Displaying items by tag: ankle conditioning

Like clockwork, every spring we hear the same complaint in our office:

"I had pain in my feet/ankles/toes after I ran. And then I ran the next day and they hurt more. I can't understand it, because I'm running exactly the same route I did as last year."

Each spring, every athlete is anxious to jump right back in where they left off. But we forget just how quickly our bodies get out of condition, especially as we age.

Your body has de-conditioned over the winter months (assuming you're not working out regularly at the gym). Ligaments, muscles, bones, and interconnective tissue have become much weaker from lack of use. When we demand the same from them as we did when we were in peak condition at the end of last season, the disconnect between desire, endurance and strength becomes obvious. The result is soreness, stiffness, tendonitis, sprains, fractures or worse, which could sideline us for months.

Whenever we have a significant break from our training schedule, even a few weeks, it's important to build back up slowly to pre-break levels. This is especially true when we lay off all winter, or when we're recovering from an injury or an illness.

In fact, your hard-earned fitness can begin decreasing in as little as 2 weeks, especially if you're in peak condition. According to Dr. Edward Coyle, the director of the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin, the maximum oxygen that an athlete can uptake and utilize (your endurance) plunges in the first month of inactivity and continues to decrease for the next 3 months of inactivity. Even the enzymes involved in metabolizing energy become less active. In fact, for the casual athlete, all the benefits derived from the previous season -  the ability to uptake and utilize oxygen - may be completely lost when they lay off their routine for 4 months or more.

And after your endurance decreases, your muscle mass and strength also take a hit. Which is when you feel ankle pain or heel pain pushing that last mile.

The good news is, if you've been a runner or otherwise training for 10 years or more, you can maintain fitness longer than those who've been at it for less time. And highly trained athletes don't decline to the same levels as the casual athlete, even after a long layoff.

So how do you get back into condition?

• Take it slow and don't go BIG right from the start. Begin by working below your break point and don't push
• Warm up for longer periods before your workout. Make sure you've stretched your legs, feet and ankles sufficiently
• Allow 1 day of rest between each run or workout. More if you have pain or soreness in your knees, shins, feet or ankles.
• Focus on consistency and good habits, not speed
• Progress gradually and extend your workouts by a small amount each session
• If you feel any pain, stop immediately. Resume your training only when the pain has completely subsided
• Wear a new pair of athletic shoes to support your feet and legs properly

Breaks are an important part of training, as they're important for your physical and mental health. They can also help you come back stronger and faster. Your best bet is to rest when injured or ill and do some cross-training in the gym during your downtime to maintain strength and endurance. That's a far better strategy than hurting yourself every spring.

If you've ever taken a yoga class, one thing was probably clear immediately: your feet and ankles weren't nearly as strong as you thought they were. In the U.S. and much of the world, we go about our daily business in shoes which protect our feet and our health. If we're athletes, we buy shoes which protect our feet from injuries and hopefully give us a little extra juice when we need it.

But on the downside, those shoes can prevent the muscles in our feet from getting the exercise they need. And as we age, it shows: bunions, hammer toes, aching arches, aching toes, poor balance, and a host of other maladies (some of these are inherited traits).

Strong feet and ankles are essential for anyone, and especially as we age, to maintain our balance. Running, biking, weight lifting and any athletic activity is great, but they tend to develop one side of the body more than the other, due to our natural left-hand, right-hand propensity. Yoga aims to create equal strength and also loosens the joints, helping them avoid injury and maintain flexibility.

One of the first lessons in yoga is how to stand. This may seem silly at first, but our feet are our foundation, and we quickly learn that we need to unlearn some bad habits. Over the years we lean into the sides of our feet, lean back on our heels, lean forward, or shift weight from sore areas. All of these habits change the way we walk and stand, throwing our legs and ankles out of alignment and placing stress on other parts of our body. The result is pain and stiffness anywhere between the toes and neck.

Try these simple yoga-based exercises to build strength in your ankles, feet and toes. Do all exercises barefoot on a flat surface. If you have medical problems with your feet or ankles, or are obese, consult your physician before attempting.

Learn To Evenly Distribute Your Weight

The strength of your feet - and especially your arches - determines if your leg is aligned with your ankle. Strengthening your arches starts with an awareness of how you stand.

