Plantar fasciitis exercises: stretches and an at-home routine

In this article

1. Plantar fasciitis exercises
2. How often should you do plantar fasciitis exercises?
3. Which exercises should you avoid with plantar fasciitis?

If you have plantar fasciitis, you'll know that pain can show up in everyday moments: with your first steps in the morning, after spending hours on your feet or while exercising. Here are the stretches and plantar fasciitis exercises that can help ease discomfort and support recovery, according to the clinical guideline from the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and other clinical trials.

Plantar fasciitis affects the plantar fascia, a band of tissue that runs along the sole of the foot from the heel to the toes. It typically causes pain, especially around the heel. In many cases, it improves with simple treatment.

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Plantar fasciitis exercises

To support recovery from plantar fasciitis, it helps to combine both strengthening exercises and stretches.

Strengthening exercises target the muscles of the foot and ankle, while stretches focus mainly on the plantar fascia and the calf muscles.

And an added bonus: you can do all of these plantar fasciitis exercises at home.

Strengthening exercises

Heel raises

Stand up and slowly raise your heels until you are standing on the balls of your feet. Then lower back down in a controlled way. You can start using both feet and, once it feels easy, do it on one leg.

Clinical trials in people with plantar fasciitis have also used a variation with a rolled-up towel under the toes to increase the work on the fascia.

Towel scrunches

Lay a towel flat on the floor and use your toes to gradually scrunch it towards you.

This exercise works the muscles of the foot and can be made more challenging by placing a small weight on the towel.

Inward and outward foot movements with a resistance band

Sit with your heel on the floor and loop a resistance band around the front of your foot. Hold the band to one side to create resistance and slowly move your foot in the opposite direction, without moving your knee or lifting your heel. Then move the band to the other side and repeat the exercise in the opposite direction.

This works different muscles of the foot and ankle.

Stretches for plantar fasciitis

Stretching the plantar fascia

Sit down and cross the affected leg over the other. Hold your toes and pull them gently towards you until you feel tension in the sole of your foot.

This is one of the plantar fasciitis stretches that has shown the best results in clinical trials. It is particularly helpful for pain with the first steps in the morning.

Stretching the calf

Place your hands on a wall and step the affected leg back. Keep the knee straight and the heel on the floor. Lean your body forward until you feel the stretch in the back of your leg.

Stretching the soleus

The position is similar to the calf stretch, but this time bend the knee of the back leg slightly without lifting the heel. This shifts the stretch lower down the calf.

How often should you do plantar fasciitis exercises?

It depends on the type of exercise. Stretches for plantar fasciitis can be done every day, even several times a day, while strengthening exercises need recovery time between sessions and are best done on alternate days.

The most important thing is to keep the routine going for several weeks and progress little by little, without suddenly increasing the intensity or the number of repetitions.

Which exercises should you avoid with plantar fasciitis?

If you have plantar fasciitis, it is best to avoid high-impact activities for a while: running, jumping and sports involving repeated impact can place more stress on the plantar fascia and make symptoms worse.

That does not mean you need to stop exercising altogether. Instead, adapt the activity that causes or worsens the pain by reducing its intensity or duration for a while.