There are lots of exercises that are included in the rehabilitation of foot problems. The goal of these exercises are usually to strengthen and stretch muscles and also mobilize the joints. They are among the many tools which foot specialists use to manage a wide range of foot conditions. One exercise which has been getting a lot of recent support is one called the short foot exercise. This exercise is done weight bearing and the muscles in the mid-foot of the foot are contracted for you to shorten the foot. This is touted to strengthen the arch of the foot. If you consider some of the rhetoric on the internet concerning this exercise, it will cure just about everything that could go wrong with the foot, which is certainly incorrect.
The major problem with this exercise is the fanaticism and belief that so many have that it can cure so many of the conditions that might go wrong with the foot, when there's actually simply no scientific studies that it's a good choice for anything. Just proclaiming that it is useful and expecting that is it does not ensure it is so. That is the logical fallacy of wishful thinking. For the short foot exercise to work it will require time to build up the strength. Lots of foot problems improve after a while, so there is not any way of knowing if people improved just because of this natural history or for the reason that the exercise did in fact work. That does not imply that there is anything wrong with the exercise and that it should not be used. It may well be that the exercise is a very helpful and good exercise. It just implies that the clinical studies have not been done and too much belief really should not be put in any treatment that falls short of clinical research to support its use. By all means continue using the short foot exercise, but use it in the understanding of these issues which are widely known about it.