Standing upright in bare feet, sense where your weight falls in your feet. Your feet are meant to carry your body weight evenly - not back on the heels or on the balls of your feet. Press down evenly through the heels, the balls, and your toes. You'll feel the difference in your balance immediately. While standing upright and evenly balanced, spread the soles and toes as much as you can and reach the toes forward.

Stretch and Strengthen Your Feet

One of the most common yoga poses, Downward-Facing Dog, stretches the soles of your feet and strengthens your arches. In this position, gently push your heels toward the floor as much as possible. Learn how to do it here.

To stretch the tops of your feet and strengthen your ankles, try Hero Pose (only do this if you have no knee problems). Kneel on the floor, keeping your thighs perpendicular to the floor and touch your inner knees together. Slide your feet apart, slightly wider than your hips, but keep the tops of your feet flat on the floor. Then sit down between your feet. If your buttocks don't rest comfortably on the floor, support them with a thick book placed between your feet. Now lift your sternum, sitting as upright as possible, and try to release your shoulder blades away from your ears. Hold for 1 minute.

Raising yourself on your toes is a simple and excellent way to strengthen your feet. While this may seem easy at first, try doing it very slowly. You'll be surprised at how much effort you'll expend.

Strengthen your toes

Stand with your feet so that they're directly under your hips. Try to lift just the big toe on each foot, while keeping the other toes on the floor. Then do the opposite: lift all the toes except the big toe. Switch back and forth. You'll find that one part of that exercise will be a lot easier than the other. That's because those who pronate (roll the foot inward when they walk) typically have a hard time lifting their big toes, and those who supinate (roll the foot outward) have a hard time lifting the other toes.

Leaning is Exercise

Leaning teaches us how to balance our weight across our feet. Those who shift their weight to their heels leave the front of their foot without much to do, and the foot weakens.

Stand with your feet a comfortable distance apart and put a soft bend in your knees. Lean forward at the ankle as if you were about to ski down a slope. Do not lean from the waist or hips - keep the lean in your ankles. This exercise wakes up the muscles in your toes and the soles of your feet.

If your feet feel tired after these exercises, that's good - it means that the muscles are being worked. If your feet are sore, that's not good - back off a little next time around.

One of the keys to a killer golf game is strong ankles. As your ankles and feet are the only body parts in contact with the ground when you swing your clubs, keeping them in peak condition is essential.

Every golfer knows that their game depends on their swing and their swing depends on balance. If you have poor mechanics or tend to shift your weight, your balance will suffer and your swing will go off the rails. Strong ankles are key to maintaining your balance and hence your swing, so you'll spend less time in the sand trap. Or complaining of back pain.

The exercises below are meant to strengthen ankles and calf muscles, including ankle inverters and everters, responsible for the side-to-side movement of your feet. Strengthening these groups of muscles is extremely important for stability through your golf swing, especially on uneven surfaces.

1. Raise yourself on your toes. This is pretty self-explanatory. It's simple and very effective at strengthening the muscles in your calf, foot and toes.

While lightly holding on to the back of a chair to mainatin balance, slowly raise yourself on the toes of both feet. Repeat 10 times. For a challenge, try raising one foot off the ground, shift all of your weight to the opposite foot, and raise yourself on the toes of just one foot.

If you're in decent shape and would like a bigger challenge, hold on to light free weights while doing this. Don't go too heavy on the weights or you'll place undue stress on the muscles and do more harm than good. For balance training, alter your stance by pointing your toes in or out, or place one foot in front of the other.

2. Balance yourself on one leg. Not much explanation needed here. Pick one foot off the ground and hold for 20 seconds. Repeat with the other foot. If you're just starting, make sure you have a table or chair close by to hold onto until you maintain your balance. For "advanced users", stand on a pillow, which will simulate an uneven surface.

3. Stretch your heels and calf. Runners will be familiar with this one, as it's excellent at stretching out your heel cords. Stand facing a wall, keeping your back straight. Place your hands on the wall. One leg should be slightly forward and bent and the other leg extended behind you with the heel flat and the toes pointed in slightly. Keep both heels flat on the ground and press your hips toward the wall. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat. Then switch legs and repeat. To add an ankle stretch,  perform the stretch from this position again, but bend both knees slightly. Keep your hips centered over both feet.

