I am a chiropody/podiatry student in Canada and I have been looking into the idea of strengthening the intrinsic muscles and how that can slow the progression of, or even correct, cases of flexible hammer toe syndrome. I am looking into this with the idea that barefoot squatting, using one’s own body weight or weighted squats, can enable this. I figure that doing this action barefoot causes the intrinsic muscles of the foot to contract in order to allow proper postural balance and foot stability.

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Intrinsic foot muscle strengthening and hammer toe syndrome