That is why Walkito’s arch goal, holding the arch for 60 seconds, has no end date. The arch hold is tested every 14 days until your first goal is reached, then every 28, so you can see whether it is moving. Once you reach it, the arch work stays in the plan at a lower dose. The trials are summarized on the evidence page.
Brijwasi and Borkar: navicular drop (how far the navicular bone on the inside of the arch drops when you stand) improved by 0.4 cm, and arch angle by 16 degrees, more than in the control group. Cheng and colleagues: no significant difference overall in navicular drop or Foot Posture Index; navicular drop improved significantly only in the subgroup of programs longer than six weeks.
Do flat feet exercises help arch pain?
No study on this page measured arch pain, so none shows these exercises ease it. They show the arch shape can be trained.
Pain at the heel, and sometimes along the arch, can come from the plantar fascia, the band of tissue along the sole. For heel pain under the foot, the 2023 heel pain guideline gives plantar fascia and calf stretching its top grade, A, and strength training a B. Those exercises are in plantar fasciitis exercises and stretches. Walkito can work on both as separate goals: pain-free mornings for the pain, and an arch hold for the arch. For back pain, see flat feet and back pain.
Questions people ask
Can exercise change the arch in flat feet?
Exercise can change the arch shape of flexible flat feet, but not rigid ones. In a trial of 52 people whose arch showed off the ground but dropped when they stood, six weeks of arch-building (short-foot), ankle, hip and stretching work changed arch measures more than in a control group. A foot that stays flat even when lifted is structural; exercise will not change it.
How long does it take for flat feet exercises to work?
Plan on six weeks or more. In one trial on flexible flat feet, a six-week program of short-foot, hip and stretching work changed arch measures. For short-foot training alone, a 2024 review found no clear change overall, and an improvement only in programs longer than six weeks. Walkito keeps its 60-second arch-hold goal until you reach it.
What exercises strengthen the arches of the feet?
The short-foot exercise is the main one: you lift the arch by drawing the ball of the foot toward the heel, without curling the toes. Walkito starts it seated, at 3 sets of 10 with a 5-second hold, then standing, then on one leg. Towel scrunches and big toe lifts train the small muscles around the arch.
How often should I do flat feet exercises?
Do the short-foot work on each training day while the arch is your goal. In Walkito you choose 3, 5 or 7 training days a week, and while the arch is the week’s focus, every session includes an arch exercise. The arch hold is retested every 14 days, then every 28 after your first goal.
Is walking barefoot good for flat feet?
There is no trial testing barefoot walking against shoes for flat feet, so no study here settles it. Walking barefoot does work the small muscles that support the arch, which is why the short foot and towel scrunch are done barefoot. If barefoot walking brings on new pain, ease up and try it on soft ground first.
What is the difference between fallen arches and flat feet?
Usually none: “fallen arches” and “collapsed arches” are common names for flat feet, mostly lifelong and flexible. Sometimes the phrase means adult-acquired flatfoot, often from a weakening posterior tibial tendon, which holds up the arch. It tends to come on in adulthood and can bring pain or swelling inside the ankle. If one arch drops in adulthood, see a clinician first.
See a clinician first if
- the pain followed an injury or a fall
- you cannot put weight on the foot, or you are limping
- it comes with numbness, tingling, burning, swelling or warmth
- the heel is red, or you have a fever or feel unwell
- it wakes you at night
- it is sharp, or getting worse despite easing the load
- squeezing the sides of the heel hurts, or the pain builds during runs after you increased your mileage; both can be signs of a stress fracture
- you have diabetes, reduced feeling in your feet or poor circulation
- both heels hurt and other joints are swollen or stiff
- it has not improved after several weeks of exercise and a lighter load
- one arch has flattened suddenly as an adult
- the arch stays flat when the foot is off the ground
Doing it as a plan
You don’t have to work out the order, the doses or when to move to a harder version. Walkito builds a plan one week at a time around one goal. For a flexible flat foot, that goal is the arch hold: holding your arch up for 60 seconds. If you also have pain, pain-free mornings come first.
Every 14 days (then every 28 once your first goal is met), a short test checks arch hold, calf endurance and balance, so you can see whether the arch work is doing anything.
Questions about the app are answered in the FAQ, and the best app for flat feet compares it with other apps.
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