Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Like others have said, this machine is basically a big toe only version of towel crunches (an exercise in which you put your foot on a towel and curl your toes repeatedly, which pleats the towel). The advantage over towel crunches is a little more range of motion is allowed in the toe flexion direction. Unfortunately, most people have adequate big toe flexion, it is big toe extension that is lacking and necessary for walking and other activities. The primary muscles this machine exercises are your extrinsic big toe flexor muscles (the ones in the calf), which actually do not contribute that much to arch support and would have little impact on plantar fasciitis. Exercising your extrinsic big toe flexor muscles will do little for heel spurs (bony protrusions in the heel) as well. The muscles of the arch that you primarily want to focus on are the intrinsic muscles (the ones in the foot itself). These include the lumbricals and the interossei. In order to strengthen these muscles, it is helpful to know a little anatomy. The arch of the foot can be thought of as having three points: one at the heel, one at the base of the big toe and one at the base of the little toe. When these three points spread out, your arch collapses. When they are brought together, your arch rises. A better exercise for strengthening the arch is to stand so that those three points of your foot are in solid contact with the ground and then try to bring the points closer together and hold it for about 15-20 seconds, then relax. Repeat until your arches feel fatigued. Visualizing can help a lot here. Don't strain too hard in raising your arch. If you strain to hard, you will begin to recruit the extrinsic muscles of your foot in addition to the intrinsic muscles. A good way to tell if the level of effort you are giving appropriate is if the near segment of your big toe is pressed flat to the ground but the far segment has not started to curl under or make the knuckle of the big toe rise. (The far segment of your big toe is controlled by extrinsic muscles while the near segment is controlled by intrinsic muscles.) I hope that was understandable and that it helps some of you.