Stiff Ankles? Try 3 Calf Stretches...

PDF pose chart here: https://www.yogabody.com/flexibility-...

Do you have tight ankles? When you squat down, do your heels pop up? Do your arches collapse when you run or walk? If so, you probably need to work on the dorsiflexion (upward bending and contracting) of your ankles.

If you’ve tried ankle stretches with rubber bands, slant boards, and elevated boxes, but nothing really worked–or worse, it made your knees hurt–then this video is for you.

While there are no shortage of ankle stretches to try, many common approaches are flawed and risk stretching other components of the foot and ankle. Our main objective here is to stretch the gastrocnemius, soleus, and plantaris muscles in your calf to improve the flexibility in these muscles and the dorsiflexion in your ankles.

VIDEO CONTENTS
00:00 Tight ankles
01:17 Anatomy
03:41 Muscles Limiting Dorsiflexion
05:36 Why So Tight?
07:26 Problem w/ Most Stretches
09:44 Best Practice
10:38 Straight Leg Runner’s Lunge
15:01 Knee-to-Wall Lunge
19:42 Banded Warrior lunge

DISCLAIMER – Please do not use this video to diagnose or treat a severe injury. If you’re suffering from ankle pain, you should see a doctor. In all cases, you should check with a trusted healthcare provider before starting any self-care routine.

ANATOMY
Your ankle joint is an amazing structure, offering tremendous range of motion, strength and stability, despite being bent and twisted every which way all in the course of a typical day. The fact that your ankles don’t collapse and hurt constantly their design and architecture.

The main bones involved are the tibia (shin bone), fibula, talus, and calcaneus. Your ankle is a mortise and tenon joint, like those used in carpentry, and this design is largely responsible for its resilience and dexterity. It’s a synovial hinge joint, wrapped in strong ligaments on all sides. As the ankle dorsiflexes, the talus slides backward the mortise and the tenon fits snugly into place.

The muscles that enable, or in this case limit, the dorsiflexion of your ankle are the gastrocnemius, soleus, and plantaris muscles in your calf.

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF STIFF ANKLES?
Heels popping up when you squat
Arches collapsing when you run
Tight calves

BEST PRACTICES
Static, passive stretching delivers the best results, so you should not bob in-and-out of poses. Instead, hold each pose for two minutes. To achieve leverage on your calf muscles most effectively, your heel should be planted. If the heel lifts, the plantar fascia and Achilles will take a significant portion of the stretch, which isn’t good.

Important Note These exercises should be performed after a workout, never before. Deep stretching is aggressive and will destabilize your ankle for 2-3 hours. This is healthy and normal, but you should not do this before putting any weight demands on your joints.

3 POSES WE'LL LEARN
1) Straight Leg Runner’s Lunge
2) Knee-to-Wall Lunge
3) Banded Warrior Lunge

WANT MORE?
Check out this article: https://www.yogabody.com/loosen-up-st...
Science of Stretching 5-Day program: https://www.yogabody.com/stretching/
My podcast: http://www.LucasRockwoodShow.com
Main site: http://www.yogabody.com/

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#anklemobility #anklestretch #calfstretch