4. Sitting calf and ankle stretch: Sit on the floor with both legs extended straight. Loop a hand towel around the ball of your left foot and grasp the ends of the towel. Gently pull the towel towards you while keeping your leg straight. You'll feel the stretch in your calf and ankle. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat with the right foot.

5. Increase your ankle's range of motion. Sit in a chair of sufficient height so your feet do not touch the floor. Leading with your big toe, write each letter of the alphabet with your foot. Keep the movement small, using just your foot and ankle only, not your leg.

6. Strengthen your ankle's dorsiflexion and plantar flexion. You'll feel the muscles going to work in your calf, shin, the back of your heel, and the top of your foot. With your legs straight our in front of you and your heel on the floor, anchor an elastic band on a chair or table leg, and then wrap it around your midfoot. Pull your toes toward you and push your heel forward. Repeat 10 times. This strengthens dorsiflexion. To strengthen plantar flexion, loop the elastic band around the ball of your foot and hold the ends in your hand. Without pulling on the band, point your toes forward and then slowly return to the starting position. Repeat 10 times.

Keep your ankles in tip-top shape and you'll have a much better time on the greens.

It all comes down to one weak muscle, tendon or ligament. One second you're a young LeBron. The next, crumpled on the court, writhing in pain, out for the season.

[caption id="attachment_4812" align="alignleft" width="400"] UC Santa Barbara player Zalmico Harmon. Note how his right foot is flat on the court and his leg is bent outwards as he's pivoting. Your ankles and feet had better be in excellent condition to do that every day.[/caption]

Basketball demands a lot of your ankles and feet - they're subjected to sudden, explosive movements, quick turns, and a relentless pounding on a hard surface. If your lower extremities aren't in perfect condition, a lot can go wrong very quickly. The best way to avoid a missed game or worse, a lost season, is to keep your feet and ankles (and the rest of you) in peak condition. These exercises will work muscles, tendons, and ligaments in your toes, feet, and ankles which are often neglected, at the athlete's risk.

But before we get into that, we'd like to mention that a basketball player should use braces and tape as little as possible during training. They're very useful when recovering from an injury, but for training purposes, they'll work against you. If the muscles in your feet and ankles are immobilized and artificially supported by tape or other means, they don't get worked. And a muscle that doesn't get worked is a weak muscle.

Occasionally you should train in bare feet. We know this isn't a practical suggestion in a public space, but when you're working out solo at home, ditch the basketball shoes whenever possible. The foot is the base of the ankle - build it naturally, without restraint, for better balance, mobility, and strength.

1. Loosen your plantar fascia and foot muscles

While sitting, roll a tennis ball around with the bottom of your foot, applying light pressure. Work it under the arch, the toes, and your heel for 5 minutes on each foot.

2. Develop your Dorsiflexion and Plantar Flexion

When your feet flex upward toward your body, it's dorsiflexion, as when you land on the court after a jump. When the foot flexes down or away, it's plantar flexion, as when you make a jump, sprint, or cut. To condition your muscles to endure this full range of motion, perform a unilateral stretch:

• Stand on one leg, bend forward, and place your hands on a wall for balance.
• Stretch your calf muscle and achilles tendon by pushing down on your knee and keeping your foot flat.
• Raise yourself on your toes to stretch your calf.

3. Develop Ankle Strength

• Wrap a band around the ball of your foot. Pull back, creating tension on the band, but just enough so you can still move your foot. Push your foot against the band and hold for one second. This strengthens the muscles used for plantar flexion.
• Wrap the band around the ball of your foot and pull to create tension. Then push on the foot with the other foot. Pull your toes back toward you, hold for one second, and release. This strengthens the muscles used for dorsiflexion.
• Start in the same position as above. But this time, keep your foot straight and rotate it outward. Hold for one second. This increases the strength of the muscles that control eversion and inversion, the movements that tilt the sole of the foot towards (inversion) or away from (eversion) the midline of your body.

Take the time to do the proper conditioning, and chances are you'll stay safe on the basketball court. If you experience any pain at all, take a break and get the advice of your trainer before continuing. Then follow up with a podiatrist who is expert in sports medicine for a full evaluation.