Strength Training for Singers: Feet
Almost 2 months ago I was having pain in my right knee and hip. There was inconsistency of pain level and the pain moved around throughout the day. After 2 weeks of no relief, I finally met with a physical therapist. After completing a thorough assessment of mobility and stability in my joints we uncovered an issue with stability in my right hip. It’s unclear how long this weakness had been looming but it had gotten to the point of pain and I was unable to squat. I was also unable to balance on one foot. I struggled with both sides but my right side was the worst. Building the connection from foot to hip was an important part of correcting my issue and working on becoming pain free. I didn’t realize I was missing the connection through my feet. Turns out, you can have great body awareness but still be lacking stability without realizing it or knowing how to correct it.
When I work with a singer for the first time, 9 times out of 10 the first thing I do is ask the singer to draw attention to their feet. Beginners usually sing as if they don’t have a lower half to their body so recognizing their feet is the first step (see what I did there..) to building a full body connection when they sing. The feet are your foundation so that can be a good place to start. When singer’s start noticing their feet there is an instant change in how they stand and hold themselves up. Instead of focusing on producing a sound from their throat they are now focusing on how they are connected to the ground which in return begins the process of freeing the breath and allowing better posture.
I’ve been very diligent in completing my assigned physical therapy exercises and not only am I pain free and able to squat again, I also notice a difference in my stance while singing. Over the years I have noticed that I shift between feet while standing and singing. I always thought it was a problem with being fidgety but since strengthening the muscles in my hips and feet I am able to stand and sing with minimal shifting. The reason I titled this blog “feet” instead of “hips” is because while yes I did begin my physical therapy work to help my hip, there is a particular exercise that woke up my feet. I never felt my feet muscles until I completed the exercise I’ll be listing below (or at least, I hadn’t felt them in a very long time). I didn’t have pain while standing, but I had issues balancing while standing. I highly recommend any singer try out the following exercise as I’m confident it will improve their posture and comfort while standing for prolonged periods of time during a performance.
Video credit to Ground to Overhead PT. If you found this video helpful I encourage you to browse the variety of free content Ground to Overhead PT provides via their YouTube channel.
