Towel scrunches work the small muscles under your foot and the muscles that curl your toes (the toe flexors). You sit on a chair with one foot on a thin towel, keep the heel down, and use your toes to gather the towel toward you a little at a time. Physios often include it in foot programs, for example for heel or arch pain and after foot or ankle injuries.

How to do the towel scrunches

Sit on a chair with your feet flat and a thin towel laid on the floor in front of you. In the video it is folded into a long strip lying across in front of the foot. A smooth floor such as tiles or wood works best.
Rest the front of one foot on the towel, with your heel on the floor just behind it. Your heel stays on the floor for the whole exercise.
Curl your toes to grip the towel and draw it back under your foot. Only the toes and the front of the foot should move.
Straighten and spread your toes, reach forward onto the next part of the towel and grip again.
Keep going until you have bunched up as much of the towel under your toes as you comfortably can. Then smooth the towel out and start again.

What you should feel

Effort under the arch and the ball of the foot, and in the toes themselves. The arch may cramp a little near the end at first.

Common mistakes

Lifting the heel or sliding the whole foot back instead of pulling with the toes.
Using a thick bath towel on carpet, which makes it hard to gather.
Curling only the big toe while the smaller toes stay flat.
Rushing through quick, small grips instead of full curls and full spreads.

How often

Many programs use 2 to 3 lengths of the towel, or sets of 10 to 20 grips, once or twice daily. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

Sharp pain in the arch, the ball of the foot or the big toe joint.
A cramp in the foot that does not ease when you rest and stretch the toes.
Burning, pins and needles or numbness in your toes or sole.

From the clinic

When one length feels easy, some programs make it harder by placing a light object, such as a small book, on the far end of the towel. Work both feet if your physio asks you to, one at a time. If the foot feels stiff, a few ankle circles first can loosen it.

If you have diabetes or reduced feeling in your feet, check your skin afterward for rubbing or blisters. After a toe or foot fracture or foot surgery, such as bunion surgery, ask your physio when this is safe to start.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-26.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Towel scrunches