Big Idea: What Your Feet Say About Your Health and How to Strengthen Them With Exercise and the Right Shoes with Courtney Conley

Dhru Purohit Show

Dhru Purohit

Medicine, Health & Fitness, Alternative Health

4.7 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 16 June 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode is brought to you by Manukora Honey, Square, and Levels. We don’t often think of foot health as a factor in longevity. However, falls, hip fractures, and early mortality statistics show that foot health is just as essential for long-term wellness as other factors we prioritize. Today’s guest has made it her mission to bring foot health to the forefront of conversations about optimal health, especially as we age. Today on The Dhru Purohit Show, we’re sharing one of our most talked-about moments with Dr. Courtney Conley, an expert in foot and gait health, on why your feet matter more than you think. She explains why you should be able to move your feet as freely as your hands, how to assess your foot health at home, and the key signs it’s time to improve your foot and toe strength. Dr. Conley also shares simple exercises anyone can start doing today, along with her top recommendations for everyday footwear. Dr. Courtney Conley is a leading foot and gait specialist and the founder of Gait Happens, where she helps people restore healthy movement from the ground up. She also leads patient care at Total Health Solutions and Total Health Performance in Colorado, focusing on gait mechanics and foot function. As a founding member of the Healthy Foot Alliance, Dr. Conley advocates for natural footwear and strengthening the feet to reduce unnecessary surgeries and support lifelong mobility. In this episode, Dhru and Dr. Conley dive into: Building toe strength for beginners, intermediate, and advanced levels (2:01) What you can do at home to improve foot strength and overall foot health (7:00) The shoes Dr. Conley recommends—and her non-negotiables (17:00) The ideal number of daily steps for optimal health (30:19) Top hacks and habits for people with a sedentary lifestyle (32:10) Final thoughts and key takeaways (35:49) Also mentioned: Full episode with Dr. Courtney Conley This episode is brought to you by Manukora Honey, Square, and Levels. Upgrade to the creamiest honey, packed with antioxidants and prebiotics. Just go to manukora.com/dhru to get $25 off the Starter Kit and boost your energy, immunity, and digestive health today! Get everything you need to run and grow your business, without any long-term commitments with Square. Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at square.com/go/DHRU Right now, Levels is offering my listeners an additional 2 FREE months of the Levels annual Membership when you use my link: levels.link/DHRU. Make moves on your metabolic health with Levels today. Sign up for Dhru’s Try This Newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone, Drew Prode here. We all know that mobility is one of the most important factors in aging well.
0:07.1	And the research is clear. Losing mobility increases your risk of injury, isolation, and even early death.
0:15.0	And you've likely heard that falling is one of the biggest threats to our mobility as we age. But something we don't hear
0:23.2	much about is that foot health. And specifically, foot and ankle mobility is one of the most
0:30.3	overlooked keys to preventing falls and staying independent as we age. That's why I'm excited
0:36.2	to share a highlighted portion of one of my
0:38.9	top conversations with one of the renowned foot and gate specialist, Dr. Courtney Conley.
0:45.4	We talk about how so many people, unknowingly, set themselves up for weakness and instability
0:51.1	through their lifestyle and modern footwear choices.
0:54.6	Yes, you heard that right.
0:55.8	Some of the footwear choices that were making on a daily basis could actually be accelerating,
1:02.4	aging by making our feet weak.
1:05.5	We get into that in today's episode.
1:07.3	And Dr. Conley also shares quick and easy tips for building your toe strength,
1:12.7	your big toe is a huge factor when it comes to aging and ankle mobility and foot mobility.
1:18.4	She also talks about picking the best shoes for your feet and creating lasting habits to support
1:23.4	long-term mobility. We also discuss how many steps per day you actually need, and the answer
1:30.8	might surprise you. So let's dig in to today's special moment that we're highlighting from
1:36.3	a past conversation with Dr. Courtney Conley.
1:44.0	Take us from beginner to now more advanced in terms of people getting serious about training
1:53.0	their feet and their toes the same way that they want to get serious about it like doing
1:59.5	strength training.
	...